St. John of God (1495-1550)

St. John of God was among the first in history to open a Catholic book store . . .

St. John of God

Feast Day: March 8
Patron of firefighters, the dying, publishers

John’s early life reads like a case study in ADHD. When he was eight years old, he ran away from home after learning about the adventures that could be had in the New World. Failing to actually go to the Americas, he became a shepherd. When pressured to settle down and marry his boss’ daughter at age 27, he fled by joining Spain’s war against France. His converting moment came when he was thrown from a horse near enemy lines. There he promised God that he’d change his life.

After joining another war to defend Europe from Muslim invaders, he went to Africa to help ransom Christian slaves taken by Muslims. He moved back to Spain where his love of books led him to become among the first to open up a Catholic bookstore.

At 41, he received a vision and left Spain to pursue his original dream of evangelizing in the New World. He opened a religious book store in Grenada, an island nation of South America. Soon he was putting all his energy into serving the poor. He constantly exchanged his clothes with the tattered clothes of the poor, until his bishop got him to stop by giving him a habit. John eventually started a hospital and would personally carry those too sick to walk there on his shoulders.

His feast day marks an event where he came upon a burning hospital. Shocked to find no one helping, he ran in and rescued every patient single-handedly, miraculously avoiding the flames. John died of pneumonia at 55 after a failed attempt to rescue a man from drowning. He was buried in a royal ceremony, honored and loved by all Grenada residents.

This column is produced for Legatus by the Dead Theologians Society, a Catholic apostolate for high school age teens and college age young adults. On the web: deadtheologianssociety.com