Ascent of Mount Carmel

By: St. John of the Cross

Narrated by: James Adams

Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

"I remained, lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved. All ceased and I abandoned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten among the lillies." Thus writes 16th century Spanish poet and mystic, St. John of the Cross. In this, his third work, the author reflects on the nature of a personal union with Christ, found in the abandonment of self.

Public Domain (P)2009 christianaudio.com

read!

a great spiritual book, StJohn is methodical and brief in his treatment of relayong necessary truths. the speaker helped a lot and was enjoyable to listen to. the book was never finished by St John but it was great for what he did write and is completely worthwhile to read. to grow in the spiritual life, this is certainly a great place to start once one wishes to choose Him for His own sake and not His favours

Enjoyed

Narrator did a great job. Enjoyed the book, especially the second half. Thank you so much!

A True Spiritual Masterpiece

This classic will change the way you approach everything in life. If you find yourself lost or spinning your wheels in your spiritual life and relationship with God, then you MUST read this!

Tremble at these Writings

Let me share an experience that might enlighten another poor, corrupted soul like myself. As a younger man I would ride with my mother and father in our family car. While my mother would drive she would look around at her surroundings - often to the chagrin of my father who would routinely have to remind her to return to her lane in the traffic. This meant nothing to me at the time. As I become older and listened to this book and other writings of the saints I was made aware either through my own understanding or aided by the holy spirit that my mother was acting out her desire - that is to gaze and see those things in her environment - unable to resist even at the cost of driving in an unsafe manner.

This book helps to give us insight into how the world, desires of the flesh and how satan has deceived us into putting our desires first thus distancing ourselves from true communion with God.

Fear not - For as Jesus said, "In patience possess ye your souls". In essence - for as we are tempted and succumb to our desires, that is our fleshly desires of this world we must continue to strive to become better and make the vessel perfect even as Jesus tells to be perfect as he is perfect.

For my own personal path I have a long ways to go.

A valuable read for those truly seeking God.

a great teaching abused by arrogance

`narrator was terrible. pronunciation was totally affected not to the benefit of the story or of the meaning of the words.

Superb!

It's a masterpiece! It's written in a very poetic language, yet easy to understand. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in contemplative prayer as well as getting closer to God.

Lead by Love

Timeless and profound are the words, so much so, one desires the written word so as to slowly savour in contemplation and repeatedly digest each syllable to remove every spiritual nutrient.

Excellent

What did you like about this audiobook?

Excellent, St John of the Cross is amazing in teaching one to strive for union with God here and in Eternity.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

All of St. John of the Cross' books are wonderful, including this one. It definitely helps to deepen your faith and love of God.

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

This book is Absolutely inspiring and helpful to those who strive to be "perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect".

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

The narrator was a little heavy on the accent at times, but overall done well.

Do you have any additional comments?

I highly recommend this e-book for anyone striving for sainthood!

It was a great listen.

His own words are much better than another author's commentary on St John of the Cross. He has some great practical suggestions for the spiritual life. It is easy to listen to and great to play in the car as you don't need a huge level of concentration to understand what he is trying to say.

Beautiful, excellent narration

Wonderful material as important and applicable today as when it was written. This material also resonates with me in that there are so many parallels between it and what the Eastern mystics have written and with my own indigenous perspective. The vocab is different but the message is the same — set the nonsense aside.

For anyone with a concern about the terminology, I recommend looking up the archaic definitions of words that seem odd or asking ChatGPT to explain certain passages/words. You get used to it so probably will only have to do that a bit in the beginning.

Narrator has perfect diction and reads with appropriate intonation that helps convey meaning. Contrary to another reviewer, I felt that his performance enhanced my experience of the material and I would happily listen again. I’ll also look for this narrator’s name on other books.