La Peñuela (Jaén) –
After the Chapter in Madrid in
1591 John heads for Andalucía to La Peñuela in the province of Jaen Province of Andalucía
Mysterious Fevers --
After about a
month in La Peñuela he had begun to experience small episodes of fever. As the fever intensified the superior thought
it best to take him to the monastery in Ubeda where he could be placed under
the care of a doctor. John himself
thought that his stay in Ubeda would be brief and would be back in La
Peñuela. He arrived in Ubeda on the
evening of September 28 1591 (first vespers of the feast of St. Michael) The community which was founded by Gracian only
four years prior, was small and simple, deprived of many commodities. In Ubeda the attending doctor, Ambrosio de
Villarreal had diagnosed John of the Cross as having what today we call
cellulitis infection (erisipela) or an inflammation of the soft tissue with
diffusion which affects the subcutaneous or interstitial tissue of his right
leg. The illness caused him extreme pain
and the scarcity of
the monastery did not help his condition.
The pain intensified as the infection spread from his right leg to the
foot. The Saint patiently dealt with
this excruciating pain with serenity. He
had expressed with prayerful words biblical passages from the book of Job and
had made of his sufferings a share in the mystery of the Cross of Christ next
to the Crucified Lord. Doctor
Villarreal treated the infection by performing surgery on John. During that time it was common to make
incisions on the flesh to facilitate drainage of the pus and cauterization to
prevent further infections – procedures that only added to the anguish and pain
to say the least. The Doctor, had attest
to the peacefulness in which John bore his medical treatment. He did not have rest from his pain, only a
small cord that hung from the ceiling to his bed in which he would clutch his
hands to distract himself from the pain in order to speak to visitors.
Rip
the veil of this sweet encounter
December 14
The second week
of December were for John days to prepare for death in faith and hope. In his short prayers he had reveal his
deepest sentiments – What joy when they told me – Let us go to the house of the
Lord – the brothers infirmarians remained close by as they heard his soft
voice. A few days before dying Brother
Diego de Jesus kneeled before his bed asking for his blessing “He saw me with
tenderness, I had love for him, he said to me ‘ Brother Diego do you think I am
dying? I said to him, yes but that I was comforted by the Will of God and that
it should always be done. He thanked me
so much to see me with such resignation and asked me to continue like this in
all my doings.” The provincial of
Andalucía Alta, Antonio de Jesus was notified and arrived in Ubeda. In the last hours of his life, we see John of
the Cross directing his gaze of faith on the Love of the Lord in which he had live
on earth. The friars had gathered in his
cell and recited the prayers of the dying in which John devotedly
responded. It was just about midnight,
on the clock of the church
of San Salvador Union of Love
and for Love of God, in plenitude and forever.
Three
graces ---
According to the biographers of the 17th
century the Saint in his final moments had asked God for three graces which the
Lord had granted: 1. The grace to die in
a place where nobody knew of him so that neither in life or nor in death anyone
should honor him (the grace to be unnoticed and
small). 2. He asked that he would
die without ecclesiastical honors (such as a prelate or superior) in order to
exercise humility 3. that the Lord grant him a purgatory while on earth. However, research into the process of
beatification and canonization reveal that it is likely that these three graces
asked have no true foundation and that they were fabrication of the
interrogators for the process of beatification which have only disfigured the
person of John of the Cross. [Regarding
1. eyewitness have said nothing regarding this petition to God. 2. in 1591 he did not whish to be in charge
and made it known to Doria, but remaining docile to the will of God. 3. There
was no doubt that he would have asked about a purgatory on Earth but this would
have come not as a request but as a consequence of his spiritual maturity after
years of his sharing of the Cross of Jesus.
Transfer from Ubeda to Segovia 1593 –
Ana del Mercado
y Penyalosa had obtained from Nicolas Doria permission to bring the body of
John of the Cross to Segovia Madrid Madrid by order of Ana de Penyalosa, first to the
monastery of the Discalced nuns of Santa Ana Segovia Spain
Glorification:
Pope Clement X declares John of the Cross Blessed on January 25,
1675
Benedict XIII declares him a Saint on December 27 1726 and
designates December 14 as his feast day
Pius XI declares him universal Doctor of the Church on August 24,
1926
John Paul II visits his body in Segovia
