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João Duarte Cidade, more commonly known as John of God, was born on March 8, 1495, in Montemor-o-Novo, Évora, Portugal.
From the time he was a little boy, John was incredibly impulsive in his behavior when he thought God wanted him to do something. For example, when he was eight years old, he ran away from home to follow a priest who, in his preaching, talked about exciting new worlds outside of Portugal. His mother died from grief, and his father became a religious.
In the next years, he worked as a mountain shepherd until he was twenty-seven years old, and he then decided to become a soldier for Spain. As a soldier, he led a chaotic life of drinking, gambling, and pillaging like his fellow soldiers.
As a grown man, John was very susceptible to religious preachers just as he had been an eight-year-old child. Often, he would act impulsively and imprudently in his quest for doing what he imagined God’s will for him to be. One time, for example, after hearing Blessed John of Avila speak about repentance, John was so overcome by his sins that he went dashing through the town tearing off his clothes and crying. His behavior was so bizarre, though, that he ended up in a mental hospital where he was regularly tied down and whipped daily. He gave up his madness, however, at the urging of Blessed John of Avila.
John of God, as he came to be known, served the Lord as a bookseller of religious goods. But what John is most noted for is his care for the sick poor as a nurse and nursing administrator. Eventually he gathered like-minded men around him who also devoted their lives to nursing the sick and poor. This group became known as the Brothers Hospitallers.
Once, when his little hospital was burning to the ground, John ran into it and saved all the patients while others of the town stood around watching. He then raced back into the building throwing mattresses and other needed items out the window to save them. John then used an axe to separate the burning part of the building from that which was not burning.
John of God died on his 55th birthday, March 8, 1550, in Granada, Spain.
Pope Alexander VIII canonized him on October 16, 1690.
As a result of his very intriguing life, St. John of God is a patron saint of nurses, nursing administrators, booksellers, firefighters, hospitals, heart patients, the sick (including the mentally ill), and the dying.
St. John of God’s feast day is March 8.
