St John of the Cross

Word for the day

“More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3:8

Life

Juan de Yepes was born in 1542 at Fontiveros in Spain, into a poor family; his father died when he was a child. He worked in a hospital while studying with the Jesuits, and in 1563 he entered the Carmelite Order. He studied at Salamanca and was ordained priest in 1567.

That year he met St Teresa of Ávila, who was reforming the Carmelite nuns, and she asked him to help her begin the same reform among the friars. He became one of the first Discalced Carmelites, taking the name John of the Cross.

The reform met strong opposition. In 1577 John was taken by force and imprisoned for about nine months in a tiny cell in Toledo, where he was beaten and humiliated. There, in darkness, he composed poems of love for God. In 1578 he escaped.

He served as superior and spiritual director and wrote great works on prayer: The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love. He died at Úbeda on 14 December 1591. He was canonised in 1726 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926.

Lessons

God alone

Let go of everything that is not God, in order to find God.

The dark night

Dryness and suffering can be God's purification.

Love without measure

In the evening of life we will be judged on love.

Stories

The prison in Toledo (history)

In 1577 John was held in a narrow cell in the Carmelite priory at Toledo for about nine months. There he composed much of the Spiritual Canticle. He escaped by night in 1578.

Teresa's little Seneca (history)

St Teresa of Ávila affectionately called the small John her little Seneca, praising his wisdom.

Words of the saint

In the evening of life, we will be examined on love.
St John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love, in substance

Homily

1. Everything as loss

Like St Paul, John counted all things loss for Christ.

2. The dark night

God purifies us when we feel nothing.

3. Judged on love

At the end, only love remains.

Dear friends, St John of the Cross was a small Carmelite friar with a very big heart. With St Teresa of Ávila he worked to renew the Carmelite Order. For this he was imprisoned by his own brothers, locked in a dark cell, beaten and humiliated.

In that darkness he wrote some of the most beautiful love poems ever written, poems of the soul's love for God. Like St Paul, he regarded everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8).

John teaches about the dark night: times when prayer is dry and God seems absent. He says that these times are not punishment, but God's way of purifying our love, so that we love Him for Himself and not for His gifts.

He also said that in the evening of life we will be examined on love. If you are going through a dark night, do not give up. Keep praying, keep loving. God is closer than you think. Amen.

Prayer

O God, you gave St John of the Cross a great love of the Cross and of self-denial; grant that we may follow his example and come to see your glory for ever. Amen.