St. John Of The Cross, CD - November 24th

"O God, Who didst endow holy John, Thy Confessor and Doctor, with a wonderful spirit of self-denial and a surpassing love of the Cross: grant that by ever cleaving to his example, we may obtain eternal glory. Through our Lord." - Roman Catholic Daily Missal, 1962

“St. John of the Cross was born of devout parents at Fontiveros in Spain. In his earliest years it became known how dear he would be to the Virgin Mother of God; for, when he was five years old, he fell into a well and, lifted out by her hand, escaped unharmed. As a young man he made himself a most loving servant to the sick poor in the hospital of Medina del Campo. Then he entered the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and, ordained priest out of obedience, professed the primitive rule. Burning with zeal to promote the stricter discipline, he was given by God as a companion to St. Teresa, who considered him among the purest and best souls in the Church of God at that time, to restore the primitive Carmelite observance among the brethren. When he had laboured earnestly at this task and suffered many things, he was asked by Christ what reward he would ask for so many toils, and he answered: Lord, to suffer and be despised for thee. He wrote books of mystical theology, full of heavenly wisdom. At length, having most patiently endured a severe illness, he fell asleep in the Lord at Ubeda in 1591, in the forty-ninth year of his age. Pius XI, on the advice of the Congregation of Sacred Rites, declared him a Doctor of the universal Church.” - 1960 Roman Breviary

In Christ Crucified and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus.