"dark night of the soul" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Coined by John of the Cross.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dark nights of the soul",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dark nights of the soul"
      },
      "expansion": "dark night of the soul (plural dark nights of the soul)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Catholicism",
          "orig": "en:Catholicism",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              115,
              137
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Your dear friend ought to take heart. From what you have told me, it is quite likely that they are going through a dark night of the soul.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "a period of time in which a holy person (someone believed to be potentially on their way to sainthood) experiences a seeming withdrawal of God's previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks. This period of time is seen (by Catholics) to be a period in which God is calling the holy person to rid themselves of any remaining vestiges of self-pride and vanity that they may have."
      ],
      "id": "en-dark_night_of_the_soul-en-noun-yDLwNAs3",
      "links": [
        [
          "Catholicism",
          "Catholicism"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Catholicism) a period of time in which a holy person (someone believed to be potentially on their way to sainthood) experiences a seeming withdrawal of God's previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks. This period of time is seen (by Catholics) to be a period in which God is calling the holy person to rid themselves of any remaining vestiges of self-pride and vanity that they may have."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dark night"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "Catholicism",
        "Christianity"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "a period of time in which a holy person experiences a seeming withdrawal of God’s previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks",
          "word": "a lélek sötét éjszakája"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "a period of time in which a holy person experiences a seeming withdrawal of God’s previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "noche oscura del alma"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a period of time in which a holy person experiences a seeming withdrawal of God’s previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "själens dunkla natt"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "John of the Cross"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "dark night of the soul"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Coined by John of the Cross.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dark nights of the soul",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dark nights of the soul"
      },
      "expansion": "dark night of the soul (plural dark nights of the soul)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "en:Catholicism"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              115,
              137
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Your dear friend ought to take heart. From what you have told me, it is quite likely that they are going through a dark night of the soul.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "a period of time in which a holy person (someone believed to be potentially on their way to sainthood) experiences a seeming withdrawal of God's previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks. This period of time is seen (by Catholics) to be a period in which God is calling the holy person to rid themselves of any remaining vestiges of self-pride and vanity that they may have."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Catholicism",
          "Catholicism"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Catholicism) a period of time in which a holy person (someone believed to be potentially on their way to sainthood) experiences a seeming withdrawal of God's previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks. This period of time is seen (by Catholics) to be a period in which God is calling the holy person to rid themselves of any remaining vestiges of self-pride and vanity that they may have."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dark night"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "Catholicism",
        "Christianity"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "John of the Cross"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "a period of time in which a holy person experiences a seeming withdrawal of God’s previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks",
      "word": "a lélek sötét éjszakája"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "a period of time in which a holy person experiences a seeming withdrawal of God’s previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "noche oscura del alma"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a period of time in which a holy person experiences a seeming withdrawal of God’s previously-felt presence in their lives, and undergoes stark spiritual attacks",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "själens dunkla natt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dark night of the soul"
}