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Midnight CarmelitePractical Wisdom for a Deeper Prayer Life Author: Andrew Gniadek
Andrew Gniadek from Luminous Tradition dives deep into the doctrine of St. John of the Cross and the broader Carmelite tradition so that you can grow in hope in God and face all the necessities, trials, and difficulties that life brings and integrate the spiritual life more into your daily living. Realize that you do not need to be a religious, that you are capable of holiness, so that you can experience a greater personal love of God and those nearby and strengthen your union with God in this life right now. Andrew has spent more than a decade as a philosopher until he encountered St. John of the Cross and the Carmelite tradition. After reading everything St. John of the Cross ever wrote, he saw that without a spiritual life built on the personal love of God and those nearby he was not fulfilling his obligation to Christ. Andrew shares his insights into Saint John of the Cross and Carmelite spirituality and uses reason, the law and doctrine of the Gospel, and his own experience, giving special attention to a variety of obstacles and trials along the way. Midnight Carmelite will challenge you both intellectually and spiritually: bringing forth insights from the life and doctrine St. John of the Cross and other Carmelite saints, engaging Scripture in the original Greek, learning philosophy of the human person, meditations on the life of our Blessed Lord, and commentary on Andrew's articles about Carmelite spirituality and philosophy. Hit subscribe now and start your journey up Mt. Carmel today. Language: en Genres: Christianity, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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The Silent Stable: Preparing the Soul for the Incarnation (S11, EP01)
Episode 1
Wednesday, 3 December, 2025
Free Advent Guide: Are you looking to deepen your prayer life this season? Download our free guide to Carmelite spirituality to help you navigate Advent with purpose: https://midnightcarmelite.com/reset Is silence just empty space, or is it something more? In our modern world, we often view silence as a vacuum—an absence of noise. But true spiritual silence is actually a form of active receptivity. Just as you must be silent to truly hear a friend or imagine a story while reading, you must cultivate interior silence to perceive the reality of God. In the hustle of the holiday season, it is easy to miss the Incarnation if we are not prepared to listen. In this week’s episode of Midnight Carmelite, we explore how to prepare for the feast of the Incarnation. We look to the Nativity story—where Christ was born into a silence—as our guide. We also discuss the practical tool of mortification. Far from being a negative practice, we frame mortification as the "shovel" used to clear the stable of our hearts, while our good deeds become the straw that cushions the manger for the Christ Child. In this episode, you will learn: The definition of Active Receptivity: Why silence is not a void, but a necessary state of listening for God’s disclosure.Lessons from the Nativity: How the humility of the shepherds and Magi allowed them to notice what the rest of the world missed.The "Shovel" and the "Straw": A practical metaphor for using mortification to remove worldly attachments and good deeds to welcome the Lord.Practical Advent Steps: How to replace distractions (like excessive shopping) with ten minutes of Scripture and silence.
