John of the Cross

Juan de Yepes y Álvarez was born in Spain on 24 June 1542, joined the Carmelite Order, and under the influence of Teresa of Ávila helped found the Discalced Carmelites, a reform movement bent on stricter observance of the original rule. His writings — poetry and studies on the soul's ascent through purgative, illuminative, and unitive stages, separated by what he called the dark nights of sense and soul — became the summit of mystical Christian literature and among the greatest works in Spanish letters. Pope Benedict XIII canonized him in 1726. Two centuries later, in 1926, Pope Pius XI named…