Project BLACK MAMBA: Advent

Today is the Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest & Doctor of the Church, O.C.D. (1542-1591), co-founder of the Discalced Carmelites, formally the Order of Discalced Friars of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link O.C.D.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

He was a major figure in the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a… saint, a Carmelite friar, & a priest. John of the Cross was a reformer of the Carmelite Order & is considered, along with Saint Tereas of Ávila (15 October), as a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. He is also known for his writings. Both his poetry & his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature & one of the peaks of all Spanish literature.

Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:

Born in Fontiveros, Spain in 1542, St. John of the Cross became a great mystic & Doctor of the Church. He entered the Carmelite Order in 1563. When he met St. Teresa of Ávila, she convinced him to help her in the reform of the Carmelites. He suffered much persecution including imprisonment from his fellow Carmelite friars who were opposed to the stricter reforms. He had many mystical experiences which he… expressed in beautiful poems & treatises: The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticle, & The Living Flame of Love. [His writings teach] detachment from earthly things because they are darkness in comparison to sweet union with God. The way to union with God is through the Cross. One of his admonitions was that in the evening of life we shall be judged by love. He died at Ubeda in 1591.

Saint Quote of the week: "At the end of our life, we will be judged by our love." —St. John of the Cross, whose feast day in 14 December

We also remember Saint Spyridon, Bishop (circa 270-348): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Personal Reading
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter seventeen (verses one thru twenty-seven).

Mass Readings
The Book of Numbers, chapter twenty-four, verses two thru seven & fifteen thru seventeen (a);
Psalm Twenty-five, verses four, five(a,b), six, seven(b,c), eight, & nine;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-one, verses twenty-three thru twenty-seven;

or, for the Memorial,
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter two, verses one thru ten(a);
Psalm Thirty-seven, verse thirty(a);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter fourteen, verses twenty-five thru thirty-three.