Saint John of the Cross
Feast day: December 14
Saint John of the Cross, Carmelite priest, mystic poet and Doctor of the Church (14/12)
Who is he?
Saint John of the Cross was a Carmelite priest who lived in Spain in the 16th century. He is a great poet of the Spanish language and a teacher of the life of prayer. In 1926, Pope Pius XI declared him a Doctor of the Church.
Life story
His name was Juan de Yepes, and he was born in 1542 in the village of Fontiveros. His father died when the boy was only about three, and his mother had to take her children from place to place to earn a living. As he grew up, he worked in a hospital in Medina del Campo, caring for the sick, while also going to school with the Jesuit fathers.
In 1563, he entered the Carmelite Order. In 1567, he was ordained a priest and met Saint Teresa of Avila. Teresa wanted to bring the Carmelite Order back to the poverty, silence and prayer of its beginnings. He eagerly joined her in this work. In 1568, he founded the first house of friars of the renewed Order and took the name “John of the Cross.”
The renewal caused bitter disagreements inside the Carmelite Order itself. At the end of 1577, some of his own fellow friars locked him in a dark, cramped cell in Toledo. For many months he suffered cold and hunger and was treated badly. But right there in that dark prison, he felt God very close and wrote beautiful verses such as the “Spiritual Canticle.” In August 1578, he managed to escape.
Later, he was superior of several houses, guiding friars and lay people in prayer. He wrote famous books such as “The Dark Night of the Soul” and “The Living Flame of Love.” He died in Úbeda in the night between 13 and 14 December 1591. In 1726, he was declared a saint.
Why is he a saint?
Saint John of the Cross loved God with all his heart, accepted suffering, and forgave those who had made him suffer. He taught that when things feel dark and hard, God is still leading us closer to him. Like Saint Paul, he boasted of nothing except the cross of Jesus (cf. Gal 6:14).
A lesson for you
- When you are sad or going through something hard, look at the crucifix and talk with Jesus.
- Practice being silent for a few minutes every day to listen to God.
Identifying marks
- A crucifix, with his eyes turned toward it: his religious name is “John of the Cross”; he loved the crucified Lord above everything.
- A book and a quill pen: he was a poet and the author of books that teach prayer, and was declared a Doctor of the Church.
- A brown habit, a brown scapular and a white cloak: the clothing of the Discalced Carmelites.
- A head shaved round on top (the old style for monks), a small build: he was short; according to tradition, Saint Teresa of Avila jokingly called him “half a friar.”
- A starry night sky, hills and a castle of Castile: a reminder of his famous poem “The Dark Night,” about the soul searching for God in the night of faith.
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