St. John of the Cross: Patron Saint of Mystics and Poets - Life, Feast Day and Prayer
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Saint John of the Cross, Diego de Sanabria, 17th century. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
St. John of the Cross was a Spanish Carmelite friar, a reformer alongside St. Teresa of Ávila and one of the greatest poets in the Spanish language. His writings on the "dark night" of the soul have guided countless people through times of spiritual dryness. He is a Doctor of the Church and the patron of mystics and poets.
Quick Facts
Feast day: December 14
Born: June 24, 1542, Fontiveros, Spain
Died: December 14, 1591, Úbeda, Spain
Beatified: 1675, by Pope Clement X
Canonized: December 27, 1726, by Pope Benedict XIII
Doctor of the Church: 1926, by Pope Pius XI
Patron of: Mystics, contemplatives, Spanish poets
Symbols: Carmelite habit, a cross, a book and quill, an eagle
His Life
John was born Juan de Yepes in the small Castilian town of Fontiveros. His father, from a family of silk merchants, had been disowned for marrying a poor weaver, and he died when John was still a small child. His widowed mother struggled to feed her three sons, and the family moved to Medina del Campo. There John learned several trades without much success, worked in a hospital caring for the sick, and studied at a Jesuit college.
In 1563 he entered the Carmelite friars, taking the name John of St. Matthias, and he studied at the University of Salamanca. He was ordained a priest in 1567. Drawn to a life of strict silence and prayer, he was thinking of joining the Carthusians when he met Teresa of Ávila. She was reforming the Carmelite nuns and wanted friars who would live the same simpler, poorer rule. She convinced John to help her. In November 1568 he and a few companions began the first house of reformed friars in a tiny farmhouse at Duruelo, and he took the name John of the Cross.
The reform met fierce resistance. In December 1577 friars opposed to the changes seized John and locked him in a narrow cell in their priory at Toledo. For about nine months he was kept in near darkness, given little food and publicly beaten. In that prison he composed much of his great poem, the Spiritual Canticle. In August 1578 he escaped by night, lowering himself from a window on strips of cloth, and found refuge with the reformed nuns.
The following years were the most fruitful of his life. He served as a prior and spiritual director and wrote his major works: The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, the commentary on the Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love. In them he describes how the soul, by letting go of every attachment, is purified and drawn into union with God. The "dark night" is not despair but the painful, hidden way God leads a soul toward deeper love.
Near the end of his life John again fell out of favor with superiors and was stripped of his offices. He accepted this calmly. Sick with fever and painful sores, he was sent to the priory at Úbeda, where the prior treated him harshly at first. He died there just after midnight on December 14, 1591, at the age of forty-nine, saying that he would sing Matins in heaven. He was canonized in 1726 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1926.
Legacy
St. John of the Cross teaches that suffering and dryness in prayer are not signs that God has abandoned us. They can be the very means by which he draws us closer. His poetry and spiritual writings have shaped Catholic thought on prayer for more than four centuries.
Prayer to St. John of the Cross
St. John of the Cross, you found God in the darkness of prison and loved him without reserve. Pray for all who walk through dark nights of doubt, dryness or suffering. Help us to let go of whatever keeps us from God and to trust that his love is at work even when we cannot feel it. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Original prayer by Daily Catholic Prayers. You may print and share it freely.
How to Celebrate His Feast Day
Pray the prayer above for someone going through a dark time.
Read a stanza of his poem The Dark Night or the Spiritual Canticle and sit with it in silence.
Spend fifteen minutes in quiet prayer without words, simply resting in God's presence.
Give up one small comfort for the day as an act of love.
Pray Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, as Carmelites do.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When is the feast day of St. John of the Cross?
December 14, the day he died in 1591.
What is St. John of the Cross the patron saint of?
Mystics, contemplatives and Spanish poets.
What is the "dark night of the soul"?
A phrase drawn from his writings for a time of spiritual purification in which God seems absent, but is in fact leading the soul to deeper union with him.
How was St. John of the Cross connected to St. Teresa of Ávila?
He worked with her to reform the Carmelite Order, founding the first house of reformed friars in 1568.
Is St. John of the Cross a Doctor of the Church?
Yes. Pope Pius XI declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1926.
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Teresa
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