Juan Grande Román, OH (6 March 1546 – 3 June 1600) was a Spanish Catholic member of the

Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, officially the Hospitaller Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God (abbreviated as OH), are a Catholic religious order founded in 1572. In Italian language, Italian they are also known commonly ...

. He adopted the name of "John the Sinner" and died of the plague after tending to victims in 1600. He was beatified in 1858 after

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

recognized two miracles attributed to his intercession. A third allowed

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

to canonize him in 1996.

Life

Juan Grande Román was born in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 6 March 1546 as the son of Cristobal Grande and Isabel Roman. Andrés Muñoz

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

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 ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

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 belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

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 The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

to take spiritual advice from one of the friars. An epidemic broke out in

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campi� ...

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 was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

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

John of God John of God, Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, O.H. (; ; born João Duarte Cidade Help:IPA/Portuguese, �ʒwɐ̃w̃ duˈwaɾ.t siˈða.ðɨ March 8, 1495 – March 8, 1550) was a Portuguese People, Portuguese soldier turned healthc ...

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. 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 The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seville () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The curren ...

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 (; ; 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. Giulio Rospigliosi was born into the noble Ro ...

which conferred upon him the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

recognized that he had lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

and proclaimed him to be

venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

on 3 May 1775.

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 , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

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