Juan de Ortega, better known as Saint John the Hermit (1080 – 1163), was a Spanish priest and hermit. A disciple of

Dominic de la Calzada Dominic de la Calzada (or Dominic of the Causeway) ( es, Santo Domingo de la Calzada) (1019 – 12 May 1109) was a saint from a cottage in Burgos very close to La Rioja. Life Born Domingo García in Viloria de Rioja, he was the son of a peasant ...

, he is best known for repairing roads and bridges along the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

. He also built a hospice as a shelter for pilgrims and founded the monastery of San Juan de Ortega. Juan of Velazquez, later known Juan de Ortega, was born in the Burgos village of Quintanaortuño in 1080."San Juan de Ortega", El Camino de Santiago
/ref> As a young man he assisted Dominic de la Calzada construct bridges in Logrono, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and Najera to aid pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. When Domingo died in 1109, John went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.Gitlitz, David M. and Davidson, Linda Kay. ''The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago'', Macmillan, 2000
As he was returning by sea from a pilgrimage to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, his ship encountered a dangerous storm that threatened to sink it. After safely arriving in Spain, John sought a place of solitude where he could devote himself to contemplation. He erected a hermitage for himself at a forested site known as Urteca or Ortega (Spanish for "nettle"), situated on the pilgrim road to Spain's most popular shrine,

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

. An area frequented by bandits, it was considered as one of the more dangerous stretches of the pilgrimage route. John built a pilgrim hospice and founded the monastery of San Juan de Ortega."The church and monastery of San Juan de Ortega", Pilgim Pathways
He also built a church in honor of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

, to whose

intercession Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying to a deity on behalf of others, or Intercession of saints, asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy, Timothy sp ...

he attributed his deliverance from the storm at sea. He devoted his manual labors to the construction and repair of bridges and roads for the pilgrim route to Compostela.Bunson, Matthew et al. "John de Ortega", ''Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints'', Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2003
Shortly before his death in 1163, John offered special prayers for the peace of the Church and for the faithful departed. According to one legend, robbers attempting to steal a cow got lost in a fog only to find themselves at St John's door in the morning. A depiction of this incident is carved on the saint's tomb. San Juan became as a patron of hospice keepers, children, and barren women.

References

Sources

Catholic Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juan de Ortega (hermit) 1080 births 1163 deaths 12th-century Christian saints 12th-century people from León and Castile Spanish Roman Catholic saints Spanish hermits fr:Chemin de Compostelle, les Saints bâtisseurs#San Juan de Ortega