From the RectorDear Parishioners and Friends, Today is the feast day of one of my favorite mystics: St. John of the Cross. He was born in 1542 in Fontiveros, near Avila, in Spain. His father died when he was only three years old. This led to a childhood spent in the grips of poverty. However, he received an elementary education at an orphanage in Medina del Campo, and by age seventeen had learned several trades through apprenticeships to local craftsmen. After his university studies with the Jesuits, John entered the Carmelite Order and later completed his theological studies at Salamanca. In 1567, he was ordained to the priesthood and recruited by none other than Teresa of Avila for the reformation of the Carmelite Order. John became disillusioned with what he considered the laxity of the Carmelites and opened his own monastery of "Discalced" (strict observance) Carmelites. He was seized and taken to Toledo, where he was imprisoned in the monastery. During his difficult nine-month imprisonment, he comforted himself by writing poetry. It was while imprisoned that he composed the greater part of his masterpiece, The Spiritual Canticle, as well as a number of shorter poems. His other major works include The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Living Flame of Love, and The Dark Night. It is this latter work, Noche obscura del alma, that gave the English language the phrase "dark night of the soul." After a severe illness, John died on December 14, 1591. Father Rick
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