By Ian Wilson
The celebrated mystic, St. John of the Cross, was born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez on June 24, 1542, in Fontiveros, Spain. Even as a child, John knew he wanted to live the ascetic life. After the untimely death of his father and older brother when John was only three years old, John was sent to a boarding school for poor orphaned children. There, he received a religious education, and served as an acolyte at an Augustinian monastery.
In 1563, John joined the Carmelite order under the name John St. Matthias. The following year, he took his vows and went to the university to pursue a theological education. There he became highly knowledgeable in the Scriptures, translating the Song of Solomon from Latin into Spanish – forbidden at the time.
In 1567, at the age of 25, John was ordained a priest. It was about this time that he encountered a very special nun named Theresa of Avila. Theresa invited John to join her and her group of Carmelites, who were attempting to reform the order to a more rigorous discipline. John, attracted by their discipline and simplicity, became Theresa’s spiritual director.
Now, there was a split developing in the Carmelite order between the discalced (barefoot) Carmelites – Theresa’s order – and the ordinary Carmelites. Theresa and John were attempting to return the order back to its original strict discipline, while others were trying to keep the more relaxed rules of the order. This led to a great deal of controversy in the Catholic Church, which ultimately led to John’s imprisonment.
In 1577, John had been ordered to leave Avila; however, a papal nuncio, a higher authority, instructed him to stay and continue reform, so he obeyed the nuncio’s order. Late at night, John was kidnapped by a group of rogue Carmelites, taken to Toledo, put on trial there and imprisoned.
John was treated rather poorly by his captors, but he used his time well, praying and writing beautiful poetry, much of which can still be read today. He was a gifted poet, influencing many other artists down the centuries. Finally, after nine months in prison, John escaped, and rejoined Theresa’s nuns. After spending some time in the hospital to recover from his poor treatment, John returned to the ministry, traveling to Baeza to act as rector of the new college there.
In the year 1580, Pope Gregory formally ended the dispute within the Carmelites by splitting the order between the ordinary Carmelites and the discalced Carmelites.
John spent the remainder of his life establishing new monastic houses across Spain, before succumbing to a skin infection in 1591.
May we all aspire to be so disciplined in our walk with Christ.
LogoSophia Magazine 