Juan José de la Cruz

Biography

He was a younger brother at the age of 16. He spent thirty years spreading in Italy the reform that Saint Peter of Alcántara had established in Spain. After having been guardian, definer and superior general of his Order, he spent the rest of his life in the convent of Saint Lucia in Naples, totally dedicated to the direction of souls and a life of piety. It was then the "age of enlightenment." Apparently ignoring the writings of the French philosophers of the Enlightenment, for whom the supernatural was impossible, God multiplies miracles in the life of Juan José. He faints in ecstasy; reads in hearts and announces the future; It draws upon him the spiritual ulcers and sorrows of his neighbors. All these facts were verified by severe inquisitors. The famous Cardinal Wiseman, who had studied them in detail, believed in them. There are things impossible to understand. But we have faith in Jesus, who will gladly explain them to us in eternity. That's what Juan José thought. On one occasion an intellectual launched into criticizing Providence in front of him. Our saint answered him, showing him his head: «I have measured the bone that we have from here to the neck, above the shoulders. It measures about four inches high by three inches long. And you, dear friend, do you want to make infinity enter such a small bone?