John of Ruysbroeck

Who was John of Ruysbroeck?

The Blessed John of Ruysbroeck was one of the Flemish mystics. Some of his main literary works include The Kingdom of the Divine Lovers, The Twelve Beguines, The Spiritual Espousals, A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness, The Little Book of Enlightenment and The Sparkling Stone. Ruysbroeck also wrote letters and short sayings from some of his oral talks have been recorded by certain of his disciples, such as Jan Van Leeuwan. He wrote in the Dutch vernacular, the language of the common people of the Low countries, rather than in Latin, the language of the Church liturgy and official texts, so as to reach a wider audience.