St. John of San Facundo

Confessor

Feast Day - June 12

John, born of a noble family at Sahagun in Spain, was granted by God to his parents, who had long been childless, in answer to their good works and prayers. From his earliest years, he gave signs of his future holiness. When ordained priest, he renounced, of his own accord, all the ecclesiastical benefices which had been given him, that he might serve God in greater tranquillity.

When he incurred a serious illness in Salamanca, he bound himself by vow to observe a severer discipline. To do so, he went to the monastery of St. Augustine, where there flourished the greatest severity of discipline. As a religious, he excelled the most advanced monks in all virtues. Through his public talks and private conferences, as well as the holiness of his life, he brought back to peaceful living the citizens of Salamanca, who had been disturbed by bloody factions.

In the course of this work, he was not infrequently saved from imminent death by divine power. The Lord Christ often appeared to him while he was celebrating Mass. Often also he could divine the secrets of hearts and foretell the future. At length, having predicted the day of his death, he departed this life in a most holy way, glorified by many miracles both before and after his death. These miracles were duly proved, and Alexander VIII enrolled him in the number of the Saints.

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