Saint John of Ávila

Life story

John was born around 1499 or 1500 in Almodóvar del Campo, in a well-off family of central Spain. He studied law at Salamanca, left it, and spent some years at home in a quiet, withdrawn way before moving to Alcalá to study the arts and theology. After his ordination to the priesthood, around 1525, he sold his inheritance and gave it to the poor. He had hoped to go to the New World as a missionary, but the archbishop of Seville persuaded him to work in Andalusia instead.

For decades he travelled and preached in cities such as Seville, Córdoba, Granada and Baeza, speaking to ordinary townspeople and to scholars alike, and he became known as the apostle of Andalusia. Around 1531 he was denounced and held for more than a year by the Inquisition, which finally cleared him. In 1537 one of his sermons in Granada is said to have turned the life of John of God upside down; John of God later founded the Hospitaller Order.

He founded schools and colleges, among them the University of Baeza, to train priests and educated laypeople. His best-known work is the long letter known as Audi, filia, printed in 1556. He also kept up a wide correspondence, and he influenced Teresa of Ávila, Peter of Alcántara, Louis of Granada and early Jesuits. In his last years he was often ill and lived at Montilla, where he died on 10 May 1569.

He was beatified in 1894 and canonised in 1970 under Paul VI. In 1946 he was named patron of the Spanish diocesan clergy, and in 2012 Benedict XVI declared him a Doctor of the Church.

Works and witness

• Preached across Andalusia for decades
• Held by the Inquisition around 1531 and then cleared
• Founded schools, including the University of Baeza
• Wrote the long letter Audi, filia, printed in 1556
• Influenced Teresa of Ávila and John of God

Patron of

Spanish diocesan clergy

Saints from the same country

Saint Dominic, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint Francis Xavier

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
• Juan de Ávila, Audi, filia

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.