John of the Cross

Today is the feast of St. John of the Cross, or Juan de la Cruz, born Juan de Yepes Alvarez in 1542 to a Spanish family of Jews who had converted to Christianity as part of the Inquisition. He died on this day 49 years later, after a life that is considered among the most mystically meaningful in all of Christian history. His father died when he was just three, throwing his mother and children into poverty that forced them to move from town to town in search of a meager existence. He found his way into a Jesuit school which had been founded just a few years earlier by Ignatius of Loyola, and graduated six years later and was ordained a priest, and then became a Carmelite.


In the ensuing years, he and his fellow Carmelite, Teresa of Avila, felt that the Carmelites had become too lax, and together they founded the Discalced Order of the Carmelites, so named because they went barefoot (dis-calced = barefoot). He became an outspoken proponent of the Catholic Reformation, calling for repentance from the abuses of the church hierarchy and reform of several practices. The Carmelite Order (the original, more lax order) found him such a threat that they kidnapped him and held him in a monastery for nine long months during which he was tortured with lashings ans solitary confinement before he escaped through a window.


He is best known for his coining the term "noche obscura del alma" or "dark night of the soul" and for his mystical poetry, which is simply beautiful and divine. Here is an excerpt of his most famous poem, The Spiritual Canticle, which can be found in full by clicking here. The Bride is analagous to one's soul; the Bridegroom is Christ himself.

I THE BRIDE Where have You hidden Yourself, And abandoned me in my groaning, O my Beloved? You have fled like the hart, Having wounded me. I ran after You, crying; but You were gone. II O shepherds, you who go Through the sheepcots up the hill, If you shall see Him Whom I love the most, Tell Him I languish, suffer, and die. III In search of my Love I will go over mountains and strands; I will gather no flowers, I will fear no wild beasts; And pass by the mighty and the frontiers. IV O groves and thickets Planted by the hand of the Beloved; O verdant meads Enameled with flowers, Tell me, has He passed by you?

.....


XXXIV
THE BRIDEGROOM 

The little white dove 
Has returned to the ark with the bough; 
And now the turtle-dove 
Its desired mate 
On the green banks has found.

XXXV 
In solitude she lived, 
And in solitude built her nest; 
And in solitude, alone 
Has the Beloved guided her, 
In solitude also wounded with love.




Judge eternal, throned in splendor, you gave Juan de la Cruz strength of purpose and mystical faith that sustained him even through the dark night of the soul: Shed your light on all who love you, in unity with Jesus Christ our Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.