Healed by Love: Contemplation as a Path of Healing according to St. John of the Cross

Find healing through the path of contemplative prayer, which is God’s self-communication in love and awakens within us our own need for transformation.
 
God has planted in our hearts an insatiable longing to love and be loved, that is, to love God, others, and creation with the very love of God. We know, however, from our human experience, that we fail to love as we desire with all our hearts. In Healed by Love, Carmelite Friar Daniel Chowning urges those in need of healing to seek refuge in the spiritual doctrine of St. John of the Cross.
 
The more we grow in love, the healthier we become. The doctrine of St. John of the Cross is one of healing and transformation of the human person. For him, the path of contemplation, which is God’s self-communicating love, is a journey of purification, healing, and transformation at the deepest root of our being where we can love God, others, and creation according to God’s original plan for us and grow toward the fullness of who God created us to be. In Healed by Love, those suffering in body and spirit may find comfort through the teaching of St. John of the Cross and the path of contemplative prayer.

Daniel Chowning, OCD, is a member and present provincial of the Washington Province of the Discalced Carmelite Friars and resides at the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Hubertus, Wisconsin.  He completed his theological studies at the Catholic University of America, and continued specialization in Carmelite studies in Spain at the Teresian Sanjuanist Center in Avila and at the University of Salamanca. He is a member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies. He has served his province in formation ministry as novice director and preached retreats extensively in the United States and in Europe.