St. John of the Cross

John of the Cross (June 24, 1541 - December 14, 1591) was born at Fontiveros, a small village near Avila. He was a Spanish mystic and a Carmelite friar.

He is renowned for his cooperation with Saint Teresa of Avila in the reformation of the Carmelite order, and for his writings. Both his poetry and his studies on the growth of the soul (in the sense of detachment from creatures and attachment to God) are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and one of the peaks of all Spanish literature.

St. John is one of the thirty-three Doctors of the Church. His Feast Day is December 14.