St. John of God
Patron Saint of Hospitals and the Sick
St. John of God spent the beginning of his adult life as a soldier in Spain. After his time in the military, he worked odd jobs, trying to find something he felt called to. When he was 42 years old, St. John of God heard a sermon by St. John of Avila that led to his spiritual conversion. With the spiritual direction of St. John of Avila, St. John of God devoted the last years of his life helping the poor and sick in his city in Spain. Shortly after John of God’s death in 1550, his followers founded the Brothers Hospitallers to continue caring for the sick throughout the world, modeling after St. John of God.