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Saint John of the Cross - I abandoned and forgot myself, laying my face on my
Beloved; all things ceased; I went out from myself, leaving my cares forgotten
among the lilies. John of the Cross is one of the acknowledged masters of
mystical theology. It is thought among present day theologians that there is no
other writer who has had a greater influence on Catholic spirituality than John
of the Cross. He is a canonized saint of the Catholic Church and was made a
Doctor of the Church because of his extreme influence on present day doctrine.
His dedication as a leader in service is surpassed only by his deep faith in the
workings of the Trinity through Jesus on earth as a model and the Holy Spirit as
our guide to a life of spirituality. John of the Cross was born Juan de Yepes in
1542 to a poor family of Spanish nobility.
When John was a boy, he attended a school for poor children, gaining a basic
education, and the opportunity to learn skills from local craftsmen. When he was
17, John began to work at the Plague Hospital de la Concepcion, and its founder
offered to let him attend the Jesuit College, so long as he did not neglect his
hospital duties. From 1559 to 1563, John studied with the Jesuits, learning
Latin, Greek, and other subjects. He was offered the chance to study for the
secular priesthood, which would have given him material security, but he felt
God was calling him to Religious life. At age 20, he entered the Carmelite
Order, being clothed with the habit on February 24, 1563, and taking the name
Juan de Santo Matia (John of Saint Matthias). He was ordained in 1567, and said
his first Mass in Medina del Campo. During that trip, he first met Teresa of
Avila, and she encouraged him to promote her reform among the men's Order.
John spent much of his time working for the reformation of the Carmelite
Order and in the overall service of others. However, there were said problems
with his ideas of reform from certain members of his Order. On the night of
December 2, 1577, a group of Carmelites, lay people, and men-at-arms broke into
John’s quarters, seized him, and took him away. The men led John away,
handcuffed, and blindfolded, to a monastery in Toledo. John stood accused of
being rebellious and as an overall threat to the Order.
John would have to submit to the demands of the Order, or undergo severe
punishment. Nonetheless, John refused to renounce the reform in which he so
truly had faith. John was locked up in the monastery prison because of his
strong convictions toward reform. He was placed in a windowless dark room of six
by ten feet, with little light, and with little air. This hole of a cell was
exposed to the terribly cold winter months and the suffocating heat of the
summer months. This, aside for the beatings, the filth, the forced fasting, and
the lice, made it an unfavorable situation for anyone.
However, John did not see the situation as the rest of humanity would see it.
John found the situation to be a blessing because he was able to remove all of
his earthly needs and desires, and find the true place where God was hidden. God
brought John his greatest joys in those times of pain and suffering. In a sense,
the oppressors whom imprisoned John, gave him what he truly wanted. God. In
time, John was able to escape the prison cell in which he was held by physically
unscrewing the bolts on his door. Thought to be achieved miraculously by some,
John was able to creep past the guards, climb down the wall, and regain his
freedom. From the time of his escape until the time of his death, John devoted
his life to the sharing and explaining of his experience of the Lord’s grace and
love.
Saint John of the Cross, in the darkness of your worst moments, when you were
alone and persecuted, you found God. Help me to have faith that God is there
especially in the times when God seems absent and far away. Amen. After his time
in the monastery prison and his eventual escape, John was able to again take up
his mission of reform far away from the conflicts and threats that impeded him
prior. He never cared to go over the past and talk about his imprisonment. He
bore no animosity toward his oppressors; nor did he complain or boast about the
suffering that he had endured. Because of his experience, John was now more than
ever before, able to appreciate the natural world around him. John was now able
to listen to all of nature through his senses; the flowers, the whistling
breezes, the night, the dawn; all were manifestations of the Lord. This seemed
to be one of John’s only vices, if it could fairly be called that. John could
not easily resist the enchantment of nature. John was ver much human. The
rushing streams, the flowers in the field, the vast mountains, and all of nature
spoke to him. God was present everywhere. “Come and see these little creatures
of God.
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