|
Home > Our
Spirituality > Our Carmelite Saints
St John of the Cross - a general introduction
Return to St John (home)
General Introduction to the collected works
of St. John of the Cross
Translation by: Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD, rev. ed.
© Copyright 1991, ICS Publications
Copyright ICS Publications.
The Early Years
 On an unknown day, the month uncertain,
in 1542, Juan de Yepes was born in a small town called Fontiveros. It lay
on rocky and barren land in the central plateau of Old Castile midway between
Madrid and Salamanca. With a population of about 5,000, the town included
some small weaving shops. Juan's father, Gonzalo de Yepes, who belonged
to a wealthy family of silk merchants in Toledo, had stopped in Fontiveros
on a business journey to Medina del Campo, and there met Catalina Alvarez,
a weaver of poor and humble background. Despite the difference in their
status, the two fell in love and married in 1529. Shocked and disturbed
by what they considered shameful - a marriage to a girl of low position
- the merchant family disinherited Gonzalo. Deprived of financial security,
he had to adapt to the drudgery of the poor, which in his case meant the
lowly trade of weaving. Under these trying circumstances, both Gonzalo
and Catalina had to find strength in their mutual friendship and intimacy.
The couple had three sons: Francisco, Luis, and the youngest, Juan (later
to be known as St. John of the Cross). But John was little more than two
years old when his father died, worn out from the terrible suffering of
a long illness. Reduced to penury, the young widow - afflicted but courageous
- set out with hope on a tiring journey to visit the wealthy members of
her husband's family, to beg assistance in her dire need. Rejected by them,
she had to manage as best she could on her own in Fontiveros. During this
time John's brother Luis died, perhaps as a result of insufficient nourishment.
Catalina then felt constrained to try elsewhere, abandoning her little
home and moving to Arévalo, where things were hardly an improvement, and
finally to Medina del Campo, the bustling market centre of Castile, where
she resumed her work of weaving.
Here John entered a school for poor children where he received an elementary
education, principally of Christian doctrine, and had the opportunity to
become an apprentice in some trade or profession. The school resembled
an orphanage where the children received food, clothing, and lodging. At
this time, the priest who was the director of the school chose John to
serve as an acolyte at La Magdalena, a nearby monastery of Augustinian
nuns. While on duty, the young boy assisted in the sacristy for four hours
in the morning, and in the afternoons whenever the superior, the chaplain,
or the sacristan needed him. As for the apprenticeships - in carpentry,
tailoring, sculpturing, and painting - John showed no enthusiasm. Rather,
his gentleness and patience led to the discovery of his gift for compassion
toward the sick. Don Alonso Alvarez, administrator of the hospital in Medina
for poor people with the plague or other contagious diseases, took an interest
in John and enlisted his services as nurse and alms-collector. Don Alonso
also provided John with the opportunity for further study. At age 17, the
bright young lad enrolled at the Jesuit school, where lectures in grammar,
rhetoric, Latin, and Greek were the rule. The future poet came in contact
with Latin and Spanish classics, a contact that was anything but superficial,
since the Jesuits insisted on high standards and an abundance of exercises,
reading, and composition. Becoming acquainted with classical imagery, the
gifted pupil learned about literary technique and opened himself to the
world around him. These years of hospital work and study, tasks that called
for responsibility and diligence, complemented John's early experiences
of poverty.
Purchase the official
English translation of the Collected Works of St John of the Cross, at ICS Publications,
Washington DC.
 Now
also on CD-Rom - Digital Library
The following information has been provided courtesy of ICS Publications. The
copyright of all materials is held by the Washington Provinceof the Discalced
Carmelites. Permission is hereby granted solely for private use of these texts
on which ICS Publications hold the copyright.
Our Saints - Other Links
|
NEW!