St John of the Cross sketching

The first and chief benefit this dry and dark night of contemplation causes is the knowledge of self and of one’s own misery. Besides the fact that all the favors God imparts to the soul are ordinarily wrapped in this knowledge, the aridities and voids of the faculties in relation to the abundance previously experienced and the difficulty encountered in the practice of virtue make the soul recognize its own lowliness and misery, which was not apparent in the time of its prosperity.

–St John of the Cross ‘Dark Night of the Soul’

Emphasizing the esoteric nature of St. John of the Cross, observe his sketch rotated 90 degrees, Christ’s back to the ground, witness Christ ascending from the cross.