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The Reformation · c. 1585–1587
The Living Flame of Love
John of the Cross · 1542–1591
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What it is
A commentary on his own short poem about the soul transformed in God, written in a fortnight for a laywoman who directed a household.
Why it lasted
The most joyful of John's works, and evidence that he expected the highest states of prayer to be available outside a cloister.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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