Feasts of the Order

20 January:

The Conversion of Our Father Saint John of God, Religious

Optional Memorial

 “The Feast day of that courageous martyr Saint Sebastian came around. At that time the city of Granada held the solemn festivities at the Hermitage of the Martyrs. That excellent and outstanding doctor of theology named Master Avila was to be the preacher. He was a man of intense holiness and learning. The preacher expounded the reward which Our Lord bestowed upon his holy martyr for having suffered such tremendous torments and the pain of a thousand deaths out of love for him, concluding that Christians must expose themselves to such a point in order to serve their Lord and rather suffer a thousand deaths than offend him. John of God, assisted by the grace of the Lord who gave force and virtue of such lively and effective words, was penetrated to the depths of his heart. No sooner had the sermon ended than John rushed outside imploring and shouting in a loud voice for God’s mercy. He leapt up and ran about wildly…until he reached his shop…he began to tear the chivalric novels and other profane books in his stock into shreds. Any book of sound doctrine and those of the lives of the saints, he gave away free to anyone who asked for them for the love of God…He stripped himself of everything and gave it all away then once more ran shouting into the streets of Granada begging the Lord’s mercy. Some honest persons who saw all this took him to where Father Avila was staying. And after comforting him he sent him away saying…’Go in peace with the Lord’s blessing and my own, because I am confident that the Lord will not refuse you his mercy.’ Placed in the Royal Hospital as a madman, he experienced the ‘cures’ used there to heal insane patients and this experience matured his vocation; ‘May the Lord grant me that I may have my own hospital to care for the sick.’ (F. de Castro, History of the life and holy works of John of God, English translation Dublin, 1986, chapters VII, VIII, IX). The experience of God’s mercy changed John of God; the memorial that we are celebrating inspires the Hospitaller Order to recall the gift and the “conversion” that calls us to daily bring new hospitality to fruition. 

12 February:

Blessed Joseph Alallo Valdés, Religious 

Optional Memorial

Born in the city of Havana, Cuba, on 12 February 1820, he made religious profession in the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God at the age of 15 years. At that young age he joined the hospital community of Camagüey where he remained for 54 years, faithfully living his consecration to hospitality even in times and situations of great difficulties. He drew from the contemplation of Jesus crucified strength to faithfully and coherently live and practice charity. His “favourite brothers” were: the homeless poor, slaves and prisoners, abandoned children and the elderly, the sick, lepers and dying persons. During the epidemics of cholera and smallpox, without contracting the diseases himself, he generously devoted himself to taking care of the people struck by the diseases. He lived a humble and very poor life that was, however, rich in virtue and apostolic witness. He returned to the house of his Father on 7 March 1889, at Camagüey.

8 March:

Saint John of God

Founder of Our Order 

Solemnity

John was born at Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal in the year 1495 and died at Granada, Spain on 8 March 1550. While searching for his vocation he fulfilled many occupations; shepherd, soldier, bookseller. Moved by a sermon preached by Saint John of Avila he ran through the streets of Granada shouting and acting like someone who was mentally ill. He was admitted as a person suffering from mental illness to the Royal Hospital where he had first-hand experience of the way the mentally ill were treated. This brought about in him the desire to have a hospital where he could care for the sick in his own charitable way. After his discharge, he opened his hospital and called it “The House of God”. Full of confidence in divine Providence, he was very persuasive in gaining the collaboration of those who heard his invitation to “do good to yourselves brothers and sisters”; so he could help persons who were sick and in need. Through his example and charity the Hospitaller Order came into being and continues his mission to this day. Urban VIII beatified him on 22 September 1630 and he was canonized by Alexander VIII on 16 October 1690. He was proclaimed Patron of Hospitals (1886), the Sick and Dying (1886) and Nurses and Catholic Health Services (1930). He was made Patron of Firefighters in Spain in 1953 and in Portugal in 1990. He was declared the Co-Patron of Granada in 1940.

24 April:

Saint Benedict Menni

Memorial

 Benedict Menni was born at Milan on 11 March 1841, and was baptized on the same day in the church of Santa Maria alla Fontana with the names Angelo, Ercole. He was a volunteer stretcher-bearer transporting the wounded in the battle of Magenta, and in doing this he became acquainted with the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God. He entered the Order at the age of 19 and received the religious habit taking the name of Benedict. He was ordained priest on 14 October 1866 and shortly afterwards was chosen by the Prior General, Brother Giovanni Maria Alfieri for the mission of re-founding the Order in Spain, the land of its birth. With the help of the Lord and sustained by his enthusiasm, he opened 22 centres of the Order and founded the Congregation of the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, dedicated to the assistance of mentally ill women. As in all works of God, he was not spared trials from both inside and outside the Order. He died at Dinan (France) on 24 April 1914. He was beatified by John Paul II on 23 June 1985 and canonised on 21 November 1999. His relics are venerated in the chapel at Benedict Menni Psychiatric Hospital conducted by the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at Ciempozuelos (Madrid). 

26 April:

The Blessed Mary

Mother of Good Counsel

Optional Memorial

“We accept and carry out the will of God imitating the simplicity, availability to others, self-giving and faithfulness of Our Lady, the ever-virgin Mary; we try to reflect her maternal love in our apostolate to those who suffer” (Constitutions 4). Devotion to Mary in the Hospitaller Order has always been considered as a most precious bequest that we have received from the Founder, Saint John of God. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of “Mother of Good Counsel” was granted by Pope Pius VI on 9 June 1787, with the faculty to celebrate the Mass and Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title “of Good Counsel”. This privilege was presented by Brother Vincent Maria Salerno the Prior General, “to foster the pious devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary that animates the Brothers of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God” (Bullarium, p. 430). Brother Giovanni Battista Orsenigo, a dentist at San Giovanni Calibita Hospital on the Tiber Island, was untiring in his promotion of this Marian devotion, and when the Order’s hospital at Nettuno opened in 1889, it was dedicated under the title, “Mary Mother of Good Counsel”; and due to his promotion of this devotion Pope Leo XIII inserted this title into the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This memorial invites us to implore the Lord for the gift of counsel in order to know how to please him and to guide us in carrying out our hospitaller apostolate. 

1 May:

Saint Richard Pampuri, Religious

Memorial

Richard Pampuri was born on the 2 August 1897 at Trivolzio (Pavia, Italy) and was baptized the following day and given the names Erminio, Filippo. His parents died while he was very young and he was cared for by his maternal aunts who gave him a Christian education. After childhood and adolescence, he dedicated himself to works of charity. He fulfilled his military service in field hospitals, caring for the wounded soldiers with great compassion. After World War I he studied at Pavia University where he graduated in medicine and surgery. Soon afterwards he was appointed to be the local doctor at Morimondo in the province of Milan. He remained there for six years, displaying extraordinary attentiveness to the patients who sought him for physical and spiritual remedies. He was a close associate of the parish priest, and was president of the local Catholic Action yough group, and secretary of the parish missionary society. He answered the call to the consecrated life, and in 1927 entered the novitiate of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God at Brescia, taking the name Brother Richard. During his three years in religious life, Richard faithfully followed in the footsteps of the holy Founder of the Hospitaller Order. He observed the Rule and distinguished himself by his prayer and interior life. Brother Richard was a great comfort to the sick, a model for his confreres and also a model to the other doctors and hospital staff. His holy death took place at Milan on the 1 May 1930. His body is venerated in the Trivolzio parish church and his heart is venerated in the chapel of the convalescent hospital dedicated to him in the same town. John Paul II beatified him on the 4 October 1981 and canonized him on the 1 November 1989.

10 May:

Saint John of Avila, Priest 

Memorial

John of Avila, called the apostle of Andalusia, was the spiritual director and guide of John of God. He was born at Almodovar del Campo (Ciudad Real, Spain) in 1499. After attending courses of philosophy and theology at Alcalá University, he was ordained priest. The Archbishop of Seville appreciated his gifts and capabilities and persuaded him to renounce his intention to go to the missions in the Americas and to remain in Spain to dedicate himself to preaching and giving spiritual direction. During a sermon that he preached at Granada on the occasion of the feast of Saint Sebastian, he brought about the conversion of Saint John of God. He then became John of God’s spiritual director and he guided him in the search for his true vocation and was his counsellor and supporter in the founding of his hospital at Granada, birthplace of the Hospitaller Order. There are three extant letters that he wrote to John of God to guide him on the path to perfection and his charitable works. We also have the notes he made for the sermon he delivered on the feast of the martyr Saint Sebastian. He died at Montilla (Cordova) on 10 May 1569, and was beatified by Leo XIII in 1894 and canonized by Paul VI in 1970.

3 June:

Saint John Grande, Religious

Memorial

John Grande was born at Carmona (Seville, Spain) in 1546. When he was nineteen he changed his name to “John the Sinner” and moved to Jerez de la Frontera where he consecrated himself to God, dedicating himself to the assistance of prisoners, the rehabilitation of prostitutes, and the service of the poor and incurably ill. John aggregated himself with his hospital to the Hospitaller Order of John of God in 1574. He gathered many new disciples and opened more hospitals. He was a man of extraordinary charity, a true Good Samaritan. He always nourished his hospitaller spirituality with a deep interior life and was ever ready to make sacrifices. His spirit of prayer marked him out as a mystic of hospitality. The Archbishop of Seville placed him in charge of reforming health services in Jerez and nearby towns, giving preference to the poorest people. John died in 1600 a victim of his sharity in assisting victims of the plague. He was beatified by Pius IX on 13 November 1853 and canonised by John Paul II on 2 June 1996. He was proclaimed patron of the Diocese of Jerez de la Frontera and his relics are venerated in the chapel of the Hospitaller Order’s hospital dedicated to him in that city. The chapel is now the ‘Dioicesan Shrine of Saint John Grande’.

10 June:

Blessed Eustace Kugler, Religious 

He was born on 15 January 1867 at Neuhaus, in the diocese of Ratisborn, and made his vows in the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God on 21 October 1895. A religious with a profound interior life, he served for 20years as the Local Superior, and from 1925 until his death on 10 June 1946 as Provincial of the Bavarian Province. He greatly cherished his Hospitaller vocation, following the example of the compassionate and merciful Christ. He patiently endured gruelling interrogations by the Gestapo under the Third Reich with edifying peace of mind, just as he bore the physical sufferings caused by his stomach ailment. His mortal remains rest in Ratisbon, in the Hospital Chapel dedicated to St. Pius V, which he had built.

30 July:

Blessed Braulio Corres, Frederick Rubio and 69 Companions, Martyrs 

Optional Memorial

We remember on this day the 71 Brothers of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God who received martyrdom for having steadfastly stood up for their faith and continued their charitable works for the poor and sick during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). These Brothers disregarded the danger that menaced them and that grew more perilous day by day. They remained at their posts, continuing their apostolate with their customary dedication without being intimidated by death threats, voluntarily accepting martyrdom. John Paul II beatified them on 25 October 1992.

28 August:

Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 

Feast

Augustine was born in the year 354 at Tagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria). He lived a dissolute life in his youth but, through the prayers of his mother and meeting with the bishop Ambrose, he was converted and received baptism at the hands of Ambrose at Milan in 387. Upon returning to his native country he lived an ascetic life. He was elected Bishop of Hippo (now Anabas), where he became an exemplary head of the flock he guided and taught until his death on 28 August 430. In Augustine there was a combination of the contemplative, theologian, pastor of souls, catechist, preacher, mystic, defender of the faith and promoter of community life. He wrote a monastic rule that became the model of all successive rules in the Western church. Pope Saint Pius V issued the Bull “Licet ex debito” on 1 January 1572, approving the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God and giving it the Rule of Saint Augustine.

29 September:

Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels 

Feast

Michael (Who is like God?) is the archangel who rises up against Satan and his cohorts (Jude 9, Revelation 12:7; cf. Zechariah 13:1-2), defender of the friends of God (Deuteronomy 10:13-21) and protector of his people (Daniel 12:1). Gabriel (Force of God) is one of the spirit that stand before God (Luke 1:19); he revealed to Daniel the secrets of God’s plan (Daniel 8:16-9, 21-22). He announced to Zechariah the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-20) and to Mary that of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). Raphael (God has healed) is also one of the seven angels that stand before the throne of God (Tobit 12:15; Revelation 8:2). He accompanied and guarded Tobias in the mishaps of his journey and healed his blind father. The Church on her earthly pilgrimage, especially in the Eucharistic liturgy, associates herself with the choirs of angels who in the heavenly Jerusalem sing the glory of God (cf. Revelation 3:11-14; Second Vatican Council, Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, 8) On 29 September the Martyrology of Jerome (sixth century) records the dedication of the basilica of Saint Michael on the Via Salaria, Rome. There is a tradition in the Hospitaller Order that the Archangel Raphael used to assist the Founder, Saint John of God, during his lifetime. The Order takes this as a sign that the mission of healing and assisting the sick, the poor and needy is work very pleasing to the Lord. On 4 May 1748, Benedict XIV issued the Brief “Emanavit” approving and confirming the Hospitaller Order’s request to elect Saint Raphael the Archangel as its principal Co-protector.

The third Saturday in November 

The Blessed Virgin Mary 

Patroness of Our Order 

Solemnity 

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the model of consecration in hospitality. As “Mother of Mercy” and “Health of the Sick”, she teaches the hospitaller community how to stand with those who suffer and to ease their pain and tribulation. The celebration of the “Patronage of Our Lady” is the principle feast in which the Hospitaller Order venerates the Blessed Virgin Mary. This devotion stems from a pious tradition that says the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint John of God upon his deathbed to comfort and assure him that she would always protect his brothers, those whom they assist and their benefactors. This liturgical feast was instituted in 1736, however, it was already celebrated some time before that, in accordance with the fourth decree of the 15 decrees confirmed by the Order’s General Chapter of that same year: “To implore the powerful patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon our Order”; and it stated that “because, to have so great a Patron it becomes a very special devotion.” Consequently it has been decided to establish that in the future the Feast of the Patronage of Our Lady is to be one of the principle feasts of the Order; and every community in the Order is instructed to celebrate it with the greatest solemnity possible on the third Sunday in November”. On 7 January 1817, Pius VII confirmed the decree of the General Chapter held on 22 April 1736, stating that the feast of the Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary be celebrated in every chapel of the Order on the third Sunday of November. The reform of the Calendar of our Order in 1975 fixed the date of this feast to be celebrated on the third Saturday in November.

28 November 

The Translation of the Relics of Saint John of God 

Optional Memorial 

Saint John of God died at Granada (Spain) on 8 March 1550. His body was placed in the crypt of the Church of Santa Maria de la Victoria which belonged to the Order of Saint Francis de Paola (Minim Friars). After much trouble, the Hospitaller Brothers were able to have the remains of their Founder transferred and laid to rest in the church of their hospital at Granada. This transfer of the Saint’s relics occurred amidst great solemnity on 28 November 1664. The Prior General, Br. Alonso Pardo Ortega de Jesus had a beautiful church built and dedicated to Saint John of God. The Saint’s relics were then placed above the high altar in the room known as the “Camarín”. Pope Benedict XV elevated the church of Saint John of God to the title of Basilica on 20 December 1916.
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