Saint John of God: a life dedicated to the care of the poor, sick and those with mental disorders

Born João Duarte Cidade, John of God was a young Portuguese from a very modest background, turned vagrant, shepherd, soldier, bookseller...and finally healthcare worker. His wanderings came to an end when, listening to a sermon likening the poor to Christ, he had a major religious conversion and was inspired to help the destitute and the sick. He had a vision of the Child Jesus, who gave him the name by which he was later known, John of God. His followers later formed the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, a religious institute dedicated to the care of the poor and the sick, including those with mental disorders.

He founded a hospital family that was innovative and successful in every way. In 1886, Leo XIII proclaimed him "patron saint of hospitals and the sick".

Shutterstock / Bill Perry

Reasons to believe:

John had a major conversion when he heard a sermon by John of Avila on 20 January 1537. He was so changed that he burnt all his belongings and roamed the streets shouting the love of God, to the point that he was taken for a madman and locked up in a hospital for the mentally ill. In reality, he was in full possession of his faculties, as the rest of his life would prove it. God had taken hold of his heart for good. It was during his stay in hospital that his charitable vocation was born.

With no means of his own, in a very short space of time, despite never having studied, and relying solely on God's help, Saint John of God offered the most isolated and rejected patients of his time a totally innovative structure, both from a medical and moral perspective.

He is actually considered to be the "father" of the modern hospital: treatment of the mentally ill used to be very harsh, using the practices of segregating, restraining and sometimes beating patients. His reforms included placing only one patient per bed, providing clean facilities, grouping patients according to their pathologies, etc.

Beyond the material dimension of his charitable work, Saint John of God was able to raise awareness to the urgent need to care for the sick and the poor and convince others to join his efforts. Against all expectations, and at a time when he was considered a "madman" by some, he managed to obtain moral and financial support for his work.

His public expressions of repentance elicited incomprehension and mockery. But people also noticed his constant joy and perseverance through trials and obstacles.

His charitable activities were immense and far-reaching. He never stopped repeating: "Brothers, in doing good, do good to yourselves for the love of God!"

For a long time, John of God had an outstanding spiritual director, himself a saint: John of Avila, a leading preacher of the day, an expert in the mystical life, and a close friend of Saint Teresa of Avila.

After a canonical investigation, Pope Urban VIII proclaimed him blessed in 1630 and, after two miracles attributed to his intercession were recognised, John of God was proclaimed a saint by Pope Alexander VIII in 1690.

His charitable work has had a remarkable legacy: the Order is present in 53 countries, operates more than 300 hospitals and clinics serving many medical needs in addition to mental health and psychiatry. The Family of Saint John of God is made up of more than 45,000 members

Summary:

He who, in adulthood, claimed that his only infirmity, his only folly, was to have been "touched by the love of Jesus Christ", was born in Portugal, in Montemor-o-Novo (Alentejo region) in 1495, into a very modest family of farm workers. At the age of eight, he left home with a cleric (for unclear reasons) who looked after him. He then became a vagabond and beggar. He was almost imprisoned on several occasions and owed his survival only to his "guardian angel". After weeks of travelling, he arrived in Spain, in Oropesa, near Toledo (Castilla-La Mancha), where he was taken in by the family of Francisco Cid, known as "el Mayoral". He didn't know it at the time, but it was in this small town that he was to spend most of his life.

His host family owned a large number of cattle and sheep. Until the age of twenty, John worked as a shepherd. He loved his job and was appreciated by all as he was kind and helpful. But no one suspected that the young man was burning with an inner fire: his heart was already consumed by Jesus, and he would often pray as he grazed his animals.

Nevertheless, John twice served in the army of the King of Spain, no doubt hoping to earn a better living. He left Oropesa to go to war, the first time in Fuenterrabia, in the Pyrenees, near the French border; then he left again for Vienna (Austria) to fight the Ottomans. Each time was a bad experience for him: he realised that liked neither war nor arms, but only peace! On his return from Vienna, he decided not to return directly to Oropesa. He travelled to Galicia, then entered Portugal. Eager to find the people he had known as a child, he rushed back to his home village. It was a huge disappointment as he no longer recognised anyone.

This time, he was certain that God was calling him to something different and radical. He realised that he had given too much priority to human affairs to the detriment of his faith. What he we wanted was to turn his life around, but didn't know how. So he set off again, like an itinerant monk, going from village to village and church to church, selling religious books. He reached Seville (Spain, Andalusia), Ceuta (Morocco), Gibraltar and finally Granada, where he set up as a bookseller. These years of wandering were in fact a period of extraordinary spiritual maturation: outwardly, nothing distinguished the young saint, but he was certain that grace would soon touch him - in a way he did not yet know.

This grace, a moment of illumination, came one day in 1539, while he was at mass in a religious community in Granada. The celebrant was Saint John of Avila, a friend of Saint Teresa of Avila and a great spiritual figure in 16th-century Spain. John had never seen him. John of Avila delivered a magnificent sermon on poverty, likening the poor to Christ. His eyes were opened to a new world. He was seized by the presence of Christ, and from then on he became a new person.

He began to wander the streets of the city, shouting out the love of God, sometimes rolling on the ground. He burnt all his possessions and stopped working as a bookseller. Some people took a dim view of his behaviour and even suspected he had lost his mind. In reality, John had become a "fool for Christ", to use the traditional expression: for him only God's wisdom counted. He was eventually arrested for disturbing the peace and taken to the Royal Hospital in Granada. There, as he later recounted, he met Jesus in each of the sick, who were often abandoned and miserable. He had just found what God expected of him: to serve these people, both materially and spiritually, for the rest of his life.

After a few weeks, John left this institution in great peace. He had no money, no friends and no home, but he knew that God would help him. First of all, in a completely providential move, he found Saint John of Avila, whose words from the pulpit had set his heart on fire. He told him of his plans, which were still very vague, and he asked him to become his spiritual father, which John of Avila accepted, despite his workload, his fame and the strange reputation of his penitent at the time. John of God then went on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura. On the way back, he passed through Baeza, where he spent some time with Saint John of Avila. His project became clearer by the day. Then he returned to Granada and began his work.

He was starting from scratch. Some of those around him thought it was just another folly, but John's inner joy was contagious. It convinced people of his sincerity, the authenticity of his conversion, and the wisdom of his ideas. His words struck a chord. His testimony left no one indifferent. He set to work, asking for alms, not for himself but for the sick, taking in the needy, still alone and without help. The people of Granada were gradually struck by John's incredible example. A few joined him, without him asking for anything. Soon there were ten of them. Their numbers grew in the space of a few months. Volunteers and benefactors took up his cause. John would often say: "Who does good for its own sake? Do good for the love of God, my brothers in Jesus Christ!"

The first "House of God" opened its doors, ready to welcome the most destitute people of the day, without distinction. The clergy closely monitored John's work. Several priests and religious had joined him, and the public authorities were keeping a watchful eye on his activities... until the day when some wealthy donors decided to finance the hospital's equipment and nursing staff. The Archbishop of Granada made official his name "John of God" (a name first given to John by Jesus in a vision). He welcomed the sick, particularly those suffering from mental disorders, as Jesus would do, inventing a new model of hospital: clean facilities, one patient per bed, spiritual guidance, etc. He also found time to devote himself to helping prostitutes change their lives.

This intense work was rooted in prayer and the sacraments - sources from which the saint drew his strength and joy. He was not doing social work and was not a hyperactive, but he was a contemplative at heart, moved to act by grace on behalf of the poor.

John of God died in 1550 in the odour of sanctity. Pope Pius V recognised the congregation of the Brothers of Saint John of God in 1572. Beatified in 1630, he was raised to the altars in 1690, and in 1886 the little Portuguese shepherd became the "heavenly patron" of hospitals and the sick by decision of Pope Leo XIII.

Patrick Sbalchiero

Beyond reasons to believe:

The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God was the first Order of this type in history, bringing together people from different social and educational backgrounds, whose shared ideal was to serve Jesus in the person of the sick: they are benefactors, religious, lay people, doctors, students, etc.