St. John of the Cross stated that “at the end of this life, we will be judged according to love”, that is, the love of God.
Newsroom(12/19/2025 17:19, Gaudium Press) In a town near Avila, in northern Spain, St. John of the Cross was born in 1542 to noble but impoverished parents.
One of the purest and holiest souls
At the age of 21, he entered the Carmelite convent in Medina del Campo and, because he knew Latin well, went on to study philosophy and theology at the famous University of Salamanca. Ordained a priest, he returned to Medina.
Indignant at the friars’ laxity, he decided to become a Carthusian monk. One day, Saint Teresa of Avila came to this city to found the second convent of the Discalced Carmelites. Talking to him, she convinced him to restore the male branch of the Carmelite Order to its former fervor. Returning to her convent, she said to the nuns:
“Father Friar John is one of the purest and holiest souls that God has raised up in his Church. Our Lord communicates to him great riches from the wisdom of Heaven.”[1]
Saint Teresa, then prioress of the Convent of the Incarnation in Ávila, asked him to be confessor to the nuns. He went there and, with other friars who accompanied him, founded a convent nearby, where he instituted perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which later spread throughout the world.
Arrested and flogged in a convent in Toledo
On the night of December 2, 1577, priests of the Carmelite Order, accompanied by armed men, broke into the Saint’s residence, blindfolded him, and took him bound to the Carmelite convent in Toledo, on the banks of the Tagus River, where 80 friars lived.
They threw him into a tiny cell with no windows, with only a small opening in the ceiling to let in sunlight. On the floor, there was a board and two old blankets to serve as a bed.
At lunchtime, they took him to the refectory where he knelt and ate bread and water; sometimes they brought him a few sardines.
On Fridays, they left his back uncovered. After the meal, they hurled insults at him and the prior began whipping him, followed by the other friars; blood flowed and his clothes were never changed….
After six months, a young priest was appointed as the new jailer, and he managed to reduce Friar John’s visits to the refectory, precisely on the days when he would be flogged. When Friar John asked him, “Why have you deprived me of what I deserve?”, he became convinced that he was in the presence of a saint. He brought him a clean tunic, as the one he wore was disappearing from wear, as well as paper and ink to write down his thoughts. The man of God then wrote the work “Spiritual Canticle.”
On August 15, 1578—the solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady—the Virgin appeared to him and showed him how he should escape.
With the permission of the new jailer, he began cleaning the building while the monks rested and devised a plan for his escape. He cut his blankets into strips and, one dawn, managed to climb down to the ground and escape. He walked through an alley and arrived at the convent of the Discalced Carmelite nuns.
General Chapter celebrated with the utmost splendour
Due to his injuries, he was taken to a hospital where he remained for two months. Although not fully healed, he continued his activities in various places.
In 1580, Gregory XIII decreed the legal separation between the Discalced Carmelites and the Calced Carmelites. Shortly thereafter, the first General Chapter of the new Order was held in Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid. King Philip II paid the expenses and ordered that “all acts be celebrated with the utmost splendour.”[2]
The Order of Discalced Carmelites (O.C.D.) spread throughout Europe. In June 1588, our Saint was elected advisor to the vicar general, Father Nicolas Doria, who forbade the Discalced Carmelites from being missionaries. St. John expressed his disagreement and was therefore dismissed. Weakened and ill, he was sent to a monastery in Úbeda, southern Spain, for treatment.
What mysticism consists of
His body was covered with abscesses, especially on his back, certainly as a result of the whippings he received at the convent in Toledo. At one point, he begged the friars to sing the Miserere psalm, and a shining globe landed at his feet. He said that at the end of the day he would pray Matins in Heaven and asked them to read excerpts from the Song of Songs.
At the stroke of midnight, he kissed the crucifix he was holding in his hands, prayed slowly, “Into your hands, Lord, I commend my soul,” and expired. His face became luminous, and his body, covered with wounds, exuded the scent of roses. It was December 14, 1591.
In 1927, Pius XI granted him the title of “Mystical Doctor.”
Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira teaches:
“Catholicism is essentially mystical. Mysticism consists of the intimate relationship of the faithful with God, arising from the generosity with which He offers Himself and the mercy with which He deigns to work in each soul, purifying and sanctifying it. This purification produced by God, characterized by suffering, is the realization of the Passion of Christ in each faithful person.”[3]
“We will be judged according to love”
St. John of the Cross stated that “at the end of this life, we will be judged according to love”[4], that is, the love of God.
The first Commandment of the Decalogue commands us to “love God above all things.” It is a condition for the other nine to be fulfilled. There is a hierarchy in it: love for the Catholic Church, for ourselves, for our neighbour, and for material creatures.
The Church is the mystical Body of Christ. We must love her with all our soul, defend her, and fight to the last breath against her enemies.
Right love for ourselves consists in being true children of the Church, desiring holiness, and longing for Heaven.
We need to love our neighbor for the love of God, that is, so that they may achieve these goals. The Apostle St. John affirms: “If you do not love your neighbor whom you see, how can you love God whom you do not see?” (cf. 1 Jn 4:20).
God created the material universe with an admirable hierarchy: animals, plants, and minerals. In these irrational creatures there are symbols of divine perfections, such as beauty, combativeness, and goodness. Contemplating them as reflections of God is a way of increasing our love for the Creator.
If we truly love God, we must fight against his enemies, especially those who seek to destroy the Church. Recalling the psalm that states: God “drowned Pharaoh and his troops because his love is eternal” (Ps 136:15), let us fight against these destroyers and strive for the establishment of the Kingdom of Mary.
By Paulo Francisco Martos
Notions of Church History
[1] JESUS SACRAMENTADO, Crisógono de. Life of St. John of the Cross. São Paulo: Cultor de livros. 2016, p. 100.
[2] Ibid., p. 297.
[3] CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Mother Francisca do Rio Negro and Brazilian holiness. In Dr. Plinio. São Paulo. Year XXVI, no. 299 (February 2023), p. 22.
[4] Ibid. Holiness, the ideal of every man. Dr. Plinio. Year IV, no. 44 (November 2001), p. 10.
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
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