St. John of the Cross
| Born | 24 June 1542 Fontiveros, Spain |
| Died | December 14, 1591 (aged 49) Ubeda, Andalusia, Spain |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church; Anglican Communion; Lutheran Church |
| Beatified | 25 January 1675 by Pope Clement X |
| Canonized | 27 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII |
| Major shrine | Tomb of Saint John of the Cross, Segovia, Spain |
| Feast | 14 December 24 November (General Roman Calendar, 1738-1969) |
| Patronage | contemplative life; contemplatives; mystical theology; mystics; Spanish poets |
Born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez in Fontiveros, Spain, in 1542, John was the son of a wealthy Toledan silk merchant, Gonzalo de Yepes, and a poor orphaned silk weaver, Catalina Alvarez. The Yepes family disowned John's father for marrying beneath his station, and the young couple were forced to live in hardship, earning a living as silk weavers. John was the youngest of Gonzalo and Catalina’s three sons. When John was two years old, Gonzalo died, following a long painful illness. Catalina asked her husband’s family for assistance, but they refused to help her, because she was not of an “appropriate” social station. Catalina struggled through acute poverty, social ostracism, unemployment and homelessness migrating from town to town in search of work, food and education for her sons. Eventually Catalina and her sons moved to and settled in Medina del Campo, and Catalina found work there as a weaver.