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St John of God/ 1495-1550:
i
Broken back
Broken man
Eyes a mist
Mouth agape
Admonished saint
Alms for the poor
Prayers for the living
Relief for the dying
Once he stormed the city
As Christ in the temple
On his hands and knees
For the suffering of all
They broke his back
With all at hand
But not his heart
And not his song
Once he led
The conquerors blade
Against the French foe
The Turkish invader
In Hungary and many
He slew each and none
For them a pity
By and by his heart
Turned black
His mind turned
Back to temporal things
ii
Once he raised a hospital
From the wretched remnants
Of faith that placed
The rich man's head
On straw bouquets
And the poor man
Dying down amongst
The praying men of charity
Hearts and minds
On Universal things
Once he dwelt as a fisher king
In the house of sanity
Where the penitent
Took his suffering
With a solemn heart
Which swelled no inch
Once he stood
In the market place
Insulted and besmirched
He agreed and lowered
His head to invectives blade
iii
Once he swam the great deluge
All to save the Christian brother
From the wheel of rage
Once he laid his head on
The pillow of straw
His trial commenced
His sacraments
And troubles taken
A physical form
To lay in the lap of
The Lady Anne Ossorio
He could only bewail
The sweetness she offered him
For the lonesome sufferings
Of the Son of Man
And to the sinner of sinners
Soothed by a lily as thee
His mind returned
To Universal things
Once he knelt before
The altar in 1550
His final words extolling
His debts and promises
For his poor the city throughout
His mind returned
To Universal things
And to God...
"Thorns to roses
Sufferings to Paradise"
St John of God
St. John of God - B. in Portugal in 1495 March 8th and for forty years led an adventurous and varied life as shepherd, soldier, peddler, and looking after Christian slaves among the Moors. He then settled down in Granada to tend the sick and dying, and laid the foundations of the order of Hospitallers of St. John-of-God. This was in 1540; St. John d. in 1550, and the order, which still flourishes, was not properly organized till twenty years later. He was canonized in 1690 and later named (with St. Camillus of Lellis) patron of hospitals, nurses, and the sick.
Not to be confused with St. John Of The Cross - John de Yepes b. in the province of Old Castile on November 24th 1542, the son of a weaver of good family. He became a Carmelite friar in 1563 and was selected by St. Teresa to be the first member of the first friary of the reformed observance, at Durelo. The more public side of his life was in establishing this reform among the men Carmelites, and he underwent much persecution, including imprisonment at Toledo. It is as a supreme mystic that the Church calls St. John a "doctor," his teaching being contained in half a dozen treatises, some poems, and a few letters (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticles, etc.). He was a faithful follower of ancient tradition, but he writes of God from experience and with hardly any reference to the mystical writings of his predecessors. St. John was treated with great inhumanity by his superiors during the last months of his life, and died at Ubeda on December 14th, 1591. Canonized 1726. Declared doctor of the Church in 1926.
Broken back
Broken man
Eyes a mist
Mouth agape
Admonished saint
Alms for the poor
Prayers for the living
Relief for the dying
Once he stormed the city
As Christ in the temple
On his hands and knees
For the suffering of all
They broke his back
With all at hand
But not his heart
And not his song
Once he led
The conquerors blade
Against the French foe
The Turkish invader
In Hungary and many
He slew each and none
For them a pity
By and by his heart
Turned black
His mind turned
Back to temporal things
ii
Once he raised a hospital
From the wretched remnants
Of faith that placed
The rich man's head
On straw bouquets
And the poor man
Dying down amongst
The praying men of charity
Hearts and minds
On Universal things
Once he dwelt as a fisher king
In the house of sanity
Where the penitent
Took his suffering
With a solemn heart
Which swelled no inch
Once he stood
In the market place
Insulted and besmirched
He agreed and lowered
His head to invectives blade
iii
Once he swam the great deluge
All to save the Christian brother
From the wheel of rage
Once he laid his head on
The pillow of straw
His trial commenced
His sacraments
And troubles taken
A physical form
To lay in the lap of
The Lady Anne Ossorio
He could only bewail
The sweetness she offered him
For the lonesome sufferings
Of the Son of Man
And to the sinner of sinners
Soothed by a lily as thee
His mind returned
To Universal things
Once he knelt before
The altar in 1550
His final words extolling
His debts and promises
For his poor the city throughout
His mind returned
To Universal things
And to God...
"Thorns to roses
Sufferings to Paradise"
St John of God
St. John of God - B. in Portugal in 1495 March 8th and for forty years led an adventurous and varied life as shepherd, soldier, peddler, and looking after Christian slaves among the Moors. He then settled down in Granada to tend the sick and dying, and laid the foundations of the order of Hospitallers of St. John-of-God. This was in 1540; St. John d. in 1550, and the order, which still flourishes, was not properly organized till twenty years later. He was canonized in 1690 and later named (with St. Camillus of Lellis) patron of hospitals, nurses, and the sick.
Not to be confused with St. John Of The Cross - John de Yepes b. in the province of Old Castile on November 24th 1542, the son of a weaver of good family. He became a Carmelite friar in 1563 and was selected by St. Teresa to be the first member of the first friary of the reformed observance, at Durelo. The more public side of his life was in establishing this reform among the men Carmelites, and he underwent much persecution, including imprisonment at Toledo. It is as a supreme mystic that the Church calls St. John a "doctor," his teaching being contained in half a dozen treatises, some poems, and a few letters (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticles, etc.). He was a faithful follower of ancient tradition, but he writes of God from experience and with hardly any reference to the mystical writings of his predecessors. St. John was treated with great inhumanity by his superiors during the last months of his life, and died at Ubeda on December 14th, 1591. Canonized 1726. Declared doctor of the Church in 1926.