Religious · Remembered on March 8
St. John of God
St. John of God is remembered on March 8 in Bless’s calendar of saints. Traditionally invoked as patron of hospitals, nurses, and booksellers.
| Remembered on | March 8 |
|---|---|
| Title | Religious |
| Died | 1550 |
| Patron of | hospitals, nurses, booksellers |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | None left in the published calendar (through December 31, 2028) |
Life
A Portuguese shepherd, soldier in Charles V’s wars, and drifting peddler of books whose midlife conversion under John of Ávila’s preaching was so violent that Granada locked him in the madhouse — where the beatings taught him how the sick were treated.
Released, he rented a house and filled it with the city’s sick and homeless, begging by night and urging passers-by to do themselves good by giving. He died at fifty-five, kneeling, of an illness caught rescuing a drowning man. The Brothers Hospitallers who took his name now serve the sick on every continent.
Patron of
Tradition invokes St. John of God as patron of hospitals, nurses, and booksellers.
Saints with the same patronage
- St. Camillus de Lellishospitals · July 18
- St. Agathanurses · February 5
- St. Catherine of Sienanurses · April 29
Patronages are traditional, not an official list. All patron saints in Bless, A to Z.
In the calendar
The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. John of God. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.
Readings
No dates are left in Bless’s published calendar, which runs through December 31, 2028. St. John of God keeps March 8 in Bless’s calendar of saints: see the saints of March.
All the saints of March Born on March 8? A saint for every day
Spotted a mistake in a date, a patronage or a quotation? Report an error and we’ll fix it in the app and here.