St. John Berchmans (March 13, 1599 - August 13, 1621) was a Jesuit seminarian. March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... Events Swedish King Sigismund III Vasa is replaced by his brother Charles IX of Sweden. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... Events February 9 - Gregory XV is elected pope. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ...

Early Life

He was born at Diest in Brabant. His parents watched with the greatest solicitude over the formation of his character. He was naturally kind, gentle, and affectionate towards them, a favourite with his playmates, brave and open, attractive in manner, and with a bright, joyful disposition. Yet he was also, by natural disposition, impetuous and fickle. Still, when John was but seven years of age, M. Emmerick, his parish priest, already remarked with pleasure that the Lord would work wonders in the soul of the child. Many are the details that reveal him to us as he was in the Society of Jesus. He was but nine years of old when his mother was stricken with a long and serious illness. John would pass several hours each day by her bedside, and console her with his affectionate though serious, words. Later, when he lived with some other boys at M. Emmerick's house, he would undertake more than his share of the domestic work, selecting by preference the more difficult occupations. If he was loved by his comrades, he repaid their affection by his kindness, without, however, deviating from the dictates of his conscience. It was noticed even that he availed himself discreetly of his influence over them to correct their negligences and to restrain their frivolous conversation. Eager to learn, and naturally endowed with a bright intellect and a retentive memory, he enhanced the effect of these gifts by devoting to study whatever time he could legitimately take from his ordinary recreation. Diest is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. ... Historically, Brabant has been the name of several administrative entities in the Low Countries with quite different geographical extent: as Carolingian shire (pagus Bracbatensis), located between the rivers Scheldt and Dijle (between 9th-11th century); as landgraviat: the part of the shire between the rivers Dender and Dijle (from 1085... The Society of Jesus (Societas Iesu/Jesu (S.J.) in Latin) is a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope. ...

What, however, distinguished him most from his companions was his piety. When he was hardly seven years old, he was accustomed to rise early and serve two or three Masses with the greatest fervour. He attended religious instructions and listened to Sunday sermons with the deepest recollection, and made pilgrimages to the sanctuary of Montaigu, a few miles from Diest, reciting the rosary as he went, or absorbed in meditation. As soon as he entered the Jesuit college at Mechlin, he was enrolled in the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, and made a resolution to recite her Office daily. He would, moreover, ask the director of the sodality every month to prescribe for him some special acts of devotion to Mary. On Fridays, at nightfall, he would go out barefooted and make the Stations of the Cross in the town. Such fervent, filial piety won for him the grace of a religious vocation. Montaigu or Montaigut is the name or part of the name of several places: In France Montaigu, in the Aisne département Montaigu, in the Jura département Montaigu, in the Vendée département Montaigu-de-Quercy, in the Tarn-et-Garonne département Montaigu-la-Brisette, in the... Diest is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... Mechelen Cathedral Mechelen (English traditionally Mechlin, French Malines, German Mecheln) is a municipality located in Belgium, Flemish region, province of Antwerp. ... The Stations of the Cross (or Way of the Cross; in Latin, Via Crucis or Via Dolorosa) refers to the depiction of the final hours (or Passion) of Jesus, and the Catholic devotion commemorating the Passion. ...

Call To the Society of Jesus

Towards the end of his rhetoric course, he felt a distinct call to the Society of Jesus. His family was decidedly opposed to this, and on 24 September, 1616, he was received into the novitiate at Mechlin. After two years passed in Mechlin he made his simple vows, and was sent to Antwerp to begin the study of philosophy. Remaining there only a few weeks, he set out for Rome, where he was to continue the same study. After the journeying three hundred leagues on foot, carrying a wallet on his back, he arrived at the Roman College, he studied for two years and passed on to the third year class in philosophy in the year 1621. One day early in August of that same year he was selected by the prefect of studies to take part in a philosophical disputation at the Greek College, at that time under the charge of the Dominicans. He opened the discussion with great perspicuity and erudition, but, on returning to his own college, he was seized with a violent fever of which he died at the age of twenty-two years and five months. The Society of Jesus (Societas Iesu/Jesu (S.J.) in Latin) is a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope. ... Events October 25 — Dirk Hartog makes the second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at an island off the Western Australian coast Pocahontas arrives in England War between Venice and Austria Collegium Musicum founded in Prague Nicolaus Copernicus De revolutionibus is placed on the Index of Forbidden Books... The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Renaissance Belgian painter Rubens. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,823,807 almost 4,000,000 1... Events February 9 - Gregory XV is elected pope. ...

During the second part of his life, John offered the type of the saint who performs ordinary actions with extraordinary perfection. In his purity, obedience, and admirable charity he resembled many religious, but he surpassed them all by his intense love for the rules of his order. The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus lead those who observe them exactly to the highest degree of sanctity, as has been declared by Pope Julius III and his successors. The attainment of that ideal was what John proposed to himself. "If I do not become a saint when I am young", he used to say "I shall never become one". That is why he displayed such wisdom in conforming his will to that of his superiors and to the rules. He would have preferred death to the violation of the least of the rules of his order. "My penance", he would say, "is to live the common life... I will pay the greatest attention to the least inspiration of God." He observed this fidelity in the performance of all his duties till the last day of his life, as is attested by Fathers Bauters, Cepari, Ceccoti, Massucci, and Piccolomini, his spiritual directors. When he died, a large multitude crowded for several days to see him before his burial in Sant'Ignazio, and to invoke his intercession. The same year, Phillip, Duke of Aerschot, had a petition presented to Pope Gregory XV for the taking of information with a view to his beatification . In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... Julius III, né Gian Maria del Monte or Giovan Maria Giocci (September 10, 1487 – March 23, 1555), was pope from February 7, 1550 to 1555. ... Penance is the actual name of the Catholic Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (also called Confession). ... The church of Sant Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio was built in 1626 and dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, who had just been canonized. ... Gregory XV, né Alessandro Ludovisi (January 9, 1554–July 8, 1623), pope (1621-1623), born at Bologna, succeeded Paul V on February 9, 1621. ...

Path to Sainthood

John Berchmans was declared Blessed in 1865, and was canonized in 1888. His statues represent him with hands clasped, holding his crucifix, his book of rules, and his rosary. Blessed is a dancehall album by Jamaican musician Beenie Man, released in 1995 (see 1995 in music). ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Our Lady of Lourdes - Mary appearing at Lourdes with Rosary Beads The Rosary (from Latin rosarium, crown of roses), is an important and traditional devotion of the Catholic Church consisting of a set of prayer beads and a system of set prayers. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Catholic Encyclopedia (also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia today) is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by the The Encyclopedia Press, designed to give authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. // History The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11...