Today December 14

Today is the (new) feast of St. John of the Cross (1543 - 1591); his old feast being November 24th. Born John de Yepes in a town near Avila to a poor weaver (who'd come from wealth but had been disowned for marrying a lower-class woman), John grew up without a father (he'd died when John was just a baby), worked hard in school and at the hospital joined the Carmelites and went to the University of Salamanca. In 1567 he met his great female platonic friend, St. Teresa of Avila, who convinced him to reform the friars (as she had already reformed the Carmelite nuns.) She could get away with teasing him. When he came to the convent with another friar, she said, "With John here, we have a monk and a half!" (He was of a rather short stature.) He was intelligent and holy, and endowed with "extraordinary sweetness of nature." He completed the reform of the Carmelite friars in 1568 (not that everybody accepted it). You'd think such a good man -- a poet -- wouldn't be controversial, but you'd be wrong. He was kidnapped twice by disgruntled brothers in the Faith and even once imprisoned by the Inquisition! It was in prison he wrote some of his finest works.

And it is by his wonderful mystical writings that we best know him. Through these books we open a door on spirituality for everyone. The basis of each person's relationship with God is love. But it's no passive thing. We don't gain friendship with God without working at it. We prepare on earth for that great face-to-Face meeting in heaven. We prepare with prayer, with faithfulness, and through trials and suffering. And we will, at the end, be examined on our love. John said: "Love is the inclination of the soul, the strength and power by which it goes to God, for by means of love the soul is united to God."

One of the most powerful images of this love is the union of two married people. "Even as in the consummation of marriage according to the flesh the two become one flesh, as Scripture says, so when this spiritual marriage between God and the soul is consummated there are two natures in one spirit and love of God."

But through it all, he remained very rational and logical. Mystical and endowed with great ecstasies as he was, he still saw that spirituality that is not rooted in reason is the most dangerous of delusions. He was spiritual adviser to the sisters and he categorically told them to IGNORE all visions they had, and to just keep going in their state in life. I love that. I wish more folks would follow his eminently reasonable advice. Next time you get a vision and a message, don't rush out to write it down and broadcast it, but just keep living your life in humility and goodness. If God wants something done, it will get done.

And finally, he must have felt somewhat of a failure, or at least ineffectual, since his much-worked-for reform was actively fought, and even though he was (briefly) appointed prior in Segovia, he was deprived of his office and died in semi-exile, if not actual disgrace, in Ubeda. But despite these crosses, he never wavered, he never surrendered. He has been called the greatest mystic in the Christian tradition. Gifted with great graces and mystical experiences, he dutifully translated these into exquisite poetry and profound spiritual direction, which "have become almost the norm for interpreting the mystical ascent to God." - Anthology of Christian Mysticism. He was declared a doctor of the Church by Pius XI in 1926. His last words (said at midnight as the bell was ringing for Matins) were: "Glory be to God!" St. John of the cross, pray for us.