I thought Saint John of the Cross is considered a founder of the
order along with Saint Teresa, and when I looked up the term "John of
the Cross" with "Founder," I got a lot of results.
But the OCD website http://www.ocd.pcn.net/santi.htm
only lists Saint Teresa as a founder. And come to think of it, the
Discalced Carmelites are called Teresian Carmelites, but not
Teresian-Johannine Carmelites or anything like that. Was that listing
on the site just something that they overlooked, or is Saint John really
not considered a founder?
Saint Teresa is
considered the Foundress and Mother of the Teresian Carmels not St.
John. Because of the plan St. Teresa had to extend the reform to men,
she had taken a special interest in John because she was personally
impressed by him both intellectually and spiritually. She made John
stay in the monastery with St. Teresa to personally learn the life
Teresa had envisioned. In effect, St. John was St. Teresa's novice.
But even though John is not a founder in the strict sense of the word,
he was very instrumental and influential in the spiritual life of the
Sisters. He was also St. Teresa's spiritual director, and later on
John would become the Community Confessor, Chaplain and Spiritual
Director at the Incarnation Monastery when St. Teresa was sent there to
become prioress. He was to become the Master of Novices in Duruelo,
the first community of the Discalced Friars. Anthony Heredia was the
first prior. St. John's role in the Teresian reform would be more felt
in the spiritual domain, even though later on he also held
administrative roles in the Discalced Order. John and Teresa traveled
together many times when Teresa was making different foundations. John
became the face of the Reformed Carmel among men and paid dearly for
his association with Teresa. He is probably better described as the
spiritual father of the Reformed Carmel.
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