Since this is the proper moment, we ought to point out another
benefit resulting from this night and dryness of the sensory appetite. So
that the prophecy -- your light will illumine the darkness [Is. 58:10] --
may be verified, God will give illumination by bestowing on the soul not
only knowledge of its own misery and lowliness but also knowledge of his
grandeur and majesty. When the sensory appetites, gratifications, and
supports are quenched, the intellect is left clean and free to understand
the truth, for even though these appetites and pleasures concern spiritual
things, they blind and impede the spirit. Similarly, the anguish and
dryness of the senses illumine and quicken the intellect, as Isaiah
affirms: Vexation makes one understand [Is. 28:19]. But God also, by means
of this dark and dry night of contemplation, supernaturally instructs in
his divine wisdom the soul that is empty and unhindered (which is the
requirement for his divine inpouring), which he did not do through the
former satisfactions and pleasures.
On the senses being purified....from St. John of the Cross
