St. John of God is the Patron Saint of heart patients, hospitals, firefighters, and booksellers. He also interceded for my daughter to get her a miraculous healing from God!
Story of St. John of God
John was an impulsive man whose quick decisions led him first away from God and then towards him with reckless abandon.
John was born in Portugal in 1495. At the age of 8, he was convinced by a traveling stranger that adventure awaited if he joined him on a journey to faraway lands. The traveler soon abandoned him in Spain.
Alone in a foreign country, he was adopted by a kindly man who taught him how to herd sheep. He continued as a shepherd until his 20’s, when he once again ran off, this time to join the Spanish army.
His years as a soldier were his most sinful, complete with drinking, gambling, and pillaging. Being amongst rough men, he sank right down with them. Violence was everyday and thievery commonplace.
After a couple of near-brushes with death, he began to reevaluate his life. At the age of 40, he decided to dedicate his life to God.
After hearing a sermon about repentance by St. John of Avila, he began beating himself publicly and begging for God’s mercy. He had whipped himself into such a frenzy that he was committed to a mental hospital.
St. John of Avila heard of John’s fate and went to visit him. He advised against mortification and recommended helping others as a better way to serve God.
After being released, he vowed to start a hospital where he could care for the sick and poor. He sold books to raise funds, thus becoming the patron saint of hospitals and booksellers.
He cared for the undesired poor, sinners, prostitutes, and people of general ill-repute. When people criticized the company he chose to keep, he responded by saying, “I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am a most base sinner, altogether unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.”
At one point, a portion of John’s hospital caught fire. In order to save the patients in that wing, while others stared in disbelief, John rushed into the fire, carrying out patients one by one, till all were saved.
To preserve the undamaged wing of his hospital, he went up to the roof to separate the burning portion with an axe. While he worked tirelessly, the burning wing gave way. He plummeted through the smoke and everyone began morning their loss.
To their great surprise, John walked out of the building, unscathed. For this reason, he is the patron saint of firefighters.
When John was 55, he spotted a man drowning in a freezing river. He immediately jumped in to save him without a thought as to his own safety. He succeeded in saving the man, but developed a bad case of pneumonia. He returned to his hospital, where the illness progressed.
Being now well-known, the archbishop came to him, celebrated mass, heard his confession, gave him viaticum and performed last rites.
His condition deteriorated, and St. John of God died on March 8, 1550, on his knees before God’s altar.
How Saint John of God Interceded for Us (Personal Healing Miracle)
When my first daughter was 6 months old, she was diagnosed with an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), which is a hole between the top 2 chambers of her heart. Luckily for us, she didn’t have any symptoms. Her ASD was found when the doctor heard a murmur when listening to her heart.
We were told that at some point, our tiny baby would need an “intervention” to close the hole, either by open-heart surgery (Please, God, no!) or by a catheter-based procedure.
At that time, she was having no symptoms and her echocardiogram (echo) looked good. We could wait.
We searched for a saint to intercede for our little girl and found St. John of God. We prayed many novenas, eventually praying our “novena” every day.
When she was 3, we were told that her echo was showing some thickening of her heart muscle. That meant that it was being strained, working harder than it should. They recommended that we come back in a couple of months to schedule her procedure.
At that time, we had another little girl at home and a baby on the way. Who would watch our 1 year old? I was already fairly overwhelmed as it was, and now our little girl needed surgery?
We cried. We prayed. We took a pilgrimage. We couldn’t go far with my being pregnant and having 2 little girls so young, so we went to the LA Cathedral.
It happened to be the Jubilee Year of Mercy. We walked through the Pilgrimage Doors of Mercy and spent about half an hour praying for our toddler. (I can’t remember if we went to mass on that day or not.)
We spent some time wandering around the grounds and enjoying the sights. There was a Children’s Garden where the girls could climb over and inside statues. A fun time was had by all.
When we finally went back to see her cardiologist to schedule her procedure, her echo showed normal heart muscle! No more signs of strain! Her doctor said she didn’t understand what happened but that we could continue waiting.
I know what happened, though. God knew how hard it would have been for our family for her to have a surgery at that time. So hard for a 3-year-old to understand what was happening and why. He healed our little girl!
Praise God! Thank you, St. John of God, for interceding for us!
Years later, when she was 7 1/2 years old, she still had a strong, healthy heart, but in order to avoid complications when she was older, we scheduled the ASD closure (by catheter-based procedure, thank God!).
She did so well. No crying, no complications. And still healthy today.
Fun side story: It was on the morning of her procedure that I found out that we were pregnant with our 5th baby. And yet, that was still less stressful than if we had her procedure when she was 3!
Thank you, Saint John of God!
Recipe to Celebrate St. John of God’s Feast Day
To celebrate St. John of God’s feast day, I like to make Heart-Shaped Cinnamon Rolls (the same ones I make for St. Valentine’s Day)! Follow the link to get the from scratch recipe.
If you aren’t much of a baker, or you just don’t have the time, you can buy pre-made rolled-up cinnamon rolls and reshape them into hearts, using the directions on my Heart-Shaped Cinnamon Rolls post. (Follow this link to get straight to the “shaping” directions.)
If you’re buying canned cinnamon rolls, be sure to buy “Pillsbury Grand’s Cinnamon Rolls”, or a similar “rolled-up” kind.
Prayer to St. John of God
St. John of God, you are honored as the patron of those who are afflicted by heart disease. Obtain for me the grace from God to be well again. Bless me with a healthy heart, I ask you for your intercession and help. Grant that I receive the favor for which I now ask through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
The prayer above is what we prayed for our daughter, in addition to this novena. (Click the link to go to the Pray More Novenas website.)
Happy St. John of God Day!
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