Blessed John Baptist of the Conception

Our Lord deigned to show him by a miracle how pleasing this charity was to Him at such a tender age: John had stripped himself of his shirt to cover a poor man suffering from a serious illness; the latter was immediately healed. In the end, his austerities reduced him to such great languor that he could no longer walk. This state lasted for two years and provided his brothers and the servants with the opportunity to reproach him for his penances; he answered them with gentleness: "If penance had made him sick, it would not fail to cure him." Indeed, some time later he recovered his health in a surprising manner. I must not forget the devotion he brought, so to speak, from birth, towards the Blessed Virgin. When he was still in the cradle, one was sure to soothe his tears and cries by presenting him with an image of this good Mother, which he could not look at without a smile immediately coming to his lips. As soon as his age permitted, he recited the holy Rosary in her honor every day. At nine years old, having read that a holy child had, at that age, consecrated her virginity to God, he immediately ran to throw himself at the foot of an altar of the Queen of Virgins, and prayed to her with such love to keep him unstained all his life, that this request was granted to him. After successfully completing his humanities, he was found capable, at the age of twelve, of beginning his philosophy at the convent that the Discalced Carmelites had in his hometown. He was the model for his fellow students through his virtuous conduct: attentive to all his duties, exact in fulfilling them, modest in his manners, reserved in his speech, a friend of retreat, habitually recollected, he already showed the gravity of mature age; he knew no other places than the churches, the school, the hospital, and the monasteries; he hardly went out except to accompany the holy Viaticum when it was carried to the sick; the moments that young people give to their amusements, he consecrated to prayer: orison and reading the lives of the Saints were his most pleasant occupation.

When he had finished his course of philosophy, his parents sent him to the University of Baeza to study theology: he devoted himself to it with his usual ardor, but without losing any of the innocence of manners that had earned him the nickname of the holy child. His reflective mind, understanding early on the vanity of a world that passes like a shadow, resolved to separate himself from it. He seemed quite decided to take the religious habit with the Discalced Carmelites, his former masters; but God, who destined him for other designs, led him to Toledo to finish his course of theology there Tolède City of origin of Casilda and seat of her father's kingdom. . He lodged there with a holy priest who received some students in his house, and continued to edify everyone by his application to study and his regular life. But as there is no solid virtue without trials, God permitted libertines to try to pervert him: they first used mockery and insults, to the point of slapping him; but, despairing of triumphing over his patience, they finally exposed him to the most dangerous temptation: they introduced a miserable creature into his room who did everything to seduce him; but the Blessed one spat in her face and immediately fled to the cathedral of Toledo, where there was a miraculous image of the most holy Virgin, under whose protection he had placed himself upon his arrival in the city. It is to this Queen, more powerful than armies set in battle array, that he paid homage for his victory; he trembled with fear at the thought that the world might still offer him such dangers: he returned to his first resolution to take refuge in a cloister; only his heart hesitated between the Discalced Carmelites and the Trinitarians; to be enlightened in such an important choice, he had recourse to fasting and penance; he implored his good Mother, who did not remain deaf to the prayer of such a cherished child. One day, while he was praying with tears before the miraculous image, he heard a voice saying to him: "If you do not want to be mistaken, choose the Order of the Trinitarians." At these words, fearing an illusion or a trick of the senses, he humbly repeated his prayer, and up to three times, he intelligibly heard the same answer. Then he no longer hesitated to enter the convent of the Trinitarians in Toledo; he took the habit there at the age of nineteen, on June 26, 1580. During his novitiate, he had the Blessed Simon de Roxas as his master; it is easy to understand that, un der such a guide, he made bienheureux Simon de Roxas Master of novices and mentor to the saint. rapid progress in virtue. The Blessed Simon, who knew his virtue, subjected him to very harsh trials; one day, among others, he gave him an unmerited reprimand in the most severe terms; instead of making excuses, the holy novice threw himself at his feet and begged him to forgive him; the master turned his back and walked away. But what was his surprise when, three

Hours later, passing by again, he found the Blessed one still prostrate and awaiting his pardon.

Here is an occasion where the holy young man was well rewarded for his humble charity. A poor religious was devoured by an ulcer so fetid that it could no longer be dressed: he took charge of this abandoned poor man and surrounded him with the tenderest care; but, in the excess of his sufferings, the sick man, instead of thanking him, often quarreled with him; once, among other times, he overwhelmed him with the most unjust reproaches: for his only answer, the Blessed one performed an act so supernatural that nature shudders at the mere account: he gently licked the wound, which disappeared soon after this prodigy of charity; and, from that day on, he felt no more disgust for the most repulsive diseases. After a year of trials, spent in the exact practice of religious observances and the most solid virtues, he was admitted to profession on the feast day of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in 1581. The superiors, who knew his merit, wanted him to study theology for another four years under Father Simon de Roxas, although he had already completed his course at the University, and at the same time charged him with repeating the lessons to his fellow students: he did both with equal success. He had received from heaven such a rare talent that Lope de V ega called h Lope de Vega Famous Spanish writer who praised the saint's genius. im the most beautiful genius of Spain, and he acquired such knowledge that Father Entrade, a Jesuit, asserted that he was the most erudite man of his century. He was no less zealous in communicating his knowledge than in acquiring it; he put himself within reach of each of his fellow students, explained to them with patience the lessons they had heard, and helped them with all his power to reap the fruits. Moreover, this study of science was far from diverting him from the even more important study of holiness, and the most humble external works were always those he preferred: such as sweeping the rooms, making the beds, distributing soup to the poor at the convent door; he begged for the friends of Our Lord and his own, he shook them in every way: thus he was known in Toledo only as the Father of the poor. The low opinion he had of himself would have kept him away from the priesthood forever, but obedience called him to this honor of which he believed himself unworthy. He celebrated his first mass with a fervor that touched the hearts of all those present. It seemed that the Lord, by flooding his soul with the sweetest consolations, wished to prepare him for the sufferings that awaited him. During a most stubborn illness, he underwent several very painful operations for which iron and fire were used; they could not wring a complaint from him: "Cut, burn," he said, "treat me severely in this world, O my God! so as to spare me in the other." The doctors, seeing that he was not healing, advised him to take his native air, which did not produce on him the effect they expected. When there was the most despair for his health, God restored it to him miraculously. Upon returning to Toledo, he fell ill again. Then his superiors, believing that he needed a milder climate, sent him to Seville.

His illness never left him, for he had a fever for twelve years: but his zeal and charity left him even less; he became the apostle of Andalusia, which he traveled almost entirely; one was amazed to see a man so thin and exhausted announce the word of God with a strength and vehemence that seemed to border on the miraculous; but one was even more surprised by his knowledge and eloquence: he was compared to Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Bernard. His brothers, astonished by this success, asked him from which books he drew his sermons: — From the book of charity, he replied, meaning by this, according to some, the Holy Scripture, according to others, the crucifix. We will report only one example of the successes that accompanied such sermons. A young man of noble family who, yielding to a sacrilegious passion, was preparing to violate the enclosure of a convent, went, I do not know by what chance, to the preaching of our Blessed one, which had already begun; the latter, enlightened as to the state of this poor soul, changed the subject of his discourse and forcefully represented the horrors of sacrilege and the terrible punishments that God reserves for it: the sinner, touched by this prodigy, went to throw himself at the feet of the holy preacher and confessed his fault, which he washed in the tears of penance. The monsters of hell, furious to see him snatch so many victims from their murderous jaws, sought several times to destroy him. One night, as he was going to administer to a sick person, they threw him into a deep well: but his guardian angel pulled him out immediately, safe and sound. He triumphed over the malice of men as well as that of demons. He had undertaken to evangelize a crowd of Moors who were in Seville; by dint of prayers and fasting, he finally obtained the conversion of a large part of these unfortunates, who had at first stopped their ears so as not to hear him; but there were some obstinate and criminal enough, not only to resist the truth, but to seek to kill the one who announced it to them, by presenting him with poisoned food; he only had to make the sign of the cross three times over this food, and immediately it filled with foul worms. Instead of opening their eyes to this wonder, they waited for our Blessed one at some distance from the city to assassinate him; but God, without whose permission not a single hair can fall from the head of his servants, made him pass through the midst of them without them being able to see him.

At that time (1590), a horrible plague was ravaging Spain: no city suffered more from this scourge than that of Los-Arcos, where the holy missionary was. Everyone sought their salvation in flight: the sick died without help, without any word of consolation. Such a spectacle moved the bowels of the Blessed one, who immediately devoted himself to the service of these unfortunates. Having formed a society of priests and pious laymen, he placed himself at the head of this small army, to go and fight the scourge on all sides under the banner of charity. He spent forty days procuring food for the plague-stricken, giving them the necessary medicines, hearing their confessions, and disposing them to die well; he thought of everyone and forgot only himself, to the point that he drew tears of gratitude from these unfortunates who showered him with blessings. He seemed to be everywhere at once, and God honored this zeal with a miracle: one of his penitents was dying, and, at that very moment, the demon was launching a furious assault upon her; the Blessed one appeared to her, although he lived in a country forty miles away, and did not leave her until he had consoled her, encouraged her, and provided her with the last sacraments and everything that ensures the salvation of the soul.

John led this holy life for seventeen years among the ancient Trinitarians, until he went to join the others who had embraced the Reform, which had been established in the new convent of Val-de-Pégnas; he had been resisting for some time the grace that called him there, when one day a dreadful storm broke out over his head; trembling in the presence of death, he examined his conscience and repented for not having followed the voice that urged him toward a more perfect life: he resolved to embrace the Reform; instead of calming down, the storm redoubled; but our Saint having cried out: "My God, I make the vow to You!" the thunder ceased to rumble, the wind to blow, and the sun reappeared. The Blessed Virgin having smoothed out the difficulties that delayed his entry into the convent of Val-de-Pégnas, he took the habit of the Reform there on February 9, 1597. The following night, he saw himself and his companions attached to crosses, following the example of Our Lord; he then understood the hardships that awaited all those who would embrace the Reform: this is undoubtedly what decided him to accept the office of superior, which the Provincial Chapter of Seville gave him. He wished to place himself more than ever under the protection of the Blessed Virgin and took the name of John Baptist of the Conception. He re-established the ancient fasts in the convent and added the vigil of all the feasts of his good Mother. But the religious soon grew weary of this life of penance; they began to seek their comforts and to leave a dwelling where one had to be a Saint. Left almost alone, John Baptist of the Conception had recourse to his superiors; only heaven deigned to console him; one day, during his prayer, he heard words coming from heaven: "Fear nothing, John; continue your work, I will help you." Another time, the Blessed Virgin appearing to him, said: "I will be propitious to you: I will make you overcome all obstacles; with me you will eventually succeed." On such beautiful assurances, our Blessed one resolved to go to Rome, to the Sovereign Pontiff. I cannot describe the battles he fought, the pains he endured on this journey: the devil even tried several times, though uselessly, to cause his death. Having disembarked in a port in Tuscany, our Blessed one did not miss this opportunity to visit Saint Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, who was then living in Florence with a great reputation for holiness; he wished to consult her about his plans. The Saint, who first called him by his name, although she had never seen him, made known to him the trials that awaited him, and predicted that he would succeed in his work: so that the blessed John left her, filled with consolation. Having re-embarked, he landed at Civita-Vecchia, from where he went to Rome.

He had barely arrived when his superiors tried to have him locked up in their convent, and it took nothing less than an order from the Pope to preserve his freedom. These wicked religious, who could not forgive the one who threw them the rope of salvation in their shipwreck, slandered him to the Holy See, accusing him of having fled their house in Val-de-Pégnas with five thousand crowns. No one supported him in his perilous undertaking: on the contrary, everyone abandoned him. The Spanish ambassador, who wished him well, received orders from his court to pursue him, and the Pope, who had initially welcomed him with kindness, seemed to forget him. Overwhelmed with grief and ill, he would have succumbed under the weight of so many sufferings if God had not sustained him with His all-powerful hand. The devil then set a trap for him that was very difficult to avoid. As he had retired to the Discalced Carmelites, who offered him the most brotherly hospitality, these good religious, believing his project of Reform among the Trinitarians to be almost impossible, urged him to join them: rather to rid himself of their tender solicitations than out of a firm resolution, he consented to enter the novitiate. The devil, very proud of this success, continued his ruse; he appeared to him one day dressed as a Discalced Carmelite and said to him: "Brother John, if you do not take this habit, you will die in thirty days." But this deceptive apparition was soon countered by a heavenly vision; God showed our Blessed one an innumerable multitude of Trinitarians, radiant with heavenly light, who seemed to ask God for some great grace, and they let out a cry of anguish that warned him of the peril he was in. To strengthen him even more, God had the kindness to show Himself to him for a few days in the form of a crucifix before which he had prayed, accompanying him everywhere, protecting him, and indicating to him the means to bring his enterprise to a successful conclusion. He also provided him with comforters well suited to support him under the most painful crosses: these were Saint Camillus de Lellis, founder of the Clerics Regular, Ministers of the Infirm, and the illustrious Saint Francis de Sales. This holy bishop of Geneva was then in Rome to receive his episcopal consecration. The Blessed John-Baptist went to find him to explain his design; but, before he had spoken, the holy prelate, enlightened from above, told him that he knew of this work, praised him for having undertaken it, encouraged him to bear with patience the contradictions he must experience, and finally predicted that God would bless his efforts.

Indeed, after two years of useless solicitations, when everything seemed hopeless, God, who often finishes the affairs for which men agitate in vain, inspired Clement VIII to give, motu proprio, a Brief of approval for the reform of the Trinitarians; it was on August 20 of the year 1599 that our Blessed one obtained this long-desired act, which began with these words: Ad militantis Ecclesiae regimen. The Discalced and Reformed Trinitarians were aut horized to found a new Trinitaires déchaussés Religious order that the saint reformed. Order, with separate superiors, and distinct constitutions in conformity with the ancient and primitive rule. Assured henceforth of the success of a work that God so visibly protected, the holy religious hastened to return to Spain, but his trials followed him there. First, the devil tried to engulf him in the waves, in order to engulf with him an enterprise that was to snatch so many souls from hell; then he was nearly poisoned upon his arrival in Spain, and he had great difficulty in having the Brief of Clement VIII executed, which granted the Reformed the three houses of Val-de-Pégnas, Ronda, and Bienparada. He could only obtain the first, and even that was only surrendered to him because they could do no otherwise, since the inhabitants of that place had only received the Trinitarians on the condition that they would be discalced and reformed; our Blessed one took possession of it in the year 1600 and there gave commencement to the Reform, which was initially reduced to this single convent. But soon those who had abandoned him and had consented that it remain his, repenting of having been too easy in granting it, wanted to return: they came at ten o'clock at night to drive out the reformed. As they knew the house, it was easy for them to enter. They went first to the cell of the Reformer, who, coming out at the noise to see what was happening, found three or four of these religious armed with ropes; he was seized and pushed roughly to the sacristy, where he fell to the ground; they tied his hands behind his back with such violence, putting their knees on his shoulders, that his arms were all skinned. They led him, still bound, to a pit full of water to throw him into it; but there, these sons revolted against their father, considering that he was so weak that he would soon die there, preferred to put him in a prison with another religious; finally, whether from remorse of conscience or fear of punishment, when day appeared, they opened the door of this prison, which was a dark and cold cave, and fled precipitately. Restored to liberty, the Blessed John-Baptist occupied himself with gathering his children who had remained faithful, and after having made a year of novitiate with them, he pronounced his vows again on December 10 of the year 1600, and the Reform was thus accomplished. More than once, when he had to struggle with poverty, God made him victorious through striking miracles. One day when the religious of Alcala, one of the convents founded by our Blessed one, did not even have a piece of bread, he encouraged them to spend the day with patience, in a perfect fast, when two brave young men knocked at the door of the convent and presented prepared dishes; and as the porter asked them where this gift came from: "Take, take," they said to him, "and thank the Lord." Another time, having gone begging himself, he had received twelve loaves as alms: he gave ten to the poor, and he had only two left, which were insufficient for the community, which was quite numerous then. He nevertheless commanded that the remainder be made into as many small portions as there were religious, and they were found to have increased so much at mealtime that they were able to satisfy all those who ate them; there was even enough left for the evening, Providence never abandoning those who trust in it. Persuaded that nothing was more useful for religious than to remain in the humility of their profession, he wanted his children to commit themselves by vow not to seek, even indirectly, any dignity, and not to accept any without an express command from legitimate authority, and he obtained from Pope Paul V the permission to add it to the three vows of religion. With what happiness he pronounced it himself, joyful to see himself thus delivered from the burdens with which the King and the Duke of Lerma, his minister, were threatening him! This holy rigor, instead of diminishing the number of religious, only increased it; the good odor of this new institute spread in a short time throughout all of Spain; the largest cities desired to have houses of it. In 1605, Pope Clement VIII, seeing that there were eight convents of this Reform, permitted them to elect a provincial every three years; the first Chapter was held in Valladolid, where our Blessed one was elected to this dignity. He had not obtained such great successes without great sufferings and great miracles.

During the founding of the convent in Madrid, he received a harsh blow from a soldier, to whom he humbly presented his other cheek. Several of his religious, finding him too severe, complained loudly about him and asked the nuncio for a visitor to temper the rigors of the Rule. John gathered them immediately, knelt before them, and, uncovering his shoulders, said to them with tears in his eyes: "If I am the cause of this storm, throw me into the sea, I consent to it; strike these bare shoulders, I abandon them to your blows; but support, I implore you, save the Reform." Hearts could not remain insensitive to such touching words; the visitor was indeed appointed, but it was to render the Blessed a resounding justice. He therefore resumed his duties as superior, but resigned them after three years, happy to return to obedience. This is perhaps the place to tell of the beautiful lesson he gave on this virtue while he was provincial. He was walking with his novices in the convent gardens: he asked what obedience was; they answered him that it was a virtue of inestimable price and marvelous efficacy. Then, raising his eyes, he saw a little bird that came to perch while singing softly on a nearby branch: "Well!" he said to the novice who had answered him, "if you believe in the efficacy of obedience, climb that tree, take the bird, and bring it to me." The young man sprang onto the tree without the slightest hesitation, and taking the bird, which let itself be caught, he brought it joyfully to his superior. Here are two other no less striking miracles: During the founding of the convent of Cordoba, a mason who was hoisting a stone lost his balance and fell with it. Father John the Baptist, who was in the square, cried out while extending his hand: "In the name of the most Holy Trinity, stop!" The stone stopped immediately, the mason remained as if suspended in his fall: both descended gently and reached the ground without any harm; and as the people cried miracle, the humble religious fled quickly to the depths of his convent. A gentleman of the city, who had lost his son, begged the Blessed John the Baptist to come to his palace to console his desolate wife; he came, and having placed his scapular on the head of the dead boy, he made him rise in the name of the Holy Trinity and returned him alive to the embraces of his mother.

Finally, consumed by so many labors, this great servant of God fell ill in Cor doba in Cordoue Place of the saint's death. the month of January 1613. When he was told that his end was near, he exclaimed in a transport of joy: "I rejoiced when they said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord." He asked for the holy Viaticum, and, at the approach of his Lord, whom he had served all his life, who was coming to visit him for the last time on earth, and whom he was soon to join in heaven to possess Him eternally, recovering all his strength, he got out of bed, knelt down, and prostrated himself with his face to the ground; then, as soon as he had received this divine guest, this friend of his soul, he asked to be left alone with Him; he was then heard speaking to Him softly: "Lord," he said, "You know that I have done everything I could to carry out Your orders." A testimony, alas! that very few souls can give at this supreme moment! A truly divine odor emanated from his room, as if from the threshold of Paradise. He then received the sacrament of Extreme Unction with the same piety. After some time, he emerged from an ecstasy into which he had fallen and asked what time it was. After he was told, he exclaimed: "I will die at three o'clock. Oh! the beautiful hour! It is the hour when Our Lord expired on the cross." He tried to finish the divine office by reciting Compline with one of his religious, but his strength betrayed his courage. He then took his crucifix and addressed tender words to it. He said to the religious, who could not hold back their tears: "Why do you weep? I am going to heaven, where I will be more useful to you than here." Seeing him near death, they knelt down and asked for his blessing: he refused at first because the superior was there. The latter had to order him to do so while weeping; he then blessed them, embraced the superior with great tenderness, and asked them all for forgiveness for any faults he might have committed against each of them. He then said to them these words of Our Lord: "Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased my Father to give you his kingdom." One of the religious exclaimed: "And why, dear Father, do you abandon us?" The Blessed one, touched by so much regret, took his crucifix and said to Our Lord, following the example of the great Saint Martin: "If I am still necessary to the Reform, I do not refuse the work; Thy will be done!" But he added in spite of himself: "Expectans, expectavi Dominum: I wait for the Lord with impatience." His religious, seeing that the last moment had come, intoned the Credo; and as they sang these words: "Et incarnatus est," the soul of the Blessed one went to rest in the bosom of Him who had become man to redeem him: it was February 14, in the year 1613. He was fifty-one and a half years old: he had spent sixteen in the Reform. The radiance of holiness that he had cast during his life and the wonders worked at his tomb led his children to solicit his beatification. It was pronounced, after long examinations, by Pope Pius VII on September 21, 1819, and solemnly celebrated in Rome, in the church of Saint Peter, on the 26th of the same month.

His life was writte Pie VII Pope who authorized the cult of Blessed Rainier. n by Father Ferdinand of Saint Louis; by Hélyot, in the History of Monastic Orders; and finally, by the continuators of the Lives of the Saints by Godescard, published in Lille, and by M. Darras, in the edition he gave us of Ribadeneira. It is especially from these last three works that we have drawn what we have said about him.