40% off your order of $100 or more full-price ICS titles when using promo code ICSBULK. Offer excludes books from other publishers.

The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (paperback)

Product Description
$23.95

The Collected Works of
St. John of the Cross

Includes The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, The Living Flame of Love, Letters, and The Minor Works

(paperback)
Revised edition (1991) 

Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and 
Otilio Rodriguez, OCD

This revised edition of The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross was produced to mark the fourth centenary of the death of St. John of the Cross (1542–1591). The result is an English translation of his writings that preserves the authentic meaning of the great mystic’s writings, presents them as clearly as possible, and at the same time gives the reader the doctrinal and historical information that will lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the teachings of the Mystical Doctor.

Included in The Collected Works are St. John’s poetry, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, and The Living Flame of Love, as well as his extant letters and other counsels.

  • ICS code: ICS-JJ
  • Format: paperback
  • Pages: 814
  • ISBN: 978-0-935216-14-1


Looking for this title in e-book format?

We offer it through the following vendors:


Kindle Nook iBook

Kobo Google Play

In addition to the respective page listings in the contents, this new edition features gray page tabs that separate the individual works, enabling the reader to more easily locate a desired section of the book.

Complementing St. John’s writings are a comprehensive General Introduction for the entire work, as well as brief, enlightening introductions for each specific work, explaining theme and structure. These are enhanced by new and expanded footnotes, a glossary of terms, and general and scriptural indices.


About the Translators

Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D.

Father Kieran, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, made his profession as a Discalced Carmelite in 1947. He has held several important positions within the order, including prior, formation director, and provincial councilor. A founding member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies, he subsequently served as its chair, as well as publisher of ICS Publications.

Father Kieran’s major contributions in the field of Carmelite studies are his translations from the Spanish of the works of St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, in collaboration with Father Otilio Rodriguez. He also was the English translator of God Speaks in the Night: The Life, Times and Teaching of St. John of the Cross, a pictorial biography of St. John of the Cross commemorating the 400th anniversary of his death, published in several languages. In addition to translations, Father Kieran is also the author of two ICS Publications’ study editions of the works of St. Teresa, and has written several other books on St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross. Father Kieran has lectured and written widely on the teaching of both of these Carmelite saints. He is a member of the Discalced Carmelite community in Washington, D.C.

Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D.
Father Otilio was born in Mantinos, Palencia, Spain, and was a Carmelite for more than fifty years. He was provincial of the Burgos province several times and also served as rector of the Discalced Carmelites’ international pontifical theological faculty, the Teresianum, in Rome. Father Otilio was one of the founders of the Institutum Historicum Teresianum and was a member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies. Both internationally and throughout the United States he gave retreats and lectures on Carmelite history and spirituality and wrote extensively on Carmelite subjects. Father Otilio died in Rome in 1994.

"An excellent and practical edition."

—Studium


"This is an extremely worthwhile and classic resource for cultivating a deeper inner life."

—Theological Students Fellowship


"The Institute of Carmelite Studies publishes excellent works at very inexpensive prices; its exemplary edition of The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross, for instance, would get my vote as one of the best theological buys of all time."

—Lawrence Cunningham
U.S. Catholic