María Galiana gave voice to the experiences of Santa Teresa and San Juan de la Cruz

The 28th Autumn Theater Show and the 45th Sanjuanista Week joined hands one more year to program a joint act that served to give continuity to the first event and inaugurate the second, linking the theatrical, so deeply rooted in the locality, with the figure of San Juan de la Cruz, co-patron of the municipality having died in the city on December 14, 1591.

On this occasion, the link between both cultural programs was the proposal entitled ‘From the profane to the divine’, a commemorative recital spun on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the canonization of Saint Teresa of Jesus, where the veteran actress María Galiana interpreted texts of San Juan de la Cruz, Fray Luis de León and Santa Teresa herself. All this accompanied by the poems sung by the baritone Luis Santana and the piano accompaniment of Víctor Carbajo.

The performance took place in the auditorium of the Hospital de Santiago cultural center, where the large audience in attendance enjoyed a careful staging designed to let themselves be carried away by the experiences and verses of Saint John and Saint Teresa, from the close relationship and mystical devotion that joined them.

Among the attendees were the Councilor for Culture and Tourism, Elena Rodríguez, and the prior father of the Ubetense Carmelite community, Héctor Cáceres, who inaugurated this Sanjuanista Week that will run until October 29, once again being an appointment to continue discovering one of the most influential and illustrious characters, who have left their mark on both mystical thought and various artistic manifestations.

In the words of Rodríguez, this obligatory event on the local cultural agenda continues to attract people interested in the matter, due to its magnificent programming, and the tourists who visit the city, where the mystic spent his last days. And it is that, as the mayor stressed, the message of San Juan de la Cruz is still current, since it is timeless and enjoys great beauty and depth, “being a source of inspiration for many.”

The programming will continue throughout this week with the usual cycle of conferences, scheduled from Monday to Friday at the Hospital de Santiago from eight in the afternoon. It contemplates five presentations that will begin today, Monday, with ‘San Juan de la Cruz and Don Quixote: a return to the adventure of the dead body’, by José Palomares Expósito, a graduate in Hispanic Philology and a doctor in Spanish Philology from the University of Jaén .

Tomorrow, Tuesday, it will be the turn of the Carmelite Secundino Castro Sánchez, doctor in Theology and graduate in Sacred Scripture from the Biblical Institute of Rome, who will speak on ‘Mysticism, a path to beauty in John of the Cross’; and on Wednesday Bieito Rubido Ramonde, a graduate in Information Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid, will arrive, who will address the topic ‘Saint John as inspiration for the journalistic profession: the search for truth’.

In the final stretch, on Thursday ‘Knowledge in San Juan de la Cruz in the light of contemporary philosophy’ will be addressed, thanks to the presence of Angélica Morales Arizmendi, doctor of Philosophy, master’s degree in Psychology and Transcultural Spirituality and expert in Sciences Humanities and Teresian-San Juanist Spirituality. And on Friday, closing the cycle, Maribel Rodríguez, psychiatrist, doctor of Medicine and Surgery and master’s degree in Psychotherapy, as well as an expert in Logotherapy, will talk about ‘San Juan de la Cruz: fundamental contributions to find light in the experience of suffering’ . The talks, although they are face-to-face, can be followed live through the telematic channels provided by the UNED, a collaborating entity of the programming together with the City Council. And also in the profiles of the Discalced Carmelites of Úbeda.

The 45th San Juan Week will end on Saturday, October 29, with the traditional closing Eucharist that will take place in the church of San Miguel in the convent of the Carmelitas Descalzos, where the mystic and poet died. It will be at eight in the afternoon and the Llama de Amor Viva Choir will participate.