At the request of my cousin Jill, for the letter 'J' we will feature St. John. The hard part about this is choosing which St. John. According to https://www.catholic.org/saints/stindex (one of my primary sources), there are more than 70 Saints named John -- that does not count Blesseds or Saints whose names are other forms of the name John (Juan, Jean, Johan, etc.). I could have spent several days reading about these men - but I don't have that kind of time. So I picked St. John Grande kind of at random.
John Grande was born near Seville, Spain in 1546. He learned the merchant's trade and then opened a linen shop, but that work did not satisfy him. At the age of 19, he gave up the business, gave his property away and became a hermit. From that moment on, he called himself John Grande Pecador (Great Sinner). However, life in seclusion was not his ultimate calling.
He went to the city of Jerez de la Fronter, where he took care of prisoners, providing them with food, clothes, medical care and humane treatment. Due to his good relationships with those leaving prison, he was also assigned supervision of a care facility for people expelled from hospitals and shelters. He also helped women of the streets, helping them to obtain dowries so that they could leave their lives of sin and start families of their own. A wealthy couple provided him with funds to open his own hospital, which became famous for good care of the sick and a deeply religious atmosphere.
John died on June 3, 1600, a victim of the plague. His feast day is June 3.
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