Saint John of the Cross
Priest, writer and mystical poet of the Renaissance, he was born in the Avila city of Fontiveros in 1542 and died in Úbeda in 1591. As a religious he was a reformer of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which led him to be imprisoned, and co-founder, together with Saint Teresa of Jesus with whom he maintained a close friendship, of the Discalced Carmelites. A great scholar and man of letters, in 1618 he published Dark Night of the Soul , one of his most recognized works. His remains rest in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites of Segovia that he founded in the 16th century. In 1726 he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII.
