St John of the Cross, Mystic and Doctor of the Church.

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me, says the Lord." (Cf. Matthew  16: 24).

Saturday of the 2nd week of Advent is the feast of St John the Cross (1542 - 1591), Carmelite Priest and Doctor of the Church. Born in Spain near Avila, he cooperated with St Teresa of Avila, another Carmelite mystic and Doctor of the Church for the reform of the Carmelite Order. His Carmelite brothers did not take kindly to his ideas or severe discipline. They captured him and imprisoned him in a high attic where escape was virtually impossible. Providentially, he escaped and continued his writings. He wrote many profound works of mysticism of which THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL remains a spiritual classic.

"May I never boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6: 14).

God endowed St John of the Cross with an outstanding dedication to self-denial and love of the Cross. May we obtain through his intercession similar gifts.

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