Juan de la Cruz, Santo, 1542-1591

"San Juan de la Cruz, cuyo nombre secular era Juan de Yepes Álvarez y su primera identificación como fraile Juan de San Matías (Fontiveros, Ávila, España, 24 de junio de 1542 - Úbeda, Jaén, 14 de diciembre de 1591), fue un religioso y poeta místico del renacimiento español. Fue reformador de la Orden de Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo y cofundador de la Orden de los Carmelitas Descalzos con Santa Teresa de Jesús. Desde 1952 es el patrono de los poetas en lengua española."

"Saint John of the Cross (Spanish: San Juan de la Cruz; 1542 - 14 December 1591) was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a Roman Catholic saint, a Carmelite friar and a priest who was born at Fontiveros, Old Castile. John of the Cross was a reformer in the Carmelite Order of his time and the movement he helped initiate, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, eventually led to the establishment of the Discalced Carmelites, though neither he nor Teresa were alive when the two orders separated. He is also known for his writings. Both his poetry and his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and one of the peaks of all Spanish literature. He was canonized as a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII. He is one of the thirty-six Doctors of the Church."