On 14 December the church remembers John of the Cross, poet, teacher of the faith, and Patron Saint to contemplatives, mystics and Spanish poets, 1542 – 1591.

But who was John of the Cross?

The Spanish mystic and poet John de Yepes was born in 1542 at Fontiveros, near Avila in Spain. His family had fallen upon hard times and he became a Carmelite monk in 1563 subsequently being ordained priest in 1567. Dissatisfied with the easy-going and lax ways of the Carmelites John was considering joining the Carthusians when Teresa of Avila persuaded him to remain and to help extend her reforms to the male side of the Carmelite order. In 1568 he opened the first monastery of the strict or ‘Discalced’ Carmelites, who emphasized a life of contemplation and austerity. But as reaction set in to their initial success he was imprisoned in the monastery at Toledo in 1577 from where, after nine months of great hardships, which he alleviated by beginning to write poetry, he escaped.

The formal separation of the two branches of the Carmelite order took place in 1579–80. From 1579 to 1582 John founded and was rector of the Discalced Carmelite college at Baeza. He became prior at Granada in 1582 and Segovia in 1588. But control of the new order soon fell into the hands of extremists and in 1591 the new Vicar-General removed John from office and banished him to Ubeda in Andalusia. There he suffered inhuman treatment and died after a period of severe illness at the end of that year.

But John is best known for his writings, all of which have been translated from the original Spanish into English. They are notable for combining the imagination and sensitivity of a poet with the intellectual knowledge of a theologian trained in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas. The themes of his poetry concentrate on the reconciliation of human beings with God through a series of mystical steps that begin with self-communion and renunciation of the distractions of the world.

His best known work, Noche obscura del alma, has given the phrase ‘The Dark Night of the Soul’ to the English language. Here he described the soul’s progress in seeking and finally attaining union with God through an experience parallel to Christ’s crucifixion and glory: By dark of blessed night, In secrecy, for no one saw me And I regarded nothing, My only light and guide The one that in my heart was burning. This guided, led me on More surely than the radiance of noon To where there waited one Who was to me well known, And in a place where no one came in view.

A Prayer

O God, the judge of all,
who gave your servant John of the Cross
a warmth of nature, a strength of purpose
and a mystical faith
that sustained him even in the darkness:
shed your light on all who love you
and grant them union of body and soul
in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Revd Paul A. Carr and extract from ‘Saints on Earth: A biographical companion to Common Worship’ by John H Darch and Stuart K Burns