Sixteenth-century Spanish Carmelite priest and Doctor of the Church, author of The Dark Night and other spiritual works.
Life
Saint John of the Cross was born Juan de Yepes in 1542 to a poor family in Fontiveros, Spain. He lost his father as a child and grew up in hardship, continuing his studies while working in a hospital. He entered the Carmelites in 1563 and was ordained a priest in 1567.
Around that time he met Teresa of Avila, and in 1568 at Duruelo he began the reform of the Discalced Carmelite friars. In 1577, opponents of the reform locked him in a cell of their monastery in Toledo for nearly nine months; in that darkness he composed the poetry of the Spiritual Canticle, and he escaped the following year. He wrote The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night and The Living Flame of Love.
He died in Úbeda in 1591, was canonized in 1726 and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926. The Church remembers him on December 14.
Spirituality
The spirituality of John of the Cross is the way through the dark night to union with God in love. He taught that times of dryness and suffering are times when God purifies the soul. His saying that in the evening of life we will be judged on love shows where that road leads.
Reflection
Dark seasons when God feels far away come to everyone. Trusting that even such times may be the Lord leading you, would you keep your place of prayer today, even briefly?