Saint John of the Cross is practically unique among Christendom's many mystics. Never mind the connotations of delicacy, distance, or darkness which that word, mystics, might conjure up. A mystic means, simply, a person who has fallen in love with God. Ardently single-minded and single-hearted in love and purpose: in this way did John of the Cross attend to God, search for Him, strive after Him; in this way, too, did he long that others might share in this love and purpose. Here, Edgar Allison Peers writes, lies "the whole secret of the amazing power of his life, his character and his writings."

A masterpiece of brief biography and literary appreciation, Spirit of Flame intro-duces this Spanish Carmelite friar, hero of the Counter-Reformation, companion to the great St. Teresa of Ávila, theologian and poet par excellence, and devoted mystic. With precision, tact, and immense respect for his subject, Peers surveys the life and work of St. John of the Cross, with special attention to his mystical and poetic legacies. First published in 1943, Spirit of Flame remains a marvelous occasion to let shine the steady light of St. John of the Cross.