St. John of the Cross was born near Avila in 1542 into a Jewish family converted to Christianity.  He grew up in poverty, his father having died when he was young.  He professed as a Carmelite in 1564 and moved to Salamanca where he studied theology and philosophy.  He was ordained a priest in 1567. 

He joined with Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) in a reformation of the Carmelite Order.  Still a young man, he worked as Teresa’s associate until 1577, founding monasteries around Spain and taking active part in their government.  These foundations and the reformation process were resisted by a great number of Carmelite friars.

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n the night of 3 to 4 December 1577, in defiance of his superiors’ orders, he refused to relocate.  As a consequence he was taken prisoner and jailed in Toledo.  He was kept under a brutal confinement that included public lashing before the community at least weekly and severe isolation in a tiny cell barely large enough for his body.  He managed to escape nine months later by prying the cell door off its hinges.  He composed a great part of his writings while imprisoned.  Paper was passed to him by one of the friars guarding his cell.