The Diocese of Ávila celebrates from this Friday, August 21, the central events marking the centenary of the proclamation of St. John of the Cross as Doctor of the Church, which will take place exactly next Monday, the 24th. Fontiveros, the saint’s birthplace, and the Basilica of St. Teresa of Jesus in Ávila will host Masses, lectures, concerts, and other activities over the coming days as part of the Sanjuanist Jubilee Year.
The centenary recalls the decision of Pius XI, who in 1926 proclaimed the Spanish Carmelite a Doctor of the Church, recognized ever since in tradition as Doctor mysticus. The commemoration also coincides with the 300th anniversary of his canonization by Benedict XIII, which is why the Sanjuanist Jubilee Year runs from December 2025 to December 2026.
Read also: Ávila and Rome, capitals of mysticism in the double centenary of St. John of the Cross
Triduum at the Basilica of St. Teresa
In the city of Ávila, the Basilica of St. Teresa of Jesus is celebrating from this Friday until Sunday, August 23, a triduum dedicated to St. John of the Cross. The Holy Mass will be held each day at 8:30 p.m., and the Sunday celebration will feature the accompaniment of the Gregorian Choir of La Santa.
The program begins this Friday at 6:30 p.m. with a concert by the St. Mary’s Warwick Choir, directed by Oliver Hancock.
On Sunday the 23rd, at 7:00 p.m., the Discalced Carmelite Eduardo Sanz de Miguel will deliver the lecture “The Doctorate of St. John of the Cross” at the Convent of La Santa. That same evening, at 10:30 p.m., the Candlelight concert-recital “Without other light or guide but that which burned in the heart” will take place, performed by poet, writer, and journalist Carlos Aganzo.
Fontiveros celebrates the centenary on August 24
The central moment will arrive on Monday, August 24, when exactly one hundred years will have passed since the proclamation of St. John of the Cross as Doctor of the Church.
Fontiveros will celebrate a Thanksgiving Mass at 8:00 p.m. in the church of the Birthplace of St. John of the Cross. The day will also include the inauguration, in the parish church of St. Cyprian, of the exhibition In the wake of your footprint, featuring works by sculptor Antonio de Oteiza.
The program in the Ávila town will continue on Saturday, August 29. At 9:00 p.m., St. Cyprian will host the presentation of the album A soundscape around St. John of the Cross, recorded using the organ of the same church.
A double Sanjuanist centenary
The year 2026 brings together two milestones linked to the saint born in Fontiveros in 1542: the 300th anniversary of his canonization and the centenary of his proclamation as Doctor of the Church. St. John of the Cross was canonized by Benedict XIII on December 27, 1726, and proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pius XI on August 24, 1926.
His theological and poetic output includes fundamental works of Catholic spirituality such as The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, and The Living Flame of Love. Alongside St. Teresa of Jesus, he also played a decisive role in the reform of Carmel during the sixteenth century.
The Sanjuanist Jubilee Year began on December 14, 2025, and will conclude on December 27, 2026. The Apostolic Penitentiary has granted a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, to the faithful who devoutly participate in the jubilee celebrations or make a pilgrimage to the churches designated for this purpose.
In the Diocese of Ávila, the jubilee sites include the parish of St. Cyprian in Fontiveros, the Basilica of St. Teresa of Jesus in Ávila, and the conventual church of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in Duruelo, the site of the first male foundation of the Discalced Carmel made by St. John of the Cross.
The events beginning this Friday thus concentrate the Ávila celebration around the first centenary of the ecclesial doctorate of the “Mystical Doctor”, with Fontiveros as the main setting on August 24.