Saint John of God, Confessor
S. Ioannis de Deo Confessoris
Saint John of God (1495–1550) was a Portuguese-born layman whose conversion led him to spend his life caring for the sick and the poor, becoming the founder of the religious order known as the Brothers Hospitallers. His feast is kept on 8 March.
Saint John of God was born in 1495 at Montemor-o-Novo in Portugal. His early life was unsettled: he worked as a shepherd, served as a soldier in several campaigns, and travelled widely, for many years living without much thought of God. In his fortieth year, while in the Spanish city of Granada, he was deeply moved by a sermon preached by Saint John of Avila, and he resolved to change his life entirely and give himself to the service of God and neighbour.
A Servant of the Sick and the Poor
So sudden and fervent was his conversion that at first he was thought to be out of his mind and was confined for a time. Saint John of Avila guided him toward a more ordered charity, and John turned his zeal to caring for the sick. He rented a house in Granada, gathered the ill and the destitute, and tended them with his own hands, begging through the streets for their support with the cry, “Do good to yourselves, my brethren.” His tireless service won the admiration of the city, and others came to share his work.
From this humble beginning grew the Order of Brothers Hospitallers, devoted to the care of the sick, which would spread through many lands. John himself remained a simple servant of the poor to the end. He is said to have fallen ill after plunging into a river to save a drowning man, and he died on 8 March 1550, his fifty-fifth birthday. He was canonized in 1690, and the Church honours him as a model of practical charity and mercy toward the suffering.
The Collect
O God, who didst grant to blessed John, burning with the fire of Thy love, to walk unharmed amid the flames, and through him didst enrich Thy Church with a new family: grant by the help of his merits, that the fire of Thy charity may heal our vices and bestow on us its remedies. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Deus, qui beatum Ioannem, tuo amore succensum, inter flammas innoxium incedere fecisti, et per eum Ecclesiam tuam nova prole fecundasti: praesta, ipsius suffragantibus meritis; ut igne caritatis tuae vitia nostra curentur, et remedia nobis aeterna proveniant. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Patronage
Saint John of God is the patron of hospitals, the sick, nurses, and those who care for them, as well as of booksellers and printers.
Common Questions
Who was Saint John of God?
He was a sixteenth-century layman, born in Portugal, who after a profound conversion devoted his life to caring for the sick and poor in Granada, Spain, and founded the order later known as the Brothers Hospitallers.
When is his feast day?
His feast is celebrated on 8 March in both the traditional calendar of the 1962 Missal and the modern calendar.
Why is he a patron of hospitals?
Because of his extraordinary devotion to the care of the sick and the religious order he founded for that work, the Church names him a heavenly patron of hospitals, the sick, and nurses.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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