God is light, says Saint John, and in him there is no darkness at al. These passages from the works of early Cistercian monks and nuns reflect on the mystery of that divine light. If we have the light of Christ in our heart, we discover, it is there to shine both for ourselves and for others and to guide us ever closer to the mystery of God.

Emma Cazabonne compiled her selections over twenty years of lectio divina and a growing fascination with similarities between Cistercian and Orthodox spirituality.