Dear Master: Letters on Spiritual Direction Inspired by Saint John of the Cross

Whether you're a beginner in search of a spiritual life or are at a more advanced stage of contemplation, this work furnishes you with a wealth of clear advice from one of the Church's finest spiritual masters--Saint John of the Cross.

Dear Master is a companion text to, and commentary on, Saint John's celebrated poem, The Living Flame of Love. This commentary is told through an imaginative series of letters between Saint John of the Cross and Dona Ana de Penalosa, the spiritual directee for whom he originally wrote The Living Flame of Love--perhaps his most personal and passionate work. Dona Ana's letters contain questions of spiritual direction no different than ours of today: "Who am I most deeply?" "What is God asking of me?" "Have I the courage to answer His call?"

In his replies, Saint John provides general truths to guide you in your journey toward spiritual enlightenment--such as coping with issues of abandonment, remedies for scruples, what it takes to free the soul for union with God, how to handle inordinate attachments, and dealing with distractions.

Saint John has been a source of inspiration to faith seekers, both religious and lay, for over 400 years. Profound and timeless, the works penned by the Spanish Doctor of the Church contain clear directives as fresh today as when he originally wrote them.

Susan Muto, Ph.D., executive director of the Epiphany Association and a native of Pittsburgh, is a renowned speaker, author, teacher, and Dean of the Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality. A single lay woman living her vocation in the world and doing full-time, church-related ministry in the Epiphany Association, she has led conferences, seminars, workshops, and institutes throughout the world.

Professor Muto received her Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Pittsburgh, where she specialized in the work of post-Reformation spiritual writers. Beginning in 1966, she served in various administrative positions at the Institute of Formative Spirituality (IFS) at Duquesne University and taught as a full professor in its programs, edited its journals, and served as its director from 1981 to 1988. An expert in literature and spirituality, she continues to teach courses on an adjunct basis at many schools, seminaries, and centers of higher learning. She aims in her teaching to integrate the life of prayer and presence with professional ministry and in-depth formation in the home, the church, and the marketplace. In faithfulness to the principles of the original European Epiphany approach, she addresses her teachings to the contemporary needs of laity, clergy, and religious.

As co-editor of Epiphany Connexions, Epiphany Inspirations, and Epiphany International, as a frequent contributor to scholarly and popular journals, and as herself the author and coauthor of over thirty books, Doctor Muto keeps up to date with the latest developments in her field. In fact, her many books on formative reading of Scripture and the masters are considered to be premiere introductions to the basic, classical art and discipline of spiritual formation and its systematic, comprehensive, formation theology. She lectures nationally and internationally on the treasured wisdom of the Judeo-Christian faith and formation tradition and on many foundational facets of living human and Christian values in today's world. Professor Muto holds membership in numerous honorary organizations and has received many distinctions for her work, including a Doctor of Humanities degree from King's College in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.