John of God

1495-1550

• Born in Portugal.
• He became a soldier when he was old enough, then after a few years of wars with Spain,France, andTurkey, the troops disbanded, so he became a shepherd for a short time.
• When he was in his 40’s, he began to feel a deep sense of remorse for all his past evil-doings. He decided to try to dedicate himself to God.
• He moved to Granada and began to sell sacred pictures and books, creating a very successful small business.
• When he was 43, he heard a sermon by John of Avila which filled him with another deep sense of remorse.
• This time, his remorse was so severe that he became as what most called ‘demented.’ He gave away his small business and began roaming the streets wildly. He would cry out, beat his chest, run around the streets, tear his own hair….People were so afraid of him that they would throw objects at him. John of Avila took him aside and talked to him, but this only seemed to comfort him for a time.
• He was brought by others to an asylum where he was severely beaten. John of Avila heard that he was taken there and went to meet with him again. John of Avila told him that he had practiced this brutal form of penance for long enough and needed to find a way of life that would be beneficial to the spiritual health of himself and his neighbors. John of God immediately snapped out of it. He remained in the asylum for a short time longer only to serve others.
• He began right away to sell wood to make money that would buy food for the destitute. Then, he bought a house to make a hospital for the poor. It was so successful that other brothers came to help him in his mission. His order, although he never made any official rules, grew very fast.
• Although he moved to doing great works (he even saved someone who was drowning), he always reminded people that his past sins made him unworthy to do anything or receive anything good. He didn’t even want people to mention his name with theirs, saying that this would only cause them scandal.
• After many years of very hard work, he died from a severe illness when he was 55.
• see “Authentic Masculinity, Lived” for references