About
St. John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross was a Spanish Mystic, who lived from 1542 to 1591. The Catholic Church beatified him in 1675, and he was canonized in 1726. He belonged to the religious order known as the Discalced (or reformed) Carmelites, a group that broke away form the main branch of the order known as the Calced Carmelites. The main branch of the order kidnapped and jailed him twice. Much of his writing was done while in prison.

As a Discalced Carmelite, he seved as Rector of two colleges, Prior, Definator, and Vicar-Provincial. He also served as a confessor to the Carmelite nuns at Ávila, where St. Teresa was Superior. On several occassions his writings were brought before the Spanish Inquisition, but they were never condemned by the Inquisition.

Christain Mysticism | Quotations drawn from John of the Cross | Bibliographic references | ©1999 by D. Platt