We do not know either the day or the month when he was born.
We only know the years: 1542. Juan de Yepes Alvarez was born in Fontiveros,
a village near Avila. Dry in the summer, cold and arid in the winter.
His parents' marriage was a poem of love. Gonzalo de Yepes, coming from
a rich family of Toledo fell in love with Catalina Alvarez - beautiful
girl endowed with many human traits but not a penny to call her own.
His family opposed vigorously a marriage which would degrade their son
to a lower social class. They treatened to disinherit him. He felt that
love is more important than money and he did not heed their threats.
Gonzalo married Catalina and became penniless. Thus, this young man
who had been used to the cozy life of a gentleman, suddenly found
himself in a situation where he had to fend for himself.
He learnt the art of weaving silk, which was his
wife's trade. It was hard work which did not pay well.
Indeed, for some time they even had to struggle against hunger.
They had three sons: Francisco (1530) , Luis (date of birth unknown),
and Juan. When John was six, his father became very ill. He
was bed-ridden for two years thus using up
all the family's savings. His death meant that life became
much harder for the de Yepes family. The familiar situation was
made worse by a famine which affected the whole of Castille.
Catalina decided to seek assistance from the family of her husband.
She left Fontiveros and went to Toledo. John was still a baby.
However all doors were closed to this poor widow. From Toledo she
went to Galvez where her husband's brother lived. This man,
a doctor who had no children, decided to take Francisco under his care. However,
his wife made life so difficult for Francisco that the
boy soon had to return to his mother. Meanwhile, Catalina
had returned to Fontiveros. There Luis died. From a family of five, in a
few months they had been reduced to a family of three. The
shock of two bereavements, so close to each other, left their mark
on young Juan.
Life was very hard at Fontiveros, so Catalina decided to emigrate
to Arevalo. This was a difficult decision since it meant leaving the
place where she had her most beautiful memories. The situation did not
improve and after three years she had to load all her possessions on
a donkey and travel again, this time to Medina del Campo
- a city of 30,000 inhabitants where there was
more trade. Withint the space of 12 years, Juan had already
lived in four different places. The poor rarely
find openings in life, and even in Medina, the family's
position did not improve.
This poverty left a deep mark on the sensitive character
of the boy. God did not intend his genius to be wasted in the normal
bustle of everyday work. The family never made a tragedy out of
their poverty. Indeed, both at Arevalo and at Medina, his
mother would often gather together some poor children, take them
home, share what little food the family had with them. Early in life Juan
learnt that love is a flame which burns with a wish to burn more
fiercely...
From "God Is A Feast - A New Look at Saint John of the Cross"
by Father Pius
Sammut, Discalced Carmelite
Translated from Maltese by Mark Agius, MD. New Life Publishing, Great
Britain, 1996
Reproduced with permission from the author.
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John, as a 26 year old Carmelite friar, met Teresa of Avila. As
a result of their collaboration, on November 27, 1568, the friars'
equivalent of St Teresa's reformed convents was founded. John
took the name "John of the Cross" at this time. In 1593 this reform
became a separate order known as Contemplative Carmelites. However, they
were nicknamed "discalced" or "barefoot" and this is the name that remains
today.
Both St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross have been declared
Doctors of the Church. Click on the shields below to discover the
beauty of the love of God St John was able to communicate
through his writings. |
