Jean de Dieu

1495-1550 16th century Feast day: March 8

Doing good without keeping count, because the mercy one has received is not counted either.

Who was Jean de Dieu?

A Portuguese who left home at eight, he was a shepherd, a soldier in Spain and Hungary, a book pedlar in Granada, then locked up as a madman in the city hospital after a breakdown. He came out determined to care for the people who were tied down there: he rented a house, carried the sick to it on his back, and begged for them in the streets. He died at fifty-five of an illness caught pulling a young man out of the river. Three of his letters survive.

In their own words

If we considered the greatness of God's mercy, we would never stop doing good as long as we were able.

Letter to Gutierre Lasso, around 1547-1548, translated from the Spanish by the Manna team

Do good to yourselves, brothers, for the love of God.

The cry he used while begging in the streets of Granada, as reported by his first companions, translated from the Spanish by the Manna team

Jesus, Jesus, into your hands I commend myself.

His last words, Granada, 8 March 1550, as reported by those present at his death, translated from the Spanish by the Manna team