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Also known
as: Doctor of Mystical Theology
Profile
Born in poverty. Cared for the poor in the hospital in Medina. Lay
Carmelite brother at age 21, though he lived stricter than their Rule.
Studied at Salamanca. Carmelite priest at age 25. Persuaded by Saint
Teresa of Avila to begin the Discalced or barefoot reform within the
Carmelite Order, he took the name John of the Cross. His reforms did not
set well with some of his brothers, and he was imprisoned, escaping after
nine months. His reforms revitalized the Order. Great contemplative and
spiritual writer. Proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI on 24
August 1926.
Born: 24 June 1542 at Fontiveros, Spain
Died: 14 December 1591 at Ubeda
Beatified: 25 January 1675 by Pope Clement X
Canonized: 27 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII
Name Meaning: God is gracious (= John)
Patronage: contemplative life, contemplatives, mystical theology,
mystics, Spanish poets
Readings
Never was fount so clear,
undimmed and bright;
From it alone, I know proceeds all light
although 'tis night.
Saint John of the Cross
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Just as we can never separate asceticism from mysticism, so in Saint John
of the Cross we find darkness and light, suffering and joy, sacrifice and
love united together so closely that they seem at times to be identified.
Thomas Merton
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If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in
perfection.
Saint John of the Cross
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In detachment, the spirit finds quiet and repose for coveting nothing.
Nothing wearies it by elation, and nothing oppresses it by dejection,
because it stands in the center of its own humility.
Saint John of the Cross
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The Lord measures our perfection neither by the multitude nor the
magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them.
Saint John of the Cross
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I wish I could persuade spiritual persons that the way of perfection does
not consist in many devices, nor in much cogitation, but in denying
themselves completely and yielding themselves to suffer everything for the
love of Christ. And if there is failure in this exercise, all other
methods of walking in the spiritual way are merely a beating about the
bush, and profitless trifling, although a person should have very high
contemplation and communication with God.
Saint John of the Cross
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Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart
will never be made captive by any earthly thing.
Saint John of the Cross
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O you souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if you
knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in acquiring
other good things, you would never seek consolation in anything; but you
would rather look upon it as a great happiness to bear the Cross of the
Lord.
Saint John of the Cross
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Though holy doctors have uncovered many mysteries and wonders, and devout
souls have understood them in this earthly condition of ours, yet the
greater part still remains to be unfolded by them, and even to be
understood by them.
We must then dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many
pockets containing treasures: however deep we dig, we will never find
their end or their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh
riches are discovered on all sides.
For this reason the apostle Paul said of Christ, "In him are hidden all
the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God." The soul cannot enter
into these treasures, nor attain them, unless it first crosses into and
enters the thicket of suffering, enduring interior and exterior labors,
and unless it first receives from God very many blessings in the intellect
and in the senses, and has undergone long spiritual training.
The gate that gives entry into these riches of his wisdom is the cross;
because it is a narrow gate, while many seek the joys that can be gained
through it, it is given to few to desire to pass through it.
from a spiritual canticle by Saint John of the Cross
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In giving us His Son, His only Word, He spoke everything to us at once in
this sole Word -- and He has no more to say ... because what he spoke
before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving
us the All Who is His Son.
Saint John of the Cross
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj23.htm |
