Saint John of the Cross: mystic, reformer, poet, and universal psychologist

The obstacles and humiliations that John of the Cross suffered throughout his life surpass anything a man could endure. Despite poverty, slander, and imprisonment, he succeeded in bringing about the reform of the Spanish Carmelites, which has had a tremendous posterity: today, there are more than 14,000 Discalced Carmelites monks and nuns throughout the world. His written works place him among the world's greatest poets, psychologists and theologians.

Saint Jean de la Croix

Reasons to believe:

John of the Cross is the 26th Doctor of the Church: a rare title that reflects his exceptional personality and work on every level. A "Doctor of spiritual theology", he is one of the great theorists of mystical life.
The reform he undertook in the Spain of his time has now been extended to the whole world. At the time of his death, there were 33 reformed Carmelite convents and monasteries. Today, there are over 1,250.
John's enemies slandered him, tried to thwart his actions and had him thrown into prison. It's difficult to imagine how a man subjected to such intense persecution managed to write so many masterpieces.
Many intellectual and artistic fields have drawn inspiration from his work and life: in philosophy, theology, psychology, literature, painting, music, cinema, etc.
The writings of John of the Cross have nourished the thought and spirituality of saints (Saint Vincent de Paul, Marie of the Incarnation, Saint Therese of Lisieux...), popes (Pius XI, Saint John Paul II...) and leading philosophers (Blaise Pascal, William James, Henri Bergson, Maurice Blondel, Jacques Maritain...).

Summary:

Juan de Yepes y Alvarez was born in 1542 in Fontiveros (Castile, Spain), into an impoverished noble family. His father, Gonzalo, was a knight, but was disowned when he married a poor woman from the lower class. From an early age, the child was confronted with poverty.

In 1547, John almost drowned in a pond where he had accidentally fallen. He slid into the depths of the water, but inexplicably came up unharmed and did not sink again. A tall and beautiful Lady came to offer him Her hand. ...Then an elderly gentleman appeared on the shore and extended his staff to the child to bring him to shore (his rescuers were Mary and Joseph, he believed). From his own account, he should have perished that day.

He wished to give his life to God. His willingness to serve God and to learn the teachings of the Church was exceptional: starting from nothing, he became an exegete and theologian; from someone with no intellection formation, his writings on mysticism condensed and surpassed all that had been written until then. At the age of 20, he pronounced his perpetual vows of poverty, obedience and chastity as a member of the Carmelite order, and was ordained a priest in 1567.

John's aim was to help all believers, whatever their state in life: cleric, lay or religious, to walk freely towards God. In his spiritual treatises such as The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul, he describes the stages of the soul's ascent to God, and the paths that lead away from him. According to John of the Cross, the only way to achieve "the mystical union of the soul with God" is through complete detachment, relying solely on God. This spiritual ascent continues to fascinate in 2024.

As time went by, John took on a number of important roles, both spiritual and administrative, which definitively cast aside the notion that he was lost in contemplation and "out-of-touch" with reality. It was quite the opposite in fact: he was a down-to-earth, pragmatic organizer and a teacher! He was in turn spiritual director of the Carmelites of Beas, chaplain to the convent of the Incarnation in Avila, and several times prior in Andalusia and Segovia.

John faced many adversaries, in an atmosphere of tension leading to physical violence and persecution. He was accused of a thousand evils: of disobedience, being a renegade, being a heretic, and, in the context of the times, of having Jewish ancestors. He was imprisoned in Toledo for nine months, in very harsh conditions; but it was there that he wrote some of his most brilliant works! In the midst of his difficulties, John felt close to the humiliated and crucified Lord: "When you carry a burden, you are in the company of God, who Himself is your strength, for He is close to the sorrowful."

Obstacles never prevented John of the Cross from remaining active: he successfully pursued his literary work and successfully reformed the Carmelites, despite the opposition of many of his own order. This reform, carried out jointly with St. Teresa of Avila, was a response to the desire for spiritual renewal and a faithful return to the spirit and tradition of Carmel (the first rule of 1247 defined by Pope Innocent IV, based on the rule of St. Albert), particularly with regard to strict enclosure and absolute poverty. Today, the reform is not only recognized by the Church, but has spread to all five continents, to such an extent that the Discalced Carmelites, approved by the papacy during the saint's lifetime (in 1573 and again in 1591), are now spread across hundreds of convents worldwide.

From Pascal to Bergson, John of the Cross is considered the undisputed master of mystical experiences, in the sense that he gives them a perfect definition and assigns them their true place (peripheral and secondary) in the Christian life, in relation to the essential (faith in Christ). "I have told you all things in my Word, who is my Son, and I have no other! What more can I answer or reveal to you now? Set your eyes only on him, for in him I have told you and revealed everything [...]. Look closely at him, and you will find everything in him already realized and given, and much more besides" (Ascent of Mount Carmel, II).

Theologians and philosophers, both Christian and non-Christian, from Saint Edith Stein to Simone Weil, Father Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, Thomas Merton, Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Roland Barthes, have shown a keen interest in his work. In 1948, Saint John Paul II defended a doctoral thesis in theology under the direction of Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, entitled Faith according to St. John of the Cross.

The artistic world, too, is far from indifferent to the saint's work: The poet Paul Valéry, painters Salvador Dali and Alfred Manessier, and filmmaker Carlos Saura have all interpreted the spirituality of John of the Cross in their own way. This fascination transcends eras and aesthetic movements.

John of the Cross is regarded as one of Spain's foremost lyric poets. While this is true, he is more than that. His poetry is placed at the service of faith and, as such, is in itself both a remarkable commentary on the Bible and a vast and stupendous theological teaching. "O night that guided me / O night more beautiful than the dawn / O night that united the friend with the beloved / the beloved in the friend transformed" ("Dark Night", Canticles of the Soul, V). In France, the poems of John of the Cross were rediscovered at the turn of the twentieth century thanks to Saint Therese of Lisieux, who saw in him "the saint of Love par excellence". John of the Cross reminds us that "in the evening of this life, you will be judged on love".

This Spanish mystic, canonized in 1726 and proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926, has remained an absolute multidisciplinary reference for over four centuries. He is venerated as a saint by Catholics, Anglicans and Protestants alike: his approach is part of a spiritual movement of conversion, in the evangelical sense of the term, based on the freedom of conscience of every human being, as a child of God, without which there can be no dialogue between God and his creature.

Patrick Sbalchiero

Beyond reasons to believe:

John of the Cross was the contemporary and spiritual friend of Teresa of Avila: never before have two people achieved such a complete reform of their religious order and become doctors of the Church (both in the 20th century).

His texts are addressed to all the baptized and to people of good will in their spiritual quest. "In every soul, even that of the world's greatest sinner, God dwells and remains substantially" (The Ascent of Mt. Carmel, I).

Going further:

Jean Baruzi, Saint Jean de la Croix et le problème de l’expérience mystique, 1924. Rééd., foreword by Émile Poulat, 1999, Salvator.

More information:

Jean de la Croix, Œuvres complètes, 1990, Paris, Le Cerf.
Karol Wojtyla, La foi selon saint Jean de la Croix, 1980, Paris, Le Cerf.
Jean Krynen, Saint Jean de la Croix et l’aventure de la mystique espagnole, 1990, Toulouse.
Bernard Sesé, Petite vie de saint Jean de la Croix, 1999, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer.
Patrick Sbalchiero, « Saint Jean de la Croix, 1542-1591 », p. 401-402 in Dictionnaire des miracles et de l’extraordinaire chrétiens, 2002, Paris, Fayard.