St. John of Capistrano

Their story

John was born in 1386 in Capestrano, a town in central Italy. He studied law, became a successful lawyer and judge, and was appointed governor of the city of Perugia. During a war in 1416 he was captured and imprisoned. In his prison cell he reflected on his life and had a deep conversion. When he was released, he gave up his career and joined the Franciscans. John became a disciple of St. Bernardine of Siena and, like him, a tireless preacher. For forty years he traveled through Italy and across Central Europe, preaching to huge crowds, spreading devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and working to reform his order. Popes sent him on many missions as their representative. His preaching, like that of many in his time, could be harsh toward those outside the Church, including the Jewish communities of the cities he visited, and the Church today does not hold up that part of his legacy as a model. In 1456, when an Ottoman army besieged the city of Belgrade, John, then seventy years old, recruited and led an army of volunteers to help defend it alongside the Hungarian general John Hunyadi. The siege was broken. A few months later John died of plague, on October 23, 1456. He is a patron of military chaplains and lawyers, and the California mission of San Juan Capistrano is named after him.