Saint John of the Cross:

Feast day : 14 December

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint John of the Cross, a Spanish Carmelite friar, a contemplative soul, extraordinarily gifted mystic, poet and writer of mystical theology who lived during the period 1542-1591. He is regarded as the first of the Discalced Carmelite Friars and the Father of the Reform. He was canonized on 27 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII and was declared 'Doctor of the Church' by Pope Pius XI in 1926. His major four writings on mystical theology The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love are a priceless treasure to those seeking spiritual growth and union with God whilst on earth. He himself was a spiritual guide to several religious including St. Teresa of Avila whom he joined in reforming the Carmelite Order.

Early life:

Juan de la Cruz, was born in 1542 as the third child to his parents. His father, Gonzalo de Ypes belonged to a noble family but was rejected by them when he married his mother who belonged to a lower class. John lost his father when he was an infant leaving the burden of raising him and his two brothers on his mother. She worked as a weaver but struggled to raise them. When the eldest son, Luis died, the family moved to Arevalo and later to Median del Campo.

Saint John was enrolled into a Catechism school where he received education in faith. It was similar to an orphanage where he received food and shelter and basic training in skilled labour such as tailoring, woodcarving, carpentry and painting. Later he went to live at the hospital of Nostra Senora de la Concepcion where he worked as a male nurse. There he continued his studies at the Jesuit College and graduated in 1563. In the same year, he entered the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at St. Anne’s in Medina del Campo and received the name John of St. Mattias. After his novitiate, he spent four years studying at the Carmelite College of St. Andrew and at the University of Salamanca. He was a brilliant student and attained proficiency in literature, philosophy and theology. He was ordained a priest in 1567 and first assigned as a tutor to the young Carmelites of St. Anne Monastery in Medina del Campo.

Vocational life:

It was here that he met Saint Teresa of Avila who had the calling to reform the Carmelite Order and was looking for a priest to help her with the reformation of the male Order of Carmelites. At that time, Saint John in turn was keen on joining the Carthusian Order because he wanted to spend more time in prayer and contemplation. After their first meeting, he changed his mind when Saint Teresa asked him to help her reform the Order. On November 28, 1568, the first house of male Discalced Carmelites opened at Duruelo. From this time onward, St. John took the name John of the Cross. He was the first the wear the habit of the Reformed Discalced Friars and is regarded as the first of the Discalced Carmelite Friars and the Father of the Reform. He held many offices which began with being the Novice Master, Rector of the Reformed Carmelites at Alcala and chaplain of the Sisters of Avila. After his imprisonment he founded the Carmelite College at Baeza and was Prior at ElCalvario near Beas in Andalusia, Los Martires near Granda and Our Lady of Carmel at Segovia. He was also a definitor and counsellor of the Reformed province and the Vicar Provincial of Andalusia from 1585-1587. He was also the spiritual director of St. Teresa of Avila. The Reformed Carmelites obtained autonomy as a province in 1580 and became a religious order in 1593.

Imprisonment & Trials:

It was during his years of imprisonment that he wrote some of his most valuable literary works. He was caught in the dispute between the Carmelites of the Mitigate Observance and the Carmelites of the Reform. It was a conflict of authority between the Prior General of the Carmelite Order and the Papal Nuncio in Spain. After the death of the Nunico who supported the reform, the succeeding nuncio was hostile to the Reform and had many of the Reformed Carmelite Fathers arrested. St. John too was imprisoned in December 1577 and kept in a monastery in Toledo in a small room, ten feet by six with very little light streaming in from a small slit in the wall. He was locked up for nine months and several cruelties were meted out to him there. All the letters of St. Teresa of Avila to the King of Spain, Philip II were of no avail. However, in the darkenss of the cell, St. John of the Cross composed some of his greatest poems including his book The Spiritual Canticle. He later escaped from his prison and was sheltered by the Discalced Carmelite nuns who found for him a temporary refuge in the Hospital of Santa Cruz.

Literary works:

His major literary works are The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love. He was a master in mystical theology and all his major works are priceless treasures for contemplative souls desiring to achieve union with God on earth. In declaring St. John of the Cross a Doctor of the Church Pope Pius XI said: “Although they deal with difficult and learned questions, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul and The Living Flame of Love and other works and letters of his abound in such great spiritual doctrine and are so adapted to the insight of the readers that with merit they can be seen as a codex and a school for the faithful soul which strives to attain to a more perfect life.”

Death and Sainthood:

In 1591 he developed a fever and ulcers on his legs. He chose to spend his time in Ubeda where he was little known and the local superior was known to be hostile to him. At Ubeda, his illness worsened as the inflammation spread to his back. On December 13, 1591 St. John repeatedly asked “What time is it? Tonight I have to go to say Matins in Heaven.” At 11.30 p.m. he called for the friars to come and pray with him. As the bell of the church struck midnight, he kissed his crucifix and said “ Into Thy hands I commend my spirit” and quietly breathed his last. The next day, huge crowds gathered to view his body and take pieces of his habit as relics. He was laid to rest in Ubeda.

Two years later his body was secretly moved to the monastery in Segovia. Following a petition from the people of Ubeda, Pope Clement VIII, issued a Brief on 15 October 1596 ordering the return of the body to Ubeda. Today a hand and a leg are kept in a reliquary at the Oratory of San Juan de la Cruz in Ubeda which was built in 1627. He was beatified in 1675 by Pope Clement X and canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. He was honoured with the title ‘Doctor of the Church’ by Pope Pius XI in 1926.