Readings:
Psalm 121
Song of Solomon 3:1-4
Colossians 4:2-6
John 16:12-15, 25-28Preface of God the Son
PRAYER (traditional language)
Judge eternal, throned in splendor, who gavest Juan de la Cruz strength
of purpose and mystical faith that sustained him even through the dark
night of the soul: Shed thy light on all who love thee, in unity with
Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and
reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Judge eternal, throned in splendor, you gave Juan de la Cruz strength
of purpose and mystical faith that sustained him even through the dark
night of the soul: Shed your light on all who love you, in unity with
Jesus Christ our Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Thei commemoration adopted provisionally at General Convention 2009
Return to Lectionary Home Page
Webmaster: Charles Wohlers
Last updated: 31 October 2009
JUAN DE LA CRUZ (JOHN OF THE CROSS)
MYSTIC, 1591
John
of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz) (24 June 1542 — 14 December 1591),
born Juan de Yepes Alvarez, was a major figure of the Catholic Reformation,
a Spanish mystic, and Carmelite friar and priest.
He was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, as a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. He is also known for his writings. Both his poetry and his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and one of the peaks of all Spanish literature. He was canonized as a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII. He is one of the thirty-three Doctors of the Church.
John of the Cross is considered one of the foremost poets in the Spanish language. Although his complete poems add up to less than 2500 verses, two of them—the Spiritual Canticle and Dark Night of the Soul are widely considered to be among the best poems ever written in Spanish, both for their formal stylistic point of view and their rich symbolism and imagery.
St. John also wrote four treatises on mystical theology, two of them concerning the two poems above, and supposedly explaining the meaning of the poems verse by verse and even word by word.
The third work, Ascent of Mount Carmel is a more systematic study of the ascetical endeavour of a soul looking for perfect union, God, and the mystical events happening along the way. A four stanza work, Living Flame of Love describes a greater intimacy, as the soul responds to God's love. These, together with his Dichos de Luz y Amor, or "Sayings of Light and Love," and St. Teresa's writings, are the most important mystical works in Spanish, and have deeply influenced later spiritual writers all around the world.
more at Wikipedia
All the above works are available in a single volume, The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross, published by the Carmelites. Several are also online at CCEL.