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Life of Saint John of the Cross

He was born in Fontiveros, province of Ávila (Spain), around the year 1542. After a few years in the Carmelite Order, he was, at the request of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the first to declare himself in favor of his reform, for which he endured innumerable sufferings and works. He died in Ubeda in 1591, with a great reputation for holiness and wisdom, of which his spiritual writings bear precious witness.

Life of Poverty

Gonzalo de Yepes belonged to a good family in Toledo, but since he married a «lower» class girl, he was disinherited by his parents and had to earn a living as a silk weaver. Upon Gonzalo’s death, his wife, Catalina Alvarez, was left destitute and with three children. Jitan, who was the youngest, was born in Fontiveros, in Old Castile, in 1542.

He attended a school for poor children in Medina del Campo and began to learn the trade of weaving, but since he had no skills, he later went to work as a servant for the director of the hospital in Medina del Campo. Thus he spent seven years. At the same time that he continued his studies at the Jesuit college, he practiced rude bodily mortifications.

At the age of twenty-one, he took the habit in the convent of the Carmelites in Medina del Campo. His religious name was Juan de San Matías. After making profession, he requested and obtained permission to observe the original rule of Carmel, without making use of the mitigations (permissions to relax the rules) that various Pontiffs had approved and were then common in all convents.

San Juan would have wanted to be a lay brother, but his superiors did not allow it. After having successfully completed his theology studies, he was ordained a priest in 1567. The graces he received with the priesthood inflamed his desire for greater retirement, so that he came to think of entering the Charterhouse.

Meet Saint Teresa

Santa Teresa founded the convents of the reformed branch of the Carmelites at that time. When she heard about brother Juan, in Medina del Campo, the saint met with him, she was amazed at her religious spirit and told him that God called him to sanctify himself in the order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She also told him that the prior general had given her permission to found two reformed convents for men and that he should be her first instrument in this great undertaking. The reform of Carmel launched by Santa Teresa and San Juan was not intended to change the order or «modernize» it, but rather to restore and revitalize its original mission which had been greatly mitigated. At the same time that they managed to be faithful to their origins, the holiness of these reformers instilled a new richness in the Carmelites that has been reflected in their writings and in the example of their lives and continues to be a great wealth of spirituality.

Shortly after, the foundation of the first convent of Discalced Carmelites was carried out, in a dilapidated house in Duruelo. Saint John entered that new Bethlehem with a perfect spirit of sacrifice. About two months later, he was joined by two other friars. The three of them renewed their profession on Advent Sunday of 1568, and our saint took the name of Juan de la Cruz. It was a prophetic choice. Little by little the fame of that obscure convent spread so that Saint Teresa was able to found another in Pastrana and a third in Mancera, where she transferred the friars of Duruelo. In 1570, the convent of Alcalá was inaugurated, which was also a college of the university; San Juan was named rector.

With his example, Saint John knew how to inspire the religious with the spirit of solitude, humility and mortification. But God, who wanted to purify his heart of all human weakness and attachment, subjected him to the most severe internal and external tests. After having enjoyed the delights of contemplation, Saint John found himself deprived of all devotion. Added to this period of spiritual dryness were turmoil,scruples and repugnance for spiritual exercises. While the devil attacked him with violent temptations, men persecuted him with slander.

The most terrible test was undoubtedly that of scruples and inner desolation, which the saint describes in «The Dark Night of the Soul». This was followed by an even more painful period of darkness, spiritual suffering and temptations, so that Saint John felt abandoned by God. But the flood of divine light and love that followed this trial was the reward for the patience with which the servant of God had endured it.

glories to God

In 1571, Saint Teresa obediently assumed the office of superior in the unreformed convent of La Encarnación de Avila and called Saint John of the Cross to her side to be her spiritual director and her confessor. The saint wrote to her sister: «She is working wonders here. The people hold him for a saint. In my opinion, he is and always has been.» Both religious and lay people sought out Saint John, and God confirmed his ministry with evident miracles.

Meanwhile, serious difficulties arose between the Discalced Carmelites and the mitigated. Although the superior general had authorized Santa Teresa to undertake the reform, the old friars considered it a rebellion against the order; on the other hand, it must be recognized that some of the barefoot were tactless and exaggerated their powers and rights. As if that were not enough, the prior general, the general chapter and the papal nuncios gave contradictory orders. Finally, in 1577, the provincial of Castilla ordered San Juan to return to the convent of Medina del Campo. The saint refused to do so, alleging that he had been assigned to Avila by the Pope’s nuncio. Then the provincial sent a group of armed men, who broke into the Avila convent and took San Juan by force. Knowing that the people of Avila professed great veneration for the saint, they transferred him to Toledo.

As Juan refused to abandon the reform, they locked him in a narrow and dark cell and mistreated him incredibly. This shows how little the spirit of Jesus Christ had penetrated into those who professed to follow him.

Suffering and union with God

San Juan’s cell was about three meters long by two meters wide. The only window was so small and so high that the saint had to stand on a bench to read the office. By order of Jerónimo Tostado, Vicar General of the Carmelites of Spain and consultant to the Inquisition, he was beaten so brutally that he kept his scars until death. What San Juan suffered then coincides exactly with the pains described by Saint Teresa in the «Sixth Mansion»: insults, slander, physical pain, spiritual anguish and temptations to give in. Later he said: «Do not be surprised that I love suffering very much. God gave me an idea of its great value when I was imprisoned in Toledo.»

The first poems of Saint John, which are like a voice crying out in the desert, reflect his state of mind:

where did you hide
Beloved, and left me moaning?
like the deer you fled,
having hurt me;
I went out after you crying, and you were gone.

On the eve of the Assumption, Prior Maldonado entered that cell that gave off a pestilential odor under the torrid summer heat and kicked the saint, who was lying down, to announce his visit. San Juan asked for his forgiveness, because his weakness had prevented him from getting up as soon as he saw him enter. «You seemed absorbed. What were you thinking about?» Maldonado told him.

I was thinking that tomorrow is the feast of Our Lady and it would be a great happiness to be able to celebrate mass,» replied Juan.

«You won’t do it while I’m superior,» Maldonado replied.

On the night of the Assumption, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her afflicted servant, and told him: «Be patient, my son; this Test will soon end.»

A few days later she appeared to him again and showed him, in her vision, a window that overlooked the Tagus: «You will go out there and I will help you.» Indeed, after nine months in prison, the saint was granted the grace to do a few minutes of exercise. Juan went through the building looking for the window he had seen. As soon as he had recognized her, he returned to his cell. By then he had already begun to loosen the hinges on the door. That same night he managed to open the door and was lowered down by a rope that he had made with sheets and clothes. The two friars who were sleeping near the window did not see him. As the rope was too short, San Juan had to let himself fall along the wall to the river bank, although fortunately he was not hurt. Immediately, he followed a dog into a yard. In this way he managed to escape. Given the circumstances, his escape was a miracle.