My Translation of Baruzi's Magnum Opus, "Saint John of the Cross and the Problem of Mystical Experience"

In April 2023, I was commissioned by Saint Mary’s University Press in London and the Carmelites in the United Kingdom, to undertake a massive translation of a work that has, until now, never been translated into English. The work is by French scholar of religions Jean Baruzi, entitled “Saint John of the Cross and the Problem of Mystical Experience”, published in 1924. The work has indeed been formidable, with the main body of the original text in French, and the footnotes in old Spanish, Latin, Ancient Greek, and German, as well as occasionally Dutch, and the work being 793 pages long.

This landmark study that bridges theology, philosophy, and phenomenology, focuses on mystical experience as a philosophical, phenomenological, psychological and spiritual problem. Mystical experience is conceived of as a direct union with God or the divine, being without mode, which is not just psychological, or emotional. It is a radical transformation of one’s own being, beyond concepts. The work itself moves beyond a purely devotional or theological reading, and discusses the life of Saint John as a philosophical thinker in his own right, in addition to a saint or inspiration for daily life.

I just want to clarify that I quit my full-time corporate job in tech in 2023, to work on this translation for the last 2 years and 6 months, under a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. I am a certified and also former sworn legal translator of Spanish, French, and Korean to American English, with working knowledge of some other languages like German and Portuguese. Unlike some translators these days, I do not ever consult machine learning for translation, and I consult dictionaries occasionally. I can read and understand Arabic, Latin, and ancient Greek at times.

The UK Carmelites made a very kind and generous donation in April of 2023 to help fund the publication of the book, which I am very grateful for. I have worked diligently on the translation nearly every day for nearly 3 1/2 years, in order to not let them down. I ended up finishing a final draft of the translation in September 2025, despite two bouts of recovering from long Covid and also experiencing the very dark night of the spirit and of the senses, that Saint John and Baruzi talk about in the translation. I am extremely thankful for the trust that I have been given to undertake all of this, and I am grateful for all my family’s support.

I did indeed end up completing a first draft of the translation a full year after being commissioned, in April 2024, spending 6 months inputting footnotes into Microsoft Word. I have been told this act alone makes me into some kind of John of the Cross scholar, but I totally digress. My partner Mark edited part of the translation, helping with phrasing in Book Four. These sections discuss what Baruzi discussed as the ‘Theopathic State.’

A summary of the book, which is divided into four sections.

I). The first section goes over a historical discussion differentiating the authentic works of Saint John from copies attributed to him.

II). The second section discusses Saint John of the Cross’s life and formative experiences, which include his childhood, education at Salamanca University, participation in the Carmelites’ Reform with Saint Teresa of Avila, his wrongful imprisonment, and then his final release.

III). The third section is a discussion on the lyricism and poetry of Saint John’s works, many of which he wrote in prison.

IV). The fourth book is perhaps the most dense and philosophically, or academically technical, as it discusses the four stages of Saint John’s “Mystical Way”, from the initial negation, denial of sensory perceptions, abyssal experience, and then the “theopathic” state of lasting, final peace and jubilation.

Early this past May in 2025, I had presented part of my work at a conference, “Search for Meaning: Philosophy, Theology, Psychology, and the Carmelite Quest for Meaning”, and my presentation was “Baruzi’s Analysis of Saint John of the Cross’s Mystical Way.” I was truly grateful that my presentation appeared to be received well there.

This book had been reviewed externally by Saint Mary’s University Press in London until March 2026, when I made the decision to self-publish this translation on Amazon KDP. The full link to purchase will be made available very soon. The cover design is at the top of this webpage.