Juan Grande Román, OH (6 March 1546 – 3 June 1600) was a Spanish Roman Catholic who was a professed religious of the Hospitallers of Saint John of God. He adopted the name of "John the Sinner" and he died of the plague after he tended to those who suffered from it. He was beatified in 1858 after Pope Pius IX recognized two miracles attributed to his intercession and a third allowed

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

to canonize him in 1996.

Life

Juan Grande Román was born in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 6 March 1546 as the son of Cristobal Grande and Isabel Roman. Andrés Muñoz baptized him after his birth. His father died when he was eleven. Román served in the church choir at the age of seven to twelve as part of his Catholic education and completed his studies in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

where he learned the trade of a weaver and cloth-maker. He returned home at the age of seventeen but his work causes a profound spiritual crisis. He left his home and went to the Hermitage of St. Olalla at

Marchena ''Marchena'' is a genus of jumping spiders only found in the United States. Its only described species, ''M. minuta'', dwells on the barks of conifers along the west coast, especially California, Washington and Nevada.Maddison, Wayne. 1995. ...

where he spent time in an effort to discern his vocation. He decided to devote himself to

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

and exchanged his clothes for a sack-cloth habit. He renounced marriage and adopted the nickname of "Juan Pecador" ("John the Sinner"). He - at this time - cared for an old couple and catered to their needs. He would beg for alms for them and realized at that stage his vocation was to devote himself to the needs of the poor. Román moved to Cadiz at the age of nineteen where he looked after the poor and the sick but also catered to prisoners. He begged for alms around the town in order to help them. He frequented the church of the Franciscan Order to take spiritual advice from one of the friars. An epidemic broke out in

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...

at the start of 1574 and he attempted to help all those who fell victim to illness. He founded a hospital of his own and devoted it to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

with the name of "Our Lady of Candlemas". He soon learned of an institution established under

John of God John of God ( pt, João de Deus; es, Juan de Dios; lat, Joannes Dei; March 8, 1495 – March 8, 1550) was a Portuguese soldier turned health-care worker in Spain, whose followers later formed the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, a ...

in Granada. In 1574 he visited it and he joined it. He accepted the rules of the institution and applied that to his own hospital. He attracted people and trained them according to "The Statutes of John of God". The Cardinal Archbishop of Seville Rodrigo de Castro entrusted to him the mission of reducing the number of hospitals. He reduced the number of them despite the great difficulties he encountered in doing so. Román devoted himself to the victims of a plague that struck Jerez. He devoted all his strength to them but contracted the plague himself. He died of it on 3 June 1600.

Sainthood

The sainthood process commenced in Seville on 4 October 1667 under

Pope Clement IX Pope Clement IX ( la, Clemens IX; it, Clemente IX; 28 January 1600 – 9 December 1669), born Giulio Rospigliosi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 20 June 1667 to his death in December 1669. Biography Ear ...

which conferred upon him the title of Servant of God. Pope Pius VI recognized that he had lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

and proclaimed him to be

venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

on 3 May 1775. Pope Pius IX presided over his beatification on 1 October 1852 after two miracles were attributed to his intercession. The cause for his canonization was formally opened on 10 December 1930. The third miracle attributed to him was investigated in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and it was

who approved it in 1995. He canonized him on 2 June 1996.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Juan Grande 1546 births 1600 deaths 16th-century venerated Christians People from Seville Spanish Roman Catholic saints Canonizations by Pope John Paul II Knights Hospitaller saints