Eucharistic communion as mediating an experience of God according to St. John of the Cross

This dissertation aims to clarify what it means to experience God in eucharistic communion according to the thought of St. John of the Cross. At first glance, there may not appear to be an issue because one might assume that St. John, as a sixteenth-century Spanish Carmelite, would have understood eucharistic communion as mediating an experience of God. Upon reflection, two issues appear. The first relates to what it means to experience or to have an experience and the second to the meaning of the word "God." The issue is complicated by the necessity for translation. This dissertation will draw from his writings as a whole in order to disclose nuances of St. John's thought about the meaning of "experience" and "God" that affect his understanding of eucharistic communion as mediating an experience of God.; The dissertation seeks to facilitate the reader's engagement with St. John's principal eucharistic work by presenting explicative and historical material that strives to reduce misunderstandings arising from translation, cultural differences, and his personal history. The first three chapters set out aspects of his historical context that affect his understanding. Chapter one considers the political, ecclesiastical, and religious environment of sixteenth-century Spain. Chapter two looks at St. John's spiritual and intellectual formation. Chapter three brings together his historical context and his formation. The second three chapters present material intended to enable St. John's voice to be heard. Chapter four discusses contemporary assumptions about mystical experiences and then how the absolutely transcendent God overcomes the gap between creation and Creator, according to St. John. Chapter five examines his usage of words that have been translated as "experience." Chapter six examines specific references to the Eucharist. The final chapter considers his experience of imprisonment, the theme of absence and presence in his eucharistic poetry, proposes his understanding of eucharistic communion as an experience of God, and reflects upon an excess of meaning generated by his use of the poetic genre.