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The Life of St. John of God

The Life of St. John of God

Last updated on: November 1, 2026 at 6:25 am by Mark Wilson

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The Life of St. John of God 2026-11-01T06:25:33-05:00 Mark Wilson

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For All Saints Day, here is a homily given by

Deacon Scott Brown
At Immaculate Conception Church, R.I.
On October 31st, 2026
About St. John of God

St. John of God saving the Sick from a Fire at the Royal Hospital in 1549 by Manuel Gómez-Moreno González (1880)

Learn about a Saint you can be encouraged by who overcame hardships and trials. If he can with God’s grace.

So can you!

This homily illustrates a few things….

Catholics love and appreciate scripture.
Anyone can become a Saint.
A common characteristic of Saints are their love of the poor and disadvantaged.
Good homilies can be said anywhere and in any church.
Deacons are very good and useful in the church.

May you be encouraged and enriched as you learn about…

The Life of St. John of God

I think it is a little funny that the Almighty, the God of all creation…invites us to serve him. And that he calls us in soft whispers. I have been following those whispers since I was 14 years old.

Elijah in the wilderness, by Washington Allston

In Boy Scouts, we would take part in all sorts of service projects, on my own, I would cut grass, shovel snow, take the trash to the street for my elderly neighbors. I volunteered at the Little Sisters of the Poor. A minister of the Eucharist, I taught CCD, brought Holy Communion to the home bound. Even donated blood on a regular basis. A member of the Knights of Columbus. Not a big deal. Many of you do that and so much more. Without waving a flag, without seeking praise or fanfare.

This weekend we are celebrating the feast of All Saints. Saints that inspire our faith and encourage our good works.

I would like to share with you my patron saint, St John of God. I was baptized Scott Shawn. Shawn is Gaelic for John. I was named after my grandfather, John Ignatius Brown. Growing up, I would hear both my first and middle names very often. It usually meant that I was in trouble. Well, it always meant that I was in trouble.

Long ago, when my Dad told me that Shawn means John and St John was my patron saint since the day of my baptism, I became curious. But is was not until my children were baptized that I went on a quest to find which St John was my patron saint.

St. John of God was born in Portugal on March 8, 1495. One day when he was eight years old, he disappeared. It is believed that he was abducted by a stranger, and found himself an outcast, a homeless child, wondering the streets very far from home. He had nothing, or no one to care for him,. He was fortunate to be taken in and cared for by shepherd who raised him as a shepherd-boy.

By HESHAMFATHYPH96 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, File:الراعي الصغير , ترحال بحثًا عن الطعام.jpg – Wikimedia Commons

In his twenties, John was looking for adventure and joined up with a company of soldiers. He fought against the French, and later against the Turks. At night, he loved to listen to the visiting friars read from the scriptures and he learned to read from one of them.

Perhaps God was calling him to read Sacred Scripture to those who could not read. John resigned from his army position and taught others to read. But he heard the whisper from God. What is the value of reading if there are no books to read. John bought books and he distributed them to those who could read.

But somehow it was not good enough. He thought he heard God ask him write copies of the Gospels and to give Bibles to those who could read. Hand writing the Gospels took a lot of time and effort, So he bought a printing press. And he was able to hire a few workers to print the pages of the gospel.

During this time a great infection of plague spread across Portugal and Spain. John took in as many sick people that could fit into his home and stable and he cared for them. As families vacated their homes to escape the contagion, John would bring in more infected people and care for them. Ending each night reading from the Gospels to the infirm and dying.

St John had a habit of giving away his cloak to anyone he found who was cold, homeless or dying. The next person he would encounter would receive his tunic and the next his shirt. The next day he would go to the bishop and ask for assistance. How could the bishop say no to a servant of God who would literally give the shirt off his back to the least of these?

Statue of St. John of God at the Church of Vilar de Frades, Barcelos, Portugal.
The inscription reads:
All things pass, only good works last. – Joseolgon – Own work

To try to control this impulsive disciple of Jesus, the bishop consecrated John as a religious brother, gave him an old priest cassock and told him that it was his habit and he is not to take it off. And he was given the name, John of God.

As the plague spread, he continued to occupy abandoned homes, churches, rectories and convents. Staffing them with brave and faithful man and women to care for the sick and dying and they ended each evening with readings from sacred scripture.

One night a fire broke out in a barn near the cloister that was converted into a hospital. In hast, John lead his workers and volunteer to evacuate the patients from the hospital, then they rushed back in to save the mattresses and bed frames.

Sadly the fire did spread to the hospital. The local governor ordered for the militia to bring canons and to fire them at the hospital, to cause the collapse of the building, preventing the fire from destroying the entire town.

Billy Joel Pressure GIF - Billy Joel Pressure 80s Music - GIF 탐색 및 공유

Before the militia could arrive. A man was spotted on the roof of the burning cloister with an ax. It was John. He began swinging the ax wildly causing a separation between the burning section of the cloister and the uninvolved section. Just as the cut was complete. There was a thunderous roar and a brilliant release of light, flames and sparks as the burning section of the cloister collapsed into itself and the flames greatly diminished. St John was seen falling into the inferno.

The next morning, while the Sun began to rise, John was spotted in the rubble, trying to salvage what ever he could. His hands and face was covered with soot and his eyebrow were singed. But his habit was unscathed.

Saint John of God died many months after the fire. The waters of the local river violently overflowed its banks, and many towns people were swept away. John saw a man struggling in the freezing swift water. Without any hesitation, he plunged into a freezing river to save the man. The exposure to the dirty, frigid water resulted in severe pneumonia.

On March 8, 1551 on his 55th birthday. Brother John of God was in his hospital, in one of the hospital beds that he saved from the fire and was anointed by the bishop who admired him. As evening drew near, John climbed out of bed an knelt holding a crucifix he took of the wall. As one of the workers walked the corridor reading the Scriptures aloud for sick and dying, John took his last breath and died.

He was canonized in 1690, and was named the patron saint of hospitals, the sick, nurses, hospital workers, firefighters, alcoholics, printers, lifeguards and booksellers.

St John of God was anxious and restless while trying to follow the whispered invitation of the Almighty to love God and his neighbors.

As St Augustine said, Lord are hearts are restless until they rest in you.

St. Augustine

May the prayers of St John of God, our patron saints and all the saints bring us closer to Christ. Amen.

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