Purchase
On Line Now
St.
John of the Cross
1542-1591
Feast
Day November 24
The father
of St. John was discarded by his kindred for marrying a poor orphan,
and the Saint, thus born and nurtured in poverty, chose it also for
his portion. Unable to learn a trade, he became the servant of the
poor in the hospital of Medina, while still pursuing his sacred studies.
In 1563, being then twenty-one, he humbly offered himself as a lay-brother
to the Carmelite friars, who, however, knowing his talents, had him
ordained priest.
He would
now have exchanged to the severe Carthusian Order, had not St. Teresa,
with the instinct of a Saint, persuaded him to remain and help her
in the reform of his own Order. Thus he became the first prior of the
Barefooted Carmelites. His reform, though approved by the general,
was rejected by the elder friars, who condemned the Saint as a fugitive
and apostate, and cast him into prison, whence he only escaped, after
nine months' suffering, at the risk of his life. Twice again, before
his death, he was shamefully persecuted by his brethren, and publicly
disgraced. But his complete abandonment by creatures only deepened
his interior peace and devout longing for heaven.
"the
greatest of all mystical theologians"
Thus
has Thomas Merton described St. John of the Cross, echoing the considered
judgment of most authorities on the spiritual life; and here in this
volume is the great mystic's most widely appealing work. Ascent of
Mount Carmel is an incomparable guide to the spiritual life -- because
its author has lived his own counsel. Addressed to informed Christians
who aspire to grow in union with God, it examines every category of
spiritual experience, the spurious as well as the authentic. With rare
insight into human psychology it not only tells how to become more
closely united with God, but spells out in vivid detail the pitfalls
to avoid.
In
his Apostolic Letter proclaiming St. John of the Cross a Doctor of
the Church, Pope Pius XI wrote that he "points out to souls the
way of perfection as though illumined by light from on high, in his
limpidly clear analysis of mystical experience. And although
[his works] deal with difficult and hidden matters, they are nevertheless
replete with such lofty spiritual doctrine and are so well adapted
to the understanding of those who study them that they can rightly
be called a guide and handbook for the man of faith who proposes to
embrace a life of perfection."
The
translation of Ascent of Mt. Carmel by E. Allison Peers was hailed
by the London Times as "the most faithful that has appeared in
any European language."
St.
John of the Cross was perhaps the greatest mystical writer the world
has ever known. Bossuet's famous tribute -- that his writings "possess
the same authority in mystical theology as the writings of St. Thomas
possess in dogmatic theology" -- remains the most fitting testimonial
to his august place among spiritual writers.
John
was born in Castile in 1542 -- eve of Spain's century of greatness,
to which he himself was to add such lustre. He studied under
the Jesuits and worked for six years in a hospital. Entering
the Carmelites in 1563, he was professed a year later and sent to the
great University of Salamanca. He was ordained in 1567 but, shrinking
from the apostolate of a priest in the world, considered entering the
Carthusians, a hermitical order.
Then
came the turning point in his life. He met St. Teresa of Avila,
who was pursuing her epic work of restoring the pristine, stricter
observance of the Carmelite rule. John and two other members
of the order took the vows of the Discalced (or reformed) Carmelites
the following year, binding themselves to a more rigorous way of life
which included daily (and nightly) recitation of the Divine Office
in choir, perpetual abstinence from meat, and additional fasting.
Yet
his religious vows were but a part of the rigors John was to undergo.
The main branch of the order, the Calced Carmelites, so opposed the
Reform that they twice had John kidnapped and jailed -- providentially,
so it proved, for much of his writing was done in prison.
The
greater part of his twenty-three years as a Discalced Carmelite, however,
was spent in filling a number of important posts in the order, among
them Rector of two colleges, Prior, Definator, and Vicar-Provincial.
But it was in one of his lesser offices that he was to spend the most
decisive years of his life: he was confessor to the Carmelite nuns
at Avila, where St. Teresa was Superior.
The
secret of St. John's unique contribution to mystical theology was not
simply his mysticism, for there have been other mystics; not even his
profound grasp of Scripture, dogma, Thomism, and spiritual literature,
for there have also been learned mystics. What sets him apart
is his extraordinary poetic vision. To write of mystical experience
is to try to express the inexpressible. Because he was a great
poet St. John of the Cross was able, in the realm of mysticism, to
push the frontiers of human expression beyond where any writer has
succeeded in venturing before or since. This poetic intensity
is found even in his prose, the major works of which are Ascent of
Mount Carmel, Dark Night of the Soul, Spiritual Canticle, and Living
Flame of Love.
St.
John of the Cross died in 1591, was beatified less than a century later
in 1675, was canonized in 1726, and was named a Doctor of the Church
by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
Reflection.
-- "Live in the world," said St. John, "as if God and
your soul only were in it; so shall your heart be never made captive
by any earthly thing."
Click
on the book title below to begin reading!
Ascent
of Mt. Carmel
Dark
Night of the Soul
A
Spiritual Canticle of the Soul
