Saint_John_of_Sahagun.pdf

8/13/2019 Saint_John_of_Sahagun.pdf

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JOSE MANUEL BENGOA

JOHN OF SAHAGUN

SOWER OF PEACE

Our Augustinian Saints / 3


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1. In Sahagun

a. Birth

The biography of Saint John of Sahagun is based

on the writings of two Augustinian friars, both of

whom, like our subject, were professed religious

in Saint Augustine convent in Salamanca, Spain.

Friar John of Seville, eyewitness of many of the

events that the saint lived, is the first. Saint

Alonso de Orozco, compiler and depository of the

immediate oral tradition of those events, is the

second. Neither one nor the other, though, has

transmitted to us the exact date of the birth of

our personage.

This silence, notwithstanding, we can affirm that

towards the year 1430, the couple Juan Gonzalez

de Castrillo and Sancha Martinez is blessed with

the birth of their firstborn, John. With complete

faith, they had pleaded God through the

intercession of our Lady, whom her devotees

invoke in Sahagun as Holy Mary of the Bridge.

After John would come Maria, Hernando, Juana,Luis, another girl whose name we ignore, and

lastly, Martin.

As we can see, they are a big and generous

family, like the plain, that, presided over by the


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tower of Sahagun, is watered by the Cea and

Valderaduey rivers.

But it is not only this ancient town of the

kingdom of Leon that prides itself in having such

a prominent son as protector. The universal and

scholarly Salamanca, too, in public and solemn

avowal made before a notary, received “on the

fifth day of this month of June 1622 … the

blessed and glorious John of Sahagun as itspatron, protector and special advocate”. It had

reasons to do so, as we shall see. Moreover, by

this time, Salamanca already knew of the

beatification of the Augustinian friar by Pope

Clement VIII on 19 June of 1601.

Sahagun and Salamanca: two milestones that

embrace the earthly pilgrimage of our saint. From

the first he takes his own surname. To the second

he belongs by predilection. If Salamanca chooses

him for itself, it is because Friar John had first

chosen the people of Salamanca.

b. Formation

We will leave Salamanca for later. Let us talk

first about John’s childhood and adolescence,

sheltered in the cloister of the Benedictine

monastery of Saints Facundus and Primitivus of

his native town. Here the lad studied humanities,


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which undoubtedly helped him decide to embrace

the clerical life. In effect, he received the minororders, and, having decided to become a priest, he

began his theological studies.

To finance the expenses these entailed, he

accepted, on the advice and influence of his

father, the ecclesiastical benefice of the

neighboring town of Codornillos.

But this setup which, in everyone’s opinion, was

not only licit and normal but also perfectly

appropriate, left John dissatisfied. And, not

wanting to prolong it further, he left the ancestral

home and sought the protection of the Bishop of

Burgos.

2. In Burgos

a. Canon and almoner

The prelate of Burgos was Bishop Alfonso de

Cartagena. He was endowed with such

outstanding traits that, in the opinion ofHernando del Pulgar, he must be counted among

the Eminent Men of Castile. John joined the

house of such a personage as page. He was able to

prove himself so well in this school of virtue and

learning that Bishop Alfonso ordained him priest

in the year 1453.


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The aptitude of the young priest moved the

prelate to grant him a canonry in the Burgoscathedral, aside from other benefices. In addition,

others were granted John by the Benedictine

abbot of the Sahagun monastery.

The not insubstantial revenues from these

sinecures canon John employed not for his own

comfort, but as confirmed by many witnesses, to

generously help the poor.

b. He leaves everything in order to preach

All this notwithstanding, John was not happy.

That same impulse, which drove him to renounce

his benefice in Leon, now made him free himself

from what he considered hindrances to a more

intimate relationship with God and a selfless

commitment to people.

He therefore decided to give up canonry and

benefices, although for love and gratitude to his

prelate he obliged not to leave him. He accepted

the church of Santa Gadea in the city, a sacred

precinct not unfamiliar to oaths and loyalties.There he would dedicate himself to the ministry

of preaching.

But the just fame that his sermons earned him,

like the stir created by his renouncing of so many

prebends, did not assuage John's spirit.


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On 22 June 1546 his illustrious and generous

protector, Alfonso de Cartagena, died, one of themost brilliant minds during the reign of the

Castilian king John II. Now John could cut the

last tie, which hindered him from following the

inner movement of the Holy Spirit.

He felt called to spread the Word of God through

preaching. But he saw the need for a serious

preparation in sacred studies, which wouldenable him to explain that Word with dignity and

effectiveness, so as to move the hearts of sinners

to conversion.

For those reasons John transferred to Salamanca.

There he frequented the university halls,

enrolling in canon law in 1457.

3. In Salamanca

a. City of gangs and clashes

The Salamanca which John found in mid-15th

century resembled an armed castle and square,

rather than the home and seat of culture. Thecity’s nobles had opted to employ their energies in

intramural feuds. Not for them the business of

the spirit. They did not realize that the channel

for so much wasted energy was toward southern

Spain, against the Moors.


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So much repressed energy piled up such a tension

in the city that the kings, resolute patrons of thedevelopment of the university, permitted its

“transfer…to any town or city in their realm” if

its work was hindered by the clash of arms.

Such foresight proved unnecessary. A factor of

this happy outcome was, doubtless, the cleric who

swapped the banks of Arlanzon River with the

fertile valley by the Tormes River.

b. At Anaya College

Despite the precarious situation, John did not

abandon the preaching ministry. The sermon he

delivered at San Sebastian parish on its patronal

feast paved his entry to San Bartolome College.

This is the first college established around

Salamanca University. Proof of its stature is that

Cardinal Cisneros took it as model when later he

founded his own college in Alcala. John of

Sahagun was appointed as its chaplain, with the

duty of celebrating Holy Mass every other day for

its fifteen poor and devout scholars.

Of his stay there, we can only affirm that his

presence and activity sanctified the college. Some

historians situate during this period numerous

miraculous events related to the chaplain: the

brilliant cypress that illumines him as he prays

the canonical hours, the olive tree that


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straightens up to let him pass… Both traditions,

posterior to the times of the saint, underscore, inhis devotees’ eyes, the tender charity with which

John conducted himself in favor of the young

scholars of the college.

c. Preacher of the city

However, the secluded life of the scholar did not

shield John of Sahagun from the events and

disturbances that were rocking the city. The

clatter of fights and brawls involving the nobles

reached his ears. He had obtained a bachelor’s

degree in theology and was now studying canon

law. Those around him knew the many virtues

that adorned his soul. For this reason, when he

had to leave the college after finishing his studies,they sought his appointment as official preacher

of the city. And they got it.

Thus, the residents of Salamanca bolstered John’s

poor and penitent life. For they not only followed

his sermons with interest and enthusiasm, they

were above all sensitive to the constant call to

penance that through his life he preachedeverywhere. The city was in dire need of such

preaching, divided as it was by the terrible

conflicts among rival families.

John became in word and in work the tireless

apostle of reconciliation. He preached tirelessly.


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He fearlessly castigated sin. He administered the

sacrament of penance. He attended to the sick.He welcomed the disinherited. The people saw in

him the providential saint and started publicly

to attribute numerous miracles to him.

4. Back to the cloister for sickness

a. The final crisis

A grave illness, which brought John at death’s

doors, forced him to end so many good works. In

addition to works that wasted his body, he was

also afflicted in spirit by great moral suffering. Of

the former, “stone sickness”, or gall deposits, he

was treated by doctors Medina and Recio the

Elder. Of the latter, vowing to enter religious lifesaved him.

In effect, he who renounced wealth in his early

years and bade good-bye to honors in his youth

was prepared to relinquish his free will to his

religious superior.

An observant community in Salamanca was Saint Augustine monastery. John felt drawn to it, and

on 18 June 1463, before the whole community, he

received from the Father Prior the black habit of

the Augustinian Order.


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b. Observant and prudent novice

John was now 33 years old. He was an exemplary

priest. During the novitiate year his life of prayer,

asceticism and commitment continued

unchanged. Except for one detail, an important

one: the widespread applause and public praise of

his many virtues are replaced by the hidden

observance of community obligations. Thus, the

brilliant sacred orator now served his brothers by

attending to the common refectory.

And if the hand of God were not clearly visible in

this conversion, adorning it is the pious tradition

of the miracle of the cask that never ran out of

wine. The Augustinian historian Vidal testified

two centuries later that the “cask of Saint John ofSahagun” was still kept in the Salamanca

monastery. Of greater import is the declaration of

Antolinez, the saint's biographer; he wrote that

John “finished his novitiate not standing out nor

practicing extreme fasting and other penances,

but by observing exactly the rules of our Father

and the practices of that monastery”.

We must add to this testimony that of another

biographer, Camara, who wrote: “Avoiding

singularity and solitary and suspicious ways, and

esteeming more than anything the practices of

their own institute, is how religious persons will


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progress and efficaciously encourage others to

follow their steps”.

It is therefore no surprise that, with everyone’s

concurrence, the novice John of Sahagun

professed his religious vows on 28th August 1464,

before the venerable father John of Salamanca.

Friar John of Sahagun was now and for always a

son of the Order of St. Augustine.

5. The pacifier

a. In the city

A simple glance at the map of 16th century

Salamanca shows that some of its streets are

named after miracles attributed to the saintly

Augustinian friar. This detail makes us

immediately infer John of Sahagun’s connection

to the city on the Tormes.

That however is not what best proves the

inseparable union between the two. The bonds

that truly unite them, those of gratitude and

devotion, are rooted in the great grace that Godgranted the city through the efforts and

intercession of the saint: internal peace. Let us

see how it came about.

In the very days when John was enjoying the

peace of his novitiate, the agitated residents of

Salamanca only experienced disorders and


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scandals. The protagonist was Dame Maria de

Monroy, a noble widow in whose care were leftthree sons, practically only boys, offspring of her

brief marriage with the lord of Villalba, Enrique

of Enriquez. The noble lady herself witnessed how

the Manzano brothers, their friends and

playmates until then, killed the two youths. The

murderers fled to Portugal.

Maria coldly plotted revenge. She carried it outwith thorough cunning, her long arm crossing the

border of the neighboring kingdom to deal a grisly

end to the life of the Manzano brothers. Such was

the impact of this event that history since then

remembers Maria de Monroy with the label of the

Ferocious.

The king intervened, but warnings and

punishments proved futile. Emotions went fever

pitch as the masses rallied behind either the

Manzanos or the Monroys. The parishes of Saint

Benedict and Saint Thome served as assembly

points of the former and the latter, respectively,

as well as password of the order for vengeance.

The poet Armendariz accurately described the

tense atmosphere reigning in the city:

To Saint Benedict came the proud

Manzanos,

And to Saint Thome the riotous

Monroys.


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Each one with his emblem his turf

he guards

And in the public square, desolate,

the grass grows.

How could Friar John remain indifferent to his

brothers’ affliction? The prophetic spirit, always

present in the Church of Christ, took flesh in the

fragile and unarmed person of the Augustinianfriar. Love for peace led him to preach the Law of

God in the houses of the prominent leaders, now

stoutly admonishing them now speaking gently,

pleading from the grieving families forgiveness of

the enemy.

b. Around the towns

The peacemaking preaching of the Augustinian

friar was not confined to the city of Salamanca.

The evil weed of violence and injustice had spread

all over the province. The town of Alba de Tormes

also heard Friar John. Its first duke, Garcia of

Toledo, resented the diminutive friar’s

admonitions. He was so shamed and angered bythe scathing truths that he schemed to punish the

bold friar. Providentially, however, Friar John

came out unharmed from the ambush prepared

for him on his return to Salamanca. His reaction

was so evangelical that the duke was converted


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and thereafter became the saint’s friend and

penitent.

On another occasion the saint of Sahagun

experienced anew how a preacher’s Spirit-filled

words do not earn royal prerogatives. Biographer

Camara described what happened in the town of

Ledesma thus: “The fervent preacher had to

reprehend vehemently the excesses of the knights

and nobles who, abusing their power and wealth,maltreated the hapless tenants and dependents,

mindful neither of their difficulties and

abasement, nor that as Christians, they shared

the same heavenly Father. In addition to this

coarse treatment, they also scandalized the

populace with their libertine ways”. Friar John's

listeners were so vexed that they had theauthorities immediately and angrily expel him

from the town.

c. The dawning of peace

Good seed sown on soil that is fertile always

produces fruit. It was the Word of God that Friar

John spread among the furrows, and the heart ofthe residents of Salamanca was the good soil.

Though they were violent and impulsive, not

unlike the age in which they lived, their faith

however was robust. For this reason success

crowned the labor of those who, amidst this


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disorder, were moved by the Spirit to construct

peace.

In the end, forgiveness was achieved. In the year

1476, the “undersigned knights, shield-bearers

and other people of the Saint Benedict and Saint

Thome gangs of the city of Salamanca” committed

themselves “to all form one and the same kindred

and true friendship and accord and union”. They

firmly resolved to do whatever they could toquash any question or litigation that might arise

among the signatories; and that, should one arise,

they wanted “it to be resolved by the decision of

the judges, who shall punish whomever should

break the agreed clauses”.

As a perpetual memorial of such a happy event,

what was till then called House of Battles, the

residence of Alvaro de Paz, where tradition says

this armistice was signed, would thereafter be

known as the House of Concord.

6. The Augustinian Friar

a. Activities

The information we have about Saint John as

Augustinian friar is unfortunately scanty. This

scarcity can be explained satisfactorily. The

assertion made by Antolinez about John the


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novice also applies here: he is neither outstanding

nor outlandish, but is a faithful and exactobserver of the rule of Saint Augustine and the

practices of his monastery.

We do know that in 1471, seven years after his

profession, Friar John was appointed councilor of

the Province of Castile and prior of his monastery

in Salamanca. Then followed a period during

which, freed from high positions, he worked toachieve and consolidate the aforementioned

concord. But in 1477 he was again assigned the

same posts that years earlier had been imposed

on him.

b. His spirituality

Of his interior life we know less still.

Nevertheless, with the aid of his first

biographers, we can detect two traits that, among

others, somewhat clearly plot the progress of his

spiritual life.

His intense love for the mystery of the Eucharist

is a known fact. He is most frequently portrayedholding the host and chalice. According to

eyewitnesses, Friar John celebrated the mass

amidst raptures and consolations; these increased

so much that the delay upset those assisting him.

He would apologize and explain away the

inconvenience by assuring that in the holy


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sacrament “he learned the things about which he

preached afterwards”.

The frequent, even daily, reception of the

sacrament of penance is a second fundamental

trait of Saint John of Sahagun’s spirituality. He

would ask for it so assiduously to the point of

being irksome. “I ask the father confessors –

these are his words, recorded by Saint Alonso de

Orozco – to forgive me, for I can bear it no longer.Confession quietens my soul, since I know not

whether I am worthy of God’s abhorrence or love.

And because penance is the sure way to heaven, I

use it for that purpose. I use it often so as to

guarantee my salvation”.

From these witnesses we deduce that Friar John’s

personal way of living his Christian vocation in

religious life was one befitting a friar docile to

Church teaching on the sanctifying efficacy of the

sacraments. He saw in the sacraments of the real

presence of Christ and the reconciliation with

God and with the Church the solid pillars on

which to construct his spiritual edifice.

Around these pillars and as their natural

outgrowth would blossom constant prayer and a

prudent and generous asceticism. Thus our saint

was able to live with a liberated heart, always

ready to help and assist the most needy, moved


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by zeal that people might fully possess the God

who is in Christ and saves through Christ.

7. Death of Friar John

In May of 1479, Friar John became seriously ill.

Nobody could say certainly, but there was

common rumor in the city that his sickness was

caused by poison. It was said that his compelling

preaching had convinced a young man to end a

sinful relationship. The spurned lady swore

revenge and she did not stop, it was said, until

death sealed the lips that spoke clearly and

vigorously to thwart her seductive cunning. What

is certain is that the saint died on 11 June.

With Friar John’s voice silenced, numerous

miracles that occurred at his grave, which was

left open under the choir of the monastery’s

church, started to speak for him. Collected in a

“most truthful report” by the venerable priest

John of Seville, those miracles were the basis of

the processes commenced and carried on in Rome.

The outcome was Clement VIII’s brief, which

allowed public veneration of “blessed John”.

His Augustinian brothers continued working to

achieve the canonization of the humble

Salamanca friar and sought and obtained the

mediation of kings and cardinals, bishops and

universities.


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As the years went by, the juridical difficulties

increased. But all were successfully surmounted,and the canonical process progressed. Finally,

Pope Alexander VIII, with the unanimous consent

of his consistory, decided on 16 October 1690 to

raise the Augustinian Blessed to the sainthood. It

fell, however, on his successor Innocent XII, to

promulgate the bull of canonization, on 15 July

1691.

8. Saint John of Sahagun and Salamanca

From the date of Friar John of Sahagun’s death

to the day his glorious canonization was

communicated to the Catholic world, more than

two hundred years had passed. When the news

reached the banks of the Tormes River,Salamanca's joy knew no bounds. The city

inhabitants reveled in religious and popular

festivities. The city, cradle of arts and letters, is

now also hailed as home to saints.

Such were the solemnity of the religious acts, the

brilliance of the academic events and the

enthusiasm of popular rejoicing that in that year,1691, more than two hundred thousand visitors

came to town. Even the students skipped their

vacations and stayed in the city to join and enjoy

the festivities, which they had organized in the

saint's honor.


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Thus did the people of Salamanca honor him who,

through word and example, was able to pacifyhearts and rectify comportment. John of Sahagun

was able, simply by following the footsteps of

Jesus of Nazareth, to usher Salamanca society

out of the night of hatred into the dawn of

forgiveness.

As perennial memorial of the perpetual bond

between the saint from Sahagun and Salamanca,his relics, kept in a silver urn, are piously

venerated in its new cathedral. For this reason,

the city on the Tormes commemorates the humble

religious every 12th of June. And it commends

itself to his protection before almighty God.


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Principal dates

1430 Saint John was born in

Sahagun, province of Leon, Spain

1453 He was ordained priest in

Burgos

1457 He transferred to Salamanca

to study in the university

1463, 18 Jun He received the

Augustinian habit at Saint

Augustine monastery,

Salamanca

1464, 28 Aug He made his religiousprofession

1471 He was appointed

councilor of the province of

Castile and prior of Saint

Augustine monastery

1476 Pacification of the city ofSalamanca, thanks to the saint’s efforts

1477 He was appointed

councilor of the province of

Castile and prior of the

Salamanca monastery for the

second time


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1479, 11 June He died, most probably

by poisoning

1601, 19 June He was beatified by

Pope Clement VIII. The city of

Salamanca named him its

patron and protector

1690, 16 Oct. He was canonized by

Alexander VIII1691, 15 July The bull of canonization

was promulgated. Salamanca

celebrated it with splendid

festivities.

Documents

Saint_John_of_Sahagun.pdf