So often in the spiritual journey, we can run into roadblocks. We can mistakenly perceive that we have gotten off course, and we might immediately seek to turn back to find the right path again. However, if we are walking the path of contemplation, there will most certainly be times of darkness, instances where we may feel we have done something wrong, and where we are no longer experiencing the satisfactions we once knew in prayer. It is in these times when we need to continue our prayer with a deeper degree of faith and even a more intense desire to encounter God. At this more advanced stage of the spiritual journey, God is intentionally withholding the experience of His presence so that He can do a deeper work of purification within our souls. In addition, He is asking us to practice a purer faith, and to allow Him to do this work in us. This conversation walks through the experience of this phase of prayer, and Mark and Frances describe how the soul should respond when God is calling it to this new and deeper encounter.    Books:  “Saint John of the Cross:  Master of Contemplation” by Fr. Donald Haggerty; Ignatius Press. “The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross” by John of the Cross; ICS Publications.