Blessed John van Ruysbroeck

John van Ruysbroeck (Ruusbroec) was born in 1293 in the village of Ruisbroek near Brussels and served for many years as a priest at the church of Saint Gudula in Brussels. In 1343 he withdrew with two companions to Groenendaal, a hermitage in the Sonian Forest, where they became Augustinian canons regular and he served as prior. There he wrote spiritual classics in his native Dutch, especially The Spiritual Espousals, describing how the soul grows in love until it rests in God. He died on December 2, 1381, and his cult was confirmed in 1908.

He was remembered as the "Admirable Doctor," and his writings influenced the Devotio Moderna movement and The Imitation of Christ. According to tradition he wrote while praying under a linden tree in the forest of Groenendaal.