Monday, December 13
ST. JUAN DE LA CRUZ (John of the Cross) (Spain, 1541-1591)
Carmelite, Reformer, Mystic, Theologian, Poet, Doctor of the Church
There is probably no spiritual partnership as blessed and endowed with grace as that of the two great mystics and writers who flowered in the Spain of the Counter-Reformation - Teresa de Jesus and Juan de la Cruz, both sprung from the soil of Castile, the female and male faces of 16th century spirituality. Contemporaries and friends, they worked together to reform the Carmelite Order and experienced the fate of all reformers who are rejected by the establishment. Juan's life was a true identification with the Cross from which he took his name, producing his best poems and writings while languishing in prison, turning his 'dark night of the soul' into luminous prose and verse that continue to be models of mystical theology as well as undying literature.
No OR today.
THE POPE'S DAY
The Holy Father met today with
- H.E. Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro, with his wife and delegation
- Bishops of Belarus (Byelorussia) on ad limina visit
- Hon. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany
and three of his recent appointments who have been elevated to the rank of Archbishop, along with their families:
- Mons. Jean Laffitte, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family
- Mons. Mario Toso, S.D.B., Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
- Mons. Giovanni D’Ercole, F.D.P., new Auxiliary Bishop for L'Aquila.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone consecrated the three new archbishops last weekend.
The Vatican Press Office reported today on the pre-synodal meeting held by the Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches
and other Middle East Prelates to prepare for the special assembly of the Bishops Synod next October devoted to
the Church in the Middle East.