John of God (1495–1550)

Biography

They were years of effervescence, with the demand for new discoveries. Juan left his town when he was only eight years old. He enlists in the army. He fights like Saint Ignatius and suffers many adventures. At 42 he arrived in Granada; there his conversion took place. "Granada will be your cross," the Lord tells him. From now on he will be called Juan de Dios. He preached in Granada and with such enthusiasm he preached about the beauty of virtue and the ugliness of sin, with so much fervor he spoke about the Love of God that Juan, as if struck by lightning, threw himself on the ground, while repeating: "Mercy, Lord, mercy!" He ran through the streets of the city barefoot and shouting his sins and his repentance like one who has lost his mind. Nobody understood that divine madness. Later Juan concentrated all his enthusiasm on a new Order: "The Order of the Hospitaller Brothers of Saint John of God." "DO GOOD, BROTHERS," he repeated incessantly. His first companions were recruited among the most shabby people: a pimp, a murderer, a spy and a usurer. That is the power of love: a convert who pulls four scoundrels out of the mud and makes them Christians. He will support his work on these four columns. It is the precursor of modern charity. He welcomes the sick, heals them, cleans them, comforts them, feeds them. Everything is cleanliness, order and peace in the house. Near death, his bed was a continuous parade of people who wanted to see his father and benefactor. He waited for her on his knees, and looking at the crucifix his burning heart stopped beating.