Today's Saint (November 24): John of the Cross, Confessor & Doctor

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Saint John of the Cross (1542-91) was a brilliant writer of mystical theology and poetry. He became a monk when entering the Order of Mount Carmel.

He, along with Saint Teresa, subsequently founded the order of the Discalced Carmelites, which re-embraced and followed the primitive rule of the original Carmelite Order, and it was at this time that he fully embraced the name John of the Cross.

His many writings deal with the passion of Our Lord. He believed that when one has a deep faith and love of God while undergoing suffering, one's soul is purified and brought into greater union with God.

Because suffering is inherently implicit in the human experience, his emulation of Christ's passion through self denial gives us hope that our suffering can be instruments through which we can love God and others.

The accompanying picture is Salvador Dali's "Christ of Saint John of the Cross."

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7) (The day's epistle, page F 27, The People's Anglican Missal).

The Day's Propers
Catholic Encyclopedia article

Books Worth Considering
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford Paperback Reference)
The Penguin Dictionary of Saints: Third Edition (Dictionary, Penguin)

www.episcopalnet.org