However, McAfee pointed out that there is a special event in the saint’s life that more deeply portrays why he bears the name “Of the Cross.”
“I was close to the truth when I said that I thought this John was the same John who was on the cross to witness the crucifixion of Jesus,” he said.
“Yes, it can be said that he is known as ‘of the Cross’” not only for “his spiritual seal of suffering in forgiveness, identifying well with Christ on the cross,” but because the saint came to have a vision of the crucifixion of Christ, from the point of view “of the Father, the First Person of the Holy Trinity.”
After this mystical event, the saint “made a remarkable sketch of what he had in mind: a view from above of Jesus hanging from the Cross.” This striking image clearly left on the saint a “deep impression of the pain that Christ surely suffered,” he concluded.