Daniel Chowning: Healed by Love: Contemplation as a path of healing according to St John of the Cross
Liturgical press 2025
Blackwells £18.99. Amazon Kindle £16 ISBN: 9798400800122, 0012244
eISBN: 9798400800139, E00139
The title of this book engaged my interest since, while a beginner in accessing the work of St John of the Cross, I have found the foothills of his work inspiring.
Written by a fellow Carmelite who has immersed himself in St John’s life and writings it offers a deep reflection on the healing power of contemplation to be found in his work. My review only touches the surface of the work as I will need so much more time and prayer to absorb and benefit from its teaching.
Initially I was attracted by the account of the saint’s life. Born into a very poor family and as a teenager employed as a nurse’s aide and alms seeker for the sick poor of a charitable hospital, he learned compassion and tenderness at first hand. He cared for the physically and the spiritually ill to the end of his life. Encouraged to study he was drawn to the Carmelite order and made his profession in 1564. His religious life and thought was much bound with the thinking and inspiration of Teresa of Avila and though of very different personalities they supported each other through difficult times. There being much opposition within the Church to the reforms which Teresa instigated, John was “kidnapped” and imprisoned for nine months in extreme deprivation. He escaped and lived for ten years in Andalusia where he was confessor and spiritual director to both religious and laity and there wrote all his major works. Later he became prior of a monastery in Segovia.
To the end of his life he was hounded by traditionalists who tried to destroy his reputation. He died in 1591 at the age of 49. As the author says: “He responded in love to every circumstance in life, good or bad, joyful or painful” His abiding words were
“Where there is no love, put love, and you will draw out love.”
So far, I have described only the first chapter of this remarkable book. The remaining ten chapters are a serious investigation of John’s understanding of the spiritual and psychological ills of we humans and how, despite the fact that he lived more than 400 years ago, he can still offer guidance and help for healing and forgiveness. As Sr.Elizabeth Obbard writes in her review (and I cannot do better):
“In this beautiful and very readable book, Fr. Daniel Chowning has distilled the teaching of St. John of the Cross for a new generation, linking it with his own personal, pastoral, and psychological insights. Under St. John’s guidance all are encouraged to surrender to the process of healing and transformation in Christ. It is a contemplative journey that leads to freedom and the integration of the whole person. Chowning’s writing is the fruit of many years of studying and teaching the Carmelite saints, and I was hooked from page one. Be enthused, inspired, and challenged to make the journey of contemplative love a way of life ‘costing not less than everything.’ It’s never too late to set out.”
(© 2025 by Daniel Chowning, OCD. Published by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota. Used with permission.)
Janet Robinson
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