St. John of The Cross

Juan (John) de Yepes was born on June 24, 1542 in Old Castile. His parents were poor silk weavers; his father had been disinherited by his family because he had married below his rank. Juan’s father died young and his mother struggled to feed her children. Juan was a good student at a school for the poor, but failed when trying to learn a trade. He began working in a hospital and attending a school run by the Jesuits. While praying he was inspired to join the Carmelites and he took the habit in 1563, taking the name John of St. Matthias. He received permission to follow the more ancient, rigorous rule of the Order and he was ordained in 1567. Desiring more solitude, he was considering leaving the Carmelites to join the Carthusians when he met St. Teresa of Avila. St. Teresa persuaded him to remain a Carmelite and help her reform the men’s branch of the order as she was already doing for the nuns. When a small house was offered to them, John and other friars began living according to the ancient Carmelite rule in November 1568. John took the name John of the Cross and became master of the reform’s novices. He then became confessor at the convent of the Incarnation where Teresa was prioress. The reform of the Carmelite friars spread rapidly, but there was confusion when friars of the older branch of the order and the reformed friars began giving different orders. When John of the Cross refused to go back to the monastery where he was professed, the provincial of the older order had him arrested and imprisoned at a monastery in Toledo for nine months. Fearing his life was in danger from the poor food and other ill treatment, John made his escape out a window, shimming down bed sheets he had sewn together. After he recovered, he was able to help found several other monasteries. There was even conflict among the reformed friars themselves as to how strict the rule should be and John supported the moderate position. John’s support of the nuns in their attempt to get papal approval for their order’s constitutions and his opposition to an attempt to switch government of the order to a permanent committee, angered his superior, who deprived him of his offices in the order and assigned him to a poor monastery. John fell seriously ill and died December 14, 1591. John of the Cross is one of the Church’s greatest mystics and one of Spain’s most talented poets. His works include: “The Ascent of Mount Carmel” and the “Dark Night of the Soul.” He has given the world the classic explanation of the stages through which a soul goes through on its journey to sanctity. John of the Cross was canonized in 1726 and made a Doctor of the Church in 1926.