---
title: "St. John of God: Feast Day March 8 · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-of-god/
description: "St. John of God, Religious, patron of hospitals, nurses, and booksellers. Remembered on March 8, died 1550. Read their life in Bless."
---

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](https://blessbible.app/saints/march/#8) |
| Title | Religious |
| Died | 1550 |
| Patron of | [hospitals](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#hospitals), [nurses](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#nurses), [booksellers](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#booksellers) |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | [Monday, March 8, 2027](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-of-god/#calendar) |

## 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.

[Hospitals](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#hospitals) [Nurses](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#nurses) [Booksellers](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#booksellers)

### Saints with the same patronage

- [St. Camillus de Lellis](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-camillus-de-lellis/) hospitals · July 18
- [St. Agatha](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-agatha/) nurses · February 5
- [St. Catherine of Siena](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-catherine-of-siena/) nurses · April 29

Patronages are traditional, not an official list. [All patron saints in Bless, A to Z](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/).

## 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.

| Date | In the US calendar | Color | Mass readings (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Monday, March 8, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/03/08/) | Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent | Violet | Isaiah 65:17-21 · Psalm 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b · Amos 5:14 · John 4:43-54 |
| [Wednesday, March 8, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/03/08/) | Wednesday of the First Week of Lent | Violet | Jonah 3:1-10 · Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19 · Joel 2:12-13 · Luke 11:29-32 |

Readings

Reading citations through May 31, 2027 are as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar. Later citations were computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

[March 7 Sts. Perpetua and Felicity](https://blessbible.app/saints/sts-perpetua-and-felicity/) [March 9 St. Frances of Rome](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-frances-of-rome/)

[All the saints of March](https://blessbible.app/saints/march/) [Born on March 8?](https://blessbible.app/saints/birthday/#03-08) [A saint for every day](https://blessbible.app/saints/)

Spotted a mistake in a date, a patronage or a quotation? [Report an error](https://blessbible.app/support/#report) and we’ll fix it in the app and here.

St. John of God

Remembered on March 8

On this page

1. [Life](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-of-god/#life)
2. [Patron of](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-of-god/#patron)
3. [In the calendar](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-john-of-god/#calendar)

In the app

Bless shows a saint every day on its Today screen, with their life and their words. Free on iPhone.