Part of the HarperCollins Spiritual Classics series, The Essential Writings includes selections from The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, and The Living Flame of Love, the most profoundly beautiful and insightful works of St. John of the Cross, the 16th century Spanish Carmelite monk and one of Christianity's foremost spiritual teachers. The stirring words and thoughts of a courageous Christian reformer, The Essential Writings includes a foreword by Ron Hansen, author of Atticus and Mariette in Ecstasy.