The seminar entitled “Experiencing God in the Dark Night: The Spirituality of St. John of the Cross” was held on January 9, 2026, at the Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Jakarta, in celebration of the Jubilee of St. John of the Cross. The event was initiated by the OCD Friars and the OCDS Jakarta, and featured Fr. Christianus Surinono OCD as the main speaker. A total of 160 participants attended the seminar.
As a continuation and deeper exploration of the theme, a national retreat was conducted from January 10–11, 2026, with 55 participants joining from various regions across Indonesia. The retreat offered participants an opportunity to interiorize the teachings of St. John of the Cross through prayer, silence, and guided reflection, fostering a deeper personal encounter with God.
The theme of the “Dark Night” in the spirituality of St. John of the Cross reveals that experiences of darkness, spiritual dryness, and uncertainty are not signs of God’s absence, but rather a path of purification leading to deeper union with Him. This seminar and retreat invited participants to view suffering and silence not as an end, but as a grace-filled journey toward spiritual maturity and authentic love.
