St. John of God, founder of the Hospitaller Order, left us a legacy of love and service to the most vulnerable, a path that centuries later was renewed and strengthened by St. Benedict Menni, who took hospitaller mercy to new frontiers. Both saints share a mission: to heal not only the body, but also the heart and soul of those who suffer.
The story of St. John of God
Born in 1495 in Portugal, John City Duarte – known as St. John of God – lived a wandering youth until a strong call from God changed his life. In the streets of Granada, after hearing John of Avila preach, “he suffers such a spiritual commotion that he gives voices and cries that will lead him to be taken for mad and admitted to the Royal Hospital where he suffers the treatment given to alienated people: dark cells, manacled, treated with whippings, surprise baths, exorcisms or chains.”
During his confinement, he became aware of his mission and felt the need to serve the sick and the marginalized, dedicating himself completely to them. After leaving the hospital, he trained as a nurse and founded hospitals where patients not only received medical care, but also love and dignity.
St. John of God’s hospitality went beyond physical care: he saw in each person the face of the suffering Christ. His charism laid the foundations of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, which continues his mission throughout the world.
St. Benedict Menni: the renewal of the charism of Hospitality
St. Benedict Menni, a priest and religious of the same order, revitalized the work of St. John of God in the 19th century. At a time when the Order’s hospitals were in crisis, Benedict Menni was commissioned to restore them in Spain.
But his work went further: seeing the need to care for women with mental illness, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on May 31, 1881, giving the hospital charism a new dimension, focused on the comprehensive care of the sick, especially women who, until then, did not receive the attention they needed.
A legacy that lives on
St. John of God and St. Benedict Menni teach us that hospitality is more than an act of service: it is a way of life that puts the suffering person at the center. Their teachings live on in the work of the Hospitaller Order and our Congregation of Hospitaller Sisters, who today continue to care for the most vulnerable in hospitals, mental health centers and foster homes around the world.
On St. John of God’s Day and in the context of International Women’s Day, we renew our commitment to continue building a more just society, where hospitality and mercy remain beacons of hope. As St. Benedict Menni reminded us:
“Happy, happy a thousand times, the souls whom the Lord calls with such great Mercy. Esteem this grace of vocation as the greatest treasure and the most precious pearl that the Lord bestows on you.” (C.788)
