.jpg)
Gravure ancienne de Saint Jean Berchmans, jeune jésuite belge (1599-1621). Alfred HAMY, Galerie illustrée de portraits S.J., 1893
Saint Jean Berchmans
Jésuite
belge (+ 1621)
Jésuite dont la bonne humeur, malgré ses souffrances, savait s'accompagner d'une affection délicate et charitable à l'égard de tous. Il était né au Brabant et, à 17 ans, entra au noviciat de Malines. Il fut envoyé à Rome pour y poursuivre ses études. Élève brillant et studieux, il se souciait de soumettre l'intellectuel au spirituel. Il s'endormit dans le Seigneur à l'âge de 22 ans.
À Rome, en 1621, saint Jean Berchmans, religieux de la Compagnie de Jésus. Aimé de tous pour sa piété sincère, sa charité prévenante, sa joie continuelle, il mourut paisiblement, après une brève maladie, à l'âge de vingt-deux ans.
(En Belgique, sa mémoire est célébrée le 26 novembre.)
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1508/Saint-Jean-Berchmans.html
Saint Jean Berchmans
Jésuite
(1599-1621)
Ce jeune Saint, patron des novices, naquit à Diest le 13 mars 1599, dans le
diocèse de Brabant, en Belgique. De condition modeste, les parents de saint
Jean Berchmans étaient profondément chrétiens. Une atmosphère de piété, de foi
et de pureté angélique régnait dans leur foyer. C'est au sanctuaire de
Notre-Dame de Montaigu que le pieux enfant fit le voeu de chasteté perpétuelle.
A l'âge de seize ans, une charité anonyme lui permit d'entrer au collège des
Jésuites de Malines. En lisant les écrits du bienheureux Pierre Canisius et la
vie de saint Louis de Gonzague mort vingt-cinq ans auparavant, Jean Berchmans
se sentit attiré vers la Compagnie de Jésus. Il obtint difficilement le
consentement de son père qui fondait sur lui ses plus belles espérances.
Entré au noviciat de Malines, Jean s'y distingua par sa grande fidélité à
observer la Règle et par une singulière amabilité de caractère. Dans le procès
de sa canonisation, les témoins ont déclaré ne jamais l'avoir vu enfreindre une
seule de ses Règles. «Plutôt mourir, disait-il, que de transgresser la moindre
Règle.» Accomplir les actions communes d'une manière non commune, telle fut la
ligne de conduite à laquelle le saint novice demeura toujours fidèle.
Son exercice le plus cher était de faire le catéchisme aux petits enfants
pauvres. A son édifiante piété, il alliait une gaîté qui charmait tous ceux qui
avaient quelques rapports avec lui. Sa charité prévenante, son caractère doux
et enjoué, sa fidélité absolue à toutes les exigences de la Règle le firent
surnommer par les novices: "l'Ange de la maison" et "le Saint
joyeux". Celui qui avait écrit: «Si je ne deviens pas un saint maintenant
que je suis jeune, je ne le serai jamais», poursuivit son idéal de sainteté en
vivant chaque journée dans un total abandon à Dieu.
Sa confiance en Marie était sans limite. "Mon frère, confia-t-il un jour à
un religieux, dès que j'ai songé à m'avancer dans la perfection, j'ai posé pour
fondement de mon édifice, l'amour de la Reine du Ciel..." Devenu veuf, son
père entra dans les Ordres et fut ordonné prêtre; vers le même temps, saint
Jean Berchmans prononça les voeux traditionnels d'obéissance, pauvreté et
chasteté.
Ses supérieurs l'envoyèrent à Rome à pied, en compagnie d'un confrère, pour y
compléter ses études. Arrivé au collège romain, le saint religieux occupa la
chambre de saint Louis de Gonzague. Berchmans imita ses vertus tout en se
montrant moins austère et plus gracieux. L'étude de la philosophie et des
mathématiques à laquelle il s'appliqua ne diminua en rien sa ferveur angélique.
C'est à Rome que sonna son départ pour le ciel, à l'âge de vingt-deux ans et
cinq mois. «C'est une mort toute divine, mes remèdes n'y peuvent rien»,
affirmait le médecin impuissant. Saint Jean Berchmans reçut les derniers
sacrements avec une indescriptible ferveur. Avant de quitter la terre, le Saint
eut à subir une dernière épreuve: le démon l'assaillit à deux reprises à
l'article de la mort. Le pieux moribond serra son crucifix dans ses mains
défaillantes, son chapelet et son livre des Règles: «Voici mes armes, dit-il,
avec ces trois trésors, je me présenterai joyeusement devant Dieu.» Il
renouvela ses voeux de religion et recouvra la paix. Prononçant les noms bénis
de Jésus et de Marie, saint Jean Berchmans s'endormit paisiblement dans le
Seigneur. Le vendredi 13 août 1621, la cloche du collège romain annonçait le
départ de cet ange terrestre pour les demeures éternelles. Léon XIII l'a
canonisé le 15 janvier 1888.
Résumé O.D.M.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_jean_berchmans.html
_%C3%89glise_Saint-Pierre_-_Int%C3%A9rieur_-_Baie_117-1.jpg)
Intérieur de l'église Saint-Pierre à Chanzeaux (49). Baie 117. Saint-Jean-Berchmans.
_%C3%89glise_Saint-Pierre_-_Int%C3%A9rieur_-_Baie_117-3.jpg)
Saint Jean Berchmans
Jean Berchmans naît dans
le Brabant, à Diest, en 1599. Il s’adonne aux études classiques à partir de
1612 à Malines ; c’est là qu’il entre dans la Compagnie de Jésus en
1616. Envoyé à Rome en 1618 pour y poursuivre ses études, au terme d’une
courte maladie, il meurt le 13 août 1621. Sa piété sincère, sa charité sans
détours, sa constante bonne humeur l’a rendu cher à tous. Il est canonisé par
Léon XIII en 1888 et est fêté le 26 novembre dans la Compagnie de Jésus.
Jean Berchmans naît dans
une famille profondément croyante de Diest en Belgique, et commence des études
qui l’amènent rapidement à la prêtrise. Pendant ses études, il vit au
presbytère de la paroisse Notre-Dame, mais après trois ans, son père lui dit
d’abandonner ces études et d’apprendre un métier pour pouvoir contribuer aux
dépenses de la famille. L’aumônier du Béguinage de Diest offre de payer les
frais de ses études, en échange d’un travail de domestique. En 1612, le jeune
homme conclut le même accord à Mechelen avec le chanoine Froymont. Là Jean
Berchmans rencontre les jésuites et décide d’entrer chez eux plutôt que de
devenir prêtre diocésain. Son père est déçu, parce qu’un prêtre diocésain
aurait pu aider sa famille, et pas un jésuite, mais il autorise son fils à
poursuivre son objectif.
Jean Berchmans entre chez
les jésuites en 1616. Il accomplit toutes les tâches d’un novice avec une
fidélité exigeante, et s’efforce de se vaincre lui-même par des pénitences.
Quelques mois après son entrée chez les jésuites, sa mère meurt ; peu après son
père renonce à sa boutique de cordonnier et entre au séminaire diocésain. Il
est ordonné en avril 1618. Cette même année, le 25 septembre, Jean prononce ses
trois vœux de vie religieuse et est envoyé à Anvers poursuivre ses études.
Après trois semaines déjà il reçoit l’ordre d’aller poursuivre ses études à
Rome. Avant qu’il ne retourne à Mechelen pour dire au revoir à son père,
celui-ci meurt soudainement.
Jean arrive à Rome le 31
décembre et rejoint la communauté du Collège Romain. Là il continue ses études
avec la même fidélité à ses études et à sa vie religieuse qu’au noviciat. Il se
révèle être un brillant étudiant, et, à la fin de l’année il est choisi pour
défendre l’entièreté du cours de philosophie dans un débat publique. Sa santé a
souffert de l’effort fourni pour son dernier examen, et il devient de plus en
plus faible quand il prépare le débat public, qui a lieu le 8 juillet. Il
espère pouvoir se reposer après celui-ci, mais il est choisi pour un autre débat
public qui a lieu en août au Collège Grec. Ces deux débats exigent un trop
grand effort de son corps affaibli…
Le 7 août, il souffre
d’une attaque de dysenterie et attrape de la fièvre. Quand le Père supérieur
voit la pâleur et la faiblesse de Jean, il l’envoie à l’infirmerie. Jean
s’affaiblit de jour en jour et ses poumons s’enflamment. Quand des scolastiques
viennent le visiter, il parle du paradis comme s’il y était. Le frère infirmier
suggère qu’il reçoive la communion le lendemain, même si ce n’est pas un
dimanche. La communauté des jésuites vient en processions apporter le Viatique
à leur confrère mourant. Il demande son crucifix, son chapelet et son livret
des règles ; il reçoit un fleuve de visiteurs, y compris le Père Général. Il
passe sa dernière nuit en prière et meurt le 13 août au matin.
Canonisé par Léon XIII en
1888, en même temps que Stanislas Kotska et Louis Gonzague, il est le patron de
la jeunesse de Belgique.
Initialement regroupé et édité par: Tom Rochford,SJ
Traducteur: Guy Verhaegen
Saint Jean Berchmans, le
« jésuite du mois » de novembre 2024
« Ce que j’aime chez saint Jean Berchmans, c’est sa simplicité. Un de ses premiers gestes au noviciat a été d’aller aider un Frère dans une tâche très modeste. Charité et paix intérieure le caractérisent. Il donnait le catéchisme aux enfants. Il était passionnant à écouter. Il priait beaucoup et excellait dans ses études. Il n’avait pas peur de poser des questions à ses maîtres et ses supérieurs pour qu’ils l’aident à discerner dans les circonstances de sa vie. Il recherchait la perfection, ni plus ni moins, et cela à travers un chemin d’humilité. » En ce mois de novembre, le P. Tommy Scholtes sj partage ce qui le touche et l’inspire chez Saint Jean Berchmans.
Saint-Jean Berchmans à
Bruxelles : le rayonnement culturel d’une église au cœur de la ville
Située dans l’enceinte du Collège Saint-Michel, l’église Saint-Jean Berchmans offre chaque jour quatre messes mais aussi écoute et sacrement de la réconciliation. Le weekend, elle accueille près de 1500 fidèles, et de nombreux groupes spirituels y trouvent leur port d’attache. Au-delà de ces propositions, l’église Saint-Jean Berchmans, à travers le Forum Saint-Michel, s’adresse à un public plus large, par une palette d’activités culturelles et sociales : expositions, conférences, concerts de musique classique ou de gospel, etc. Ainsi, les expositions du Centre Religieux d’information et d’Analyse de la Bande Dessinée (CRIABD) touchent un public bédéphile très diversifié. Les chœurs et ensembles instrumentaux attirent les mélomanes, les familles des chanteurs et musiciens, les amis des associations organisatrices et, plus largement, les curieux. L’Ensamble Moxos bolivien nous a enchantés à trois reprises avec la musique baroque des Réductions. En novembre, 140 choristes interprétaient la musique d’André Gouzes lors d’un concert-méditation.
> Voir le site de
l’église Saint-Jean Berchmans à Bruxelles
Lettre de saint Jean
Berchmans
À l’âge de 17 ans, saint
Jean Berchmans, désirant se consacrer à Dieu le plus tôt possible et éviter que
ses parents ne fassent obstacle à ses désirs, décida de révéler à ces derniers
la résolution qu’il avait prise au fond de son cœur ; aussi leur écrivit-il de
Malines la lettre suivante :
« Vénéré père et
très chère mère,
Il y a déjà trois ou
quatre mois que Dieu frappe à la porte de mon cœur, et, jusqu’à un certain
point, je la lui ai tenue fermée jusqu’ici. Mais ayant ensuite réfléchi que,
soit pendant que j’étudiais, soit que je prenais quelque délassement, que
j’allais à la promenade ou que je faisais n’importe quoi, aucune chose ne me
venait plus souvent à l’esprit que la pensée de me fixer fermement un état de
vie, je me décidai à la fin, et même après beaucoup de communions et de bonnes
œuvres préparatoires, je fis vœu de servir, avec sa grâce, Dieu notre Maître,
en religion.
Il est vrai que les amis
et les parents éprouvent certaine répugnance à se détacher de leurs enfants.
Mais, en moi-même, je considère autre chose : si je voyais devant moi, d’un
côté mon père, ma mère, ma sœur, etc. et de l’autre côté Dieu notre Maître avec
sa Mère, qui est aussi, je l’espère, ma Mère bénie, et que les premiers me
diraient : « Ne nous abandonne pas, cher enfant, nous t’en prions par les
peines et les fatigues que nous avons endurées pour toi » tandis que,
d’autre part, Jésus me dirait : « Suis-moi plutôt, je naquis pour toi,
pour toi, je fus flagellé, couronné d’épines et enfin crucifié. Vois-tu ces
cinq plaies sacrées, n’est-ce pas pour toi que je les aie reçues ? Et ne
sais-tu pas que jusqu’à présent j’ai nourri ton âme de ma chair sainte et je
l’ai vivifiée par mon sang sacré ? Et maintenant tu te montrerais si ingrat
? » Ah ! mes très chers parents, quand je considère tout cela, je m’enflamme
de telle manière que, s’il m’était possible, je volerais tout de suite en
religion, et mon âme et mon cœur ne se donneraient de repos avant qu’ils
n’eussent trouvé mon Bien-Aimé.
Ainsi donc, je m’offre de
tout cœur à Jésus-Christ et je désire combattre ses combats dans la Compagnie.
J’espère que vous ne serez pas à ce point ingrats pour vous opposer à
Jésus-Christ.
Je me recommande à vos
saintes prières et supplie Dieu, notre Maître, qu’il veuille me donner
persévérance jusqu’à la fin de ma vie et qu’il nous accorde, à vous et à moi,
la vie éternelle. Le fils obéissant de Jésus-Christ et le vôtre.
(Lettre du mois d’août
1616 à ses parents. Texte original en flamand dans T. Séverin, s.j., Saint Jean Berchmans, ses écrits . Louvain, 1931, pp. 35-38 ; trad. fr. dans K. Schoeters, s.j., Saint Jean Berchmans, adaptation française par A. Sonet, s.j., Bruxelles, 1949, pp. 67-68.).
SOURCE : https://www.jesuites.com/saint-jean-berchmans-sj/
Nederename,
parochiekerk Sint-Vedastus; Oudenaarde; Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium; ref:
PM_038633_B_Oudenaarde_Nederename; Madonna, Johannes Berchmans en Aloÿsius van
Gonzaga(?); ; Photographer: Paul M.R. Maeyaert; www.pmrmaeyaert.eu, © Paul
M.R. Maeyaert; pmrmaeyaert@gmail.com; Cultural heritage;
Europe/Belgium/Oudenaarde
SAINT JEAN BERCHMANS,
CONFESSEUR.
L'an 1624. — Jean
Berchmans naquit à Distem, ville du Brabant, de parents pieux et honorables.
Dès son enfance il se distingua par la pureté de ses moeurs et la candeur de
son Aine. Exposé aux séductions du monde, il préserva absolument sa jeunesse de
toute légèreté, paraissant ne tendre qu'à Dieu, h qui il voulut s'attacher plus
étroite-nient en demandant d'être reçu dans la Société de Jésus. Cette
Compagnie venait d'envoyer au ciel Stanislas Kostka et Louis de Gonzague. An
noviciat qu'il suivit à Malines, tout ce qui tient à la perfection religieuse
fut l'objet de ses soins les plus sérieux et de son application continuelle. lt
n'y était que depuis peu de mois, et déjà la maturité de sa vertu l'avait fait
juger digne d'être pris pour modèle, non-seulement par ceux de son âge , mais
par ceux même qui étaient filas anciens que lui. On l'envoya à Rome pour ses
études, et tandis qu'il était en philosophie au Collège Romain, ses
condisciples croyaient avoir retrouvé en lui Louis de Gonzague, tant il en
retraçait la sainteté et toute la manière de vivre.
Sa modestie et le soin
avec lequel il gardait ses sens étaient admirables. Il se comportait erg tout
de telle sorte que, le voyant, on ne craignait pas de dire que si les règles de
modestie données par saint Ignace venaient à se perdre on les retrouverait en
Berchmans. Il s'appliquait le tout son pouvoir à garder l'ordre de la maison,
et jamais il ne fit rien qui fat tant soit peu en opposition avec la vie d'un
vrai religieux. A ce sujet il disait souvent que sa principale pénitence était
de se conformer à la vie commune De ce grand nombre de compagnons avec qui il
passait ses journées, jamais aucun ne remarqua en lui rien à re, prendre, point
de paroles inutiles ou dites d'un ton trop élevé, ni de vivacités ou
d'emportements, toutes choses qui cependant sont souvent irréfléchies. Tant de
vertus accompagnaient en lui une étonnante douceur de caractère et une beauté
naturelle de la figure qui reflétaient l'innocence de son âme très-pure et
inspiraient l'amour de la pudeur et de la chasteté. Le voeu de virginité, qu'il
avait fait à Dieu, croit-on, dès son enfance, ne souffrit jamais en lui aucune
atteinte. Ce ne fut pas a un âge moins tendre qu'il prit pour mère la
très-sainte Vierge, ne négligeant aucun moyen de lui témoigner sa dévotion et
la tendresse de son amour. Surtout il se plaisait à honorer son Immaculée
Conception, privilège qu'il s'engagea à soutenir toute sa vie par un voeu signé
de son sang.
Le zèle des âmes qui
l'enflammait, le faisait se réjouir à l'avance des travaux auxquels il espérait
pouvoir se livrer pour la gloire de Dieu, quand, à la fleur de sa jeunesse, mûr
pour le ciel, il cessa de vivre ici-bas. Consumé par une grave maladie, il se
montrait plein de joie au milieu de l'affliction de tous, comme si déjà il eût
ganté la douceur de la céleste béatitude. Plus que cela : il consolait ses
visiteurs, donnant à chacun les avis convenables pour son progrès dans la
vertu; et l'événement montra que Dieu lui avait donné en cet instant le don de
prophétie. Il voulut recevoir à genoux le très-saint corps de Jésus-Christ.
Presque au moment d'expirer, mettant sur le livre des règles sa croix
enveloppée de son Rosaire: Voilà, dit-il, trois choses qui m'ont été bien
chères; avec elles je meurs volontiers. II rendit l'âme très-doucement, à
l'heure qu'il avait prédite, le 13 août 1621, âgé de 22 ans 5 mois. Ses
funérailles se firent au milieu du concours et des louanges de toutes sortes de
personnes, dont la plupart étaient persuadées qu'il avait pris son vol pour le
ciel et qu'on le compterait un jour parmi les saints. Deux ans furent à peine
écoulés que déjà, sous le pape Grégoire XV, on commença le procès relatif à
l'examen de ses vertus et vie ses miracles. Eu 1865, Pie IX inscrivit au nombre
des bienheureux ce parfait modèle d'innocence. Le Pape l'a fait un saint dans
1888.
PRATIQUE. — Notre piété
n'est véritable que si elle nous corrige de nos défauts et remplit notre âme
de vertus.
PRIÈRE. — O Dieu, qui
avez fait briller l'admirable sainteté de votre bienheureux confesseur Jean Berchmans dans l'observation parfaite des règles religieuses et dans
l'innocence de sa vie, accordez-nous par ses mérites et ses prières de
pratiquer fidèlement les préceptes (de votre loi et d'acquérir la pureté de
l'âme et du corps, Ainsi soit-il.
SOURCE : http://jesus-passion.com/saint_jean_berchmans_confesseur_FR.htm
Неизвестный
автор. Портрет Яна Берхманса (XIX век).
Also
known as
Jan Berchmans
26 November on
some calendars
Profile
Son of a shoemaker,
and one of five children,
three of whom entered religious
life. John had great devotion to his position as an altar
boy. He spent much of his time caring for his mother,
who was in poor
health. Jesuit noviate in 1616,
deciding to become a Jesuit after
reading the life of Saint Aloysius
Gonzaga. Student at
the Jesuit College at Malines, Belgium. Studied philosophy in Rome.
John had a dream of helping and teaching multi-lingual migrants,
and he studied all
the chief languages of Europe.
He wanted to work in China after ordination.
He died of
unknown causes following his participation in a public debate defending
the faith,
and while clutching his rosary, crucifix,
and rules of his order; he did not live to be ordained.
John Berchmans was not
noted for extraordinary feats of holiness or austerity, nor did he found orders
or churches or work flashy miracles.
He made kindness, courtesy, and constant fidelity an important part of his
holiness. The path to holiness can lie in the ordinary rather than
the extraordinary.
Born
13 March 1599 at
Driest, Brabant, Belgium
relics at
Saint Ignatius Church, Rome
15 January 1888 by Pope Leo XIII
standing with hands clasped,
holding his crucifix,
his book of
rules, and his rosary
the Rule
of Saint Ignatius, a cross,
and rosary
Storefront
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Litany
in Honor of Saint John Berchmans, S.J.
Meditations
on the Gospels for Every Day in the Year, by Father Pierre
Médaille
Novena
in Honor of Saint John Berchmans
Saint
John Berchmans, 1599-1621, by Father Cyril
Charles Martindale, S.J.
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Saints
of the Society of Jesus
Stories
of Holy Lives, by M.F.S.
The
Blessed John Berchmans, by the Fathers of the Society of
Jesus at Ghent
books
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, by Australian
Catholic Truth Society
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
images
videos
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
nettsteder
i norsk
Readings
Holy Mary, Mother of God
and Immaculate Virgin, I choose thee this day for my Queen, Patroness, and
Advocate, and I firmly purpose and resolve never to abandon thee, nor say, nor
do anything against the honor which is due to thee, nor suffer those under my
charge to say or do anything against thee. Receive me, therefore, I beseech
thee as thy servant forever, assist me in my actions and forsake me not at the
hour of my death. Amen. – act of consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary
which Saint John Berchmans used to recite every day
Saint John
Berchmans, my most loving patron, seraph of charity, I rejoice with you at the
ardent fire of charity, which kept your pure and innocent heart always at peace
and united to God; I humbly pray thee, obtain for me such ardor of divine love
that it may remove from my heart every inordinate earthly affection, destroy my
evil tendencies, and cause me in all my actions to be prompted by the purest
intention: All for the greater glory of God!
Pray for us, Saint John
Berchmans, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Grant thy
servants we beseech Thee, O Lord, God, to imitate those examples of innocence
and fidelity in thy service by which the angelic Saint John consecrated to thee
the flower of his youth, through Christ our Lord. Amen. One Our Father, One
Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. – prayer of the Church to Saint John Berchmans
O Glorious Saint John
Berchmans, I most earnestly beseech and implore thee, through the love thou
didst bear to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, deign to be mindful of me, a miserable
sinner, before the throne of God, that I and those for whom I offer this prayer
(or this Novena), may through thy merits and powerful intercession be preserved
from all evil of soul and body, may advance in all virtue and good works and
obtain our special requests. Amen. – prayer in honor of Saint John
Berchmans
O most devout Saint!
model of fervent prayer! I beg thee by thy tender devotion to the most Holy
Mother of God, and to the Angelic Saint Aloysius to obtain for me the grace to
foster and to increase within myself a like devotion, that honoring the Blessed
Virgin Mary and Saint Aloysius here on earth, I may merit hereafter to praise
and thank them forever with thee in Heaven. I also earnestly beg of thee to
obtain for me through and with them the special grace that I ask in this Novena
(name here the favor you desire), if it be for the Glory of God and the good of
my soul. – prayer in honor of Saint John Berchmans
O admirable Saint! mirror
of modesty, of purity, of regularity, of charity and devotion! I choose thee
this day as my special advocate before the Throne of God. – prayer in
honor of Saint John Berchmans
MLA
Citation
“Saint John
Berchmans“. CatholicSaints.Info. 20 April 2024. Web. 11 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-berchmans/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-berchmans/
Jacques Petyt (1822–1871), Jan Berchmans, circa 1890, ink, paper and lithograph, 53,3 x 35,4, Musea Brugge
John Berchmans, SJ (RM)
(also known as Jan Berchmans)
Born in Diest, Brabant, Flanders (Belgium), on March 13, 1599; died at Rome
August 13, 1621; canonized 1888; feast day formerly on August 13.
Eldest son of a
master-shoemaker, John knew early that he wanted to be a priest. His piety
attracted attention even in his youth. When he was 11, his parish priest
permitted him to study in the little seminary run out of the rectory. At the
age of 13, he became a servant in the household of one of the cathedral canons
at Malines, John Froymont, in order to pay for his education. In 1615, the
Jesuits opened a college at Malines (Mechlin) and the following year John
became a Jesuit novice there. After his mother's death, his father and two
brothers followed suit and entered religious life.
The year his father was
ordained (1618) and died six months later, John was sent to Rome for his
novitiate. He was so poor and humble that he walked from Antwerp to Rome. In
the seminary he was known for his diligence and piety, impressing all with his
holiness and stress on perfection in little things. His kindly and cheerful
nature made him popular (contemporary accounts of his attractive nature
survive). In these respects he reminds us of the "little way" of
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. There was nothing visibly extraordinary about him; he
was one of those saints who do the ordinary things of everyday life in an
uncommon manner, out of their overflowing love of God.
There are some reports
that he found the regimented life of a Jesuit scholar nearly intolerable. Yet
he continued in humble and cheerful obedience to his superiors and to God.
Although he longed to
work in the mission fields of China, he did not live long enough to permit it.
After completing his coursework, he was asked to defend the "entire field
of philosophy" in a public disputation in July, just after his exit
examinations. The following month he was asked to represent the Roman College
in a debate with the Greek College. Although he distinguished himself in this
disputation, he had studied so assiduously that he caught a cold in mid-summer,
became very ill with dysentary and a fever, and died a week later. He was
buried in the church of Saint Ignatius at Rome, but his heart was later
translated to the Jesuit church at Louvain.
So many miracles were
attributed to him after his death at the age of 22, that his cultus soon spread
to his native Belgium, where 24,000 copies of his portrait were published
within a few years of his death (Attwater, Attwater 2, Benedictines, Brenan,
Coulson, Delaney, Delehaye, Farmer, Schamoni).
Saint John is represented as a young Jesuit kneeling in a ray of light, and pointing to a skull, with a log of wood, crucifix, book and rosary near him. He is the patron of altar boys (Roeder). The convent of Via di Tor dei Specchi (founded by Saint Frances of Rome) has two pictures of the saint, although his death mask has been lost. One was painted directly from the corpse; the other is a sweetened copy of the death portrait. The original has never been published (Schamoni).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1126.shtml
De St-Jan
Berchmanskapel in de Sint-Romboutskathedraal te
Mechelen, België.
St-Jan
Berchmans chapel in St-Rumbold's Cathedral (Mechelen,
Belgium).
Saint John Berchmans
Death: 08/13/1621
Nationality (place of birth): Belgium
John Berchmans (1599-1621) personifies the ideal that
ordinary deeds done extraordinarily well lead to great holiness. He died very
young, only five years after entering the novitiate, but his great desire to be
a priest inspired him to live religious life fully. He was born to a very
religious family in Diest, Belgium, and started studies that would lead to the
priesthood early in his life. He lived in the rectory of Notre Dame parish
while he studied, but after three years his father told him he would have to
leave school and learn a practical trade to help his family's poor finances.
The pastor of the Diest Béguinage offered to pay for Berchmans' education in
return for his service as a servant; in 1612 the young man took the same
arrangement in Mechlin at the household of Canon Froymont. In Mechlin, though,
Berchmans met the Jesuits and decided to join them rather than become a
diocesan priest. His father was disappointed because a diocesan priest could
contribute to the family while a Jesuit could not, but he gave his son
permission to pursue his goal.
Berchmans entered the Jesuits in 1616 and performed
all the novice duties with joy and exacting fidelity. He also sought to control
himself through penances. A few months after he entered the Jesuits, his mother
died; then his father gave up his shoemaking shop and entered the diocesan
seminary. He was ordained a priest in April 1618. Later that year, on Sept. 25,
John pronounced the three vows of religious life and went to Antwerp to study
philosophy. After only three weeks he was informed that he would move to Rome
for studies. Before he could return to Mechlin to say goodbye to his father,
the latter died suddenly.
The young Jesuit arrived in Rome on Dec. 31 and joined
the community at the Roman College, where he was as faithful to his studies and
religious life as he had been in the novitiate. He excelled in his studies and
at the end of his third year he was selected to defend the entire course of
philosophy in a public disputation. His health had suffered from the effort he
had put into studying for his final exam, and he became steadily weaker as he
prepared for the public disputation, held on July 8. He hoped to rest when it
was over, but he was also selected to represent the Roman College at another
disputation to be held in August at the Greek College. The two events took too
much out of his weakened condition.
On Aug. 7 he suffered an attack of dysentery, and then
a fever set in. When the superior saw how pale and weak Berchmans was, he sent
him to the infirmary. The young Jesuit grew more ill day by day as his lungs
became inflamed and he grew weaker and weaker. He spoke of Paradise as if he
would soon be there when other scholastics came to visit. The brother
infirmarian suggested that he should receive Communion the next day, even
though it was not a Sunday. The Jesuit community came in procession bringing
Viaticum to the their dying brother. He asked for his crucifix, rosary and rule
book and received a steady stream of visitors, including Father General. He
spent his final night in prayer and died on August 13 in the morning.
Originally Collected and edited by: Tom Rochford,SJ
SOURCE : https://www.jesuits.global/saint-blessed/saint-john-berchmans/
De viering van de driehonderste jaar van het overlijden van de heilige Jan Berchmans in Leuven. (1621 - 1921) Zijn hart wordt als relikwie in de processie meegenomen.
centième anniversaire de la mort de saint Jean Berchmans à Louvain. (1621 -
1921) Son cœur est porté en procession comme une relique.
St. John Berchmans
Born at Diest in Brabant,
13 March, 1599; died at Rome,
13 August, 1621. 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.
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 Society 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. 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, on 13 August, at the age of twenty-two years and five months.
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 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.
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.
Demain, Henry. "St. John Berchmans." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1910. 9 Apr.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08450a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas. In memory of
Bishop James Kallacherry.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08450a.htm
St. John Berchmans
St. John Berchmans was
born at Diest in Brabant (Modern Belgium), on March March 13, 1599; died at
Rome, August 13, 1621. He is the patron saint of Altar Boys 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.
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 Society 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. 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, on 13 August, at the age of twenty-two years and five
months.
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 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. 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.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-john-berchmans/
A patron saint for altar
servers
8/5/11
Even among saints there
is a hierarchy in which martyrs and mystics seem to get the lion’s share of
attention. It’s only natural – we’re drawn to the drama and heroism of
martyrdom and the supernatural marvels of visions and private revelations. But
John Berchmans, the son of a Flemish shoemaker, was a saint of very modest
ambitions.
From an early age John
loved God, loved his neighbor and longed to serve them as a priest. As the
first step John did what so many young boys who hope they have a religious vocation
do: He volunteered as an altar boy. From the first time he served Mass John
knew he was meant for the priesthood. He never felt so close to God as when he
was in sanctuary of his parish church praying the responses and bringing the
priest everything that was necessary to say Mass. He loved it so much that he
volunteered to serve two or three and some occasions as many as five Masses in
one day. For his deep devotion to the Mass, St. John Berchmans is the patron of
altar servers.
John’s budding vocation
was encouraged by Father Peter Emmerich, a Norbertine monk of Tongerloo Abbey.
He was John’s first teacher and the most important influence on his religious
development. Father Peter taught John how to write Latin verse, took him on
pilgrimage to local shrines, and let the boy accompany him on visits to priests
and prelates in the area.
At age 17 John joined the
Jesuits and began his formal studies for the priesthood. Even then the Jesuits
were renowned as intellectuals, teachers, preachers and missionaries who
already had given the Church a fresh crop of martyrs (at the Jesuit novitiate
in Rome, John met St. Henry Morse who a few years later would be hanged, drawn
and quartered in England). The Jesuits appealed to John because they emphasized
an orderly, down-to-earth approach to the spiritual life. John, whose favorite
religious devotions were praying before a crucifix, saying the rosary and of
course attending Mass, felt entirely at home among the Jesuits. Laypeople who
met him liked him and appreciated his matter-of-fact devoutness. His fellow
Jesuits regarded him as genuinely holy, a low-key kind of saint.
In Rome John enjoyed a
brilliant career as a student of philosophy. Just before his final exams, his
superiors asked John to participate in one of the public disputations that were
a regular part of Jesuit life at the time. He performed so well he was
appointed to the team of Jesuit students slotted to debate students from the
Greek College.
The day after the
disputation with the Greek College John fell ill with dysentery. A fever
followed, then inflammation of the lungs. When it became clear that John was
dying, a steady stream of visitors came to his room to say goodbye. On Aug. 13,
1621, John Berchmans died; he was 22 years old.
If sanctity is ever ordinary,
then John was an ordinary saint. His cult began in his home, what is now
Belgium, where people felt a strong attachment to him. Engravers produced holy
pictures of him, but could not keep up with the demand. Within a couple months
they had sold 24,000 copies of John’s portrait, just in the Low Countries.
Craughwell is the author
of numerous books about the saints, including Saints Behaving Badly (Doubleday,
2006).
SOURCE : https://www.catholicherald.com/article/columns/a-patron-saint-for-altar-servers/
A Year with the
Saints – 2 August
Entry
It is not enough to do
good things, but we must do them well, in imitation of Christ our Lord, of whom
it was written: Bene omnia fecit – He did all things well. We ought, then, to
strive to do all things in the spirit of Christ; that is, with the perfection,
with the circumstances, and for the ends for which He performed His actions.
Otherwise, even the good works that we do will bring us punishment rather than
reward. – Saint Vincent
de Paul
Saint John
Berchmans followed this precept in all his actions, however different
and unequal they might be, so that anyone who saw him and who considered the
work itself, and at the same time the manner and circumstances in which it was
done, would be obliged to say that each action was performed in the best way
possible. This was the case not only because his objects and aims were always
perfectly correct, but because certain little details in performance were like
an exquisite enamel which made all his actions perfect and finished in the eyes
of God and men, and precious and meritorious in themselves. So, whoever should
strip his actions of such adjuncts would rob them of their beauty and their
value. For example, he never enjoyed games, but rather spiritual conversation
or scientific discussions. But if he was in the country in vacation, he would
play at billiards or quoits, when invited, so as to be like the rest. In
playing he would accept as a partner a newcomer or an unskilled player, though
he might be sure it would make him lose the game. He played with the greatest
attention, neither noticed nor spoke of anything else, and played well. When
his turn came, he first made the Sign of the Cross openly, as he did before
every action. He was never angry, and never raised his voice, whatever success
he had. If he lost, he immediately knelt to say an Ave Maria for the victors.
If he won, he was silent, showed no particular pleasure, and he did not exult
over the losers. These circumstances, taken together, greatly elevated the
action and made it spiritual, though, in itself considered, it was indifferent
and trivial. Saint Ignatius asked a lay-brother who was doing his work with
much negligence, for whom he did it. And when the latter replied that it was
for God, “Now,” said the Saint, “if you were working for men, it would not be
so bad; but if you are working for so great a Lord as God, it is a very great
fault to do it as you do.”
MLA
Citation
An Unknown Italian.
“2
August“. A
Year with the Saints, 1891. CatholicSaints.Info.
10 November 2019. Web. 11 April 2025. <https://catholicsaints.info/a-year-with-the-saints-2-august/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/a-year-with-the-saints-2-august/
Litany
in Honor of Saint John Berchmans, S.J.
[This Litany is for
private use only.]
Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us.
Christ graciously hear us,
God, the Father of
Heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us.
Saint John Berchmans, chosen son of Mary, pray for us.
Saint John, venerator and defender of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, pray
for us.
Saint John, splendor and ornament of the Sodalities of Mary, pray for us.
Saint John, faithful lover of heavenly things, pray for us.
Saint John, constant adorer of the Most Holy Trinity, pray for us.
Saint John, zealous promoter of the divine honor, pray for us.
Saint John, devout worshiper of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
Saint John, devout contemplator of the five sacred wounds of Jesus, pray for
us.
Saint John, true son of Saint Ignatius, pray for us.
Saint John, perfect imitator of Saint Aloysius, pray for us.
Saint John, steadfast upholder of thy holy vocation, pray for us.
Saint John, true model of humility, pray for us.
Saint John, exemplar of religious modesty, pray for us.
Saint John, mirror of angelical purity, pray for us.
Saint John, strict observer of holy obedience, pray for us.
Saint John, ardent lover of holy poverty, pray for us.
Saint John, true observer of the least rule, pray for us.
Saint John, enlightened director in the choice of a vocation, pray for us.
Saint John, perfect model of students, pray for us.
Saint John, patron and model of servers at the altar, pray for us.
Saint John, our powerful intercessor at the throne of God, pray for us.
Lamb of God who takest
away the sins of the world.
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world.
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world.
Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.
Lord have mercy on us.
Our Father. . . .
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/litany-in-honor-of-saint-john-berchmans-s-j/
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint John Berchmans
Article
Confessor,
born Diest, Brabant, 1599; died Rome,
Italy, 1621. He studied at Mechlin and entered the Society of Jesus, 1616.
Having been sent to Rome in 1619, he fell ill in 1621, immediately following
his public disputation in philosophy, and died shortly
afterward. His short religious life was distinguished by a faithful observance
of the Rule of the Order, which brought him quickly to perfection. Patron of
youths; altar boys’ societies are named after him. Emblems:
the Rule of Saint Ignatius, a cross, and rosary. Canonized,
1888. Relics in San Ignazio, Rome, Italy. Feast, 13
August; in the Society of Jesus, 27
November.
MLA
Citation
“Saint John
Berchmans”. People of the Faith. CatholicSaints.Info. 26
November 2010.
Web. 11 April 2025. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-john-berchmans/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-john-berchmans/
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint John Berchmans, Confessor
Article
Saint John Berchmans,
whose feast is celebrated August 13, was born at Diest on the 13th of March,
1599. Having been blessed by God with good parents, they watched over their
young son during the early years of his life, and endeavored to form within him
a character that would be pleasing in the sight of God, and loved by men. That
God blessed their work we can learn from those who came in close contact with
him during life. His parish priest, M. Emmerick, observing him as a little boy
of seven years, said that God “would work wonders in the soul of the child.”
The truth of this remark
was soon to become evident to all. The future saint showed effects of God’s
grace within his soul by his tender devotion to and care of his mother, who was
much afflicted by sickness, when John was but nine years of age. His tender
piety was exercised toward his youthful companions, among whom he acted as a
leader, always making use of every opportunity to teach them to become good and
holy in God’s sight. The youth’s devotion and anxiety to serve Mass, to listen
to and profit by instructions and sermons, his love for the recitation of the
Rosary and the making of pilgrimages to Montaigue were well-known facts in his
early life.
On reaching the proper
age, he entered the Jesuit College at Mechlin, and completed his course of
studies up to and including rhetoric. His life as a student at college, aside
from his studies, was a continuation and an increase of the works of piety he
performed as a boy. Being now ready to begin the study of philosophy, he
decided that he had a vocation to enter the Society of Jesus. After’ overcoming
some opposition on the part of his family, he entered the novitiate at Mechlin
on September 24, 1616. Spending two years at Mechlin, where he made simple vows,
he was at last sent to Antwerp to begin the study of philosophy. Remaining at
Antwerp only a short time, he set out on foot for Rome and arrived there on the
31st of December, 1618. After studying philosophy for three years, he was
selected by one of his superiors to take part in a certain public disputation.
Before the disputation was ended the young man became ill and died on the 13th
of August, 1621.
John Berchman’s life as a
member of the Society of Jesus was most exemplary and exact, particularly in
the observance of the rules of his Order. It was in this way that the future
saint of God’s Church raised himself by the grace of God to practice virtue in
a heroic degree, and on account of which he was canonized a saint in the year
1888 by Pope Leo XIII.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint John Berchmans, Confessor”. Pictorial Lives
of the Saints, 1922. CatholicSaints.Info.
14 December 2018. Web. 11 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-john-berchmans-confessor/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-john-berchmans-confessor/
Saints
of the Society of Jesus: Saint John Berchmans
Article
John Charles Berchmans
was born at Diest, in Belgium, on the 13th of March, 1599. He entered the
Society at the age of seventeen, and from the beginning of his religious life
he placed Saint Aloysius before him as the model whom he was to imitate. Yet the
Holy Spirit did not conduct them by like paths; in Aloysius much was
extraordinary, in Berchmans nothing. But they both placed their wills in God’s
hands with the same docility, and to-day both have been declared, saints.
Obedience became the distinctive virtue of Berchmans. “I am determined to
become a saint,” said he, “and I find all that is necessary to accomplish that
object in the observance of the rules.” It took him five years to make good his
pledge. Thus does his Belgian Master of Novices explain why he writes of him in
so laudatory a manner: “Truth obliges me to declare that what I had the honor
of forwarding to you, the author of his life, is nothing in comparison to what
I saw. What I advance may perhaps surprise those persons who measure the merit
of the saints by their exterior conduct; but those who believe with the royal
prophet that the beauty of the daughter of Sion (that is to say, the perfection
of just souls) is quite interior, will not be at all surprised at the manner in
which I express myself when speaking of the high sanctity of this faithful
servant.” And Father Cepari, his Superior in Rome, declares of himself: “On one
occasion, when describing to me with his usual candor the singular favors which
God conferred upon him, and the exact fidelity with which he endeavored to
correspond to these graces, I was seized with admiration (which, however, I
endeavored to conceal), and exclaimed within myself: ‘O my God! this is truly a
precious soul in whom You are well pleased, since You adorn him thus early in
life with the most tender proofs of Your mercy. This grace of the new man which
You have conferred upon him appears to me to resemble that first state of
innocence in which You created man! So slight are the traces of original
corruption in this young heart that it seems to be re-established in the state
of primitive purity.'” Still he admits that Berchmans committed some faults.
“What gave me a secret veneration for him,” says another of his companions,
“was the acknowledgment he often made, with expressions of humble candor and
intense gratitude towards God, that he did not remember having committed during
the whole course of his life one deliberate venial sin.” Berchmans fell ill
shortly after the Feast of Saint Ignatius, while studying in Rome, and died
before the Assumption. At the last hour, holding in his arms, pressed to his
breast, his beads, his crucifix, and his book of rules, he exclaimed: “These
are what I most love; with these I die content.” And when his Brethren begged
some last advice, he recommended to them devotion to the Blessed Virgin,
prayer, and the observance of the rules. He was in his twenty-third year. We
have many maxims and resolutions of Saint John Berchmans, a most precious
legacy, full of instruction for all young religious and all who aspire to
Christian perfection. They are very much like what other souls write in times
of retreat and fervor; their specialty is that John Berchmans observed them and
lived up to them. Even more, perhaps, than the Blessed Peter Favre, whose
spiritual documents are so valuable, is Saint John Berchmans the model to be
proposed for imitation in our age. People shrink from austerity, distrust
revelations; here is a boy who had no visions, worked no miracles, did little
extraordinary penance, and yet in five years he became a saint! How? By giving
to God his whole heart. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart,
and thy whole soul, and all thy might, and all thy mind: this is the first
commandment.” Let us try to observe the first commandment and we shall become
saints. Saint John Berchmans had bound himself by vow to defend the dogma, not
yet defined, of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.
MLA
Citation
Father D
A Merrick, SJ.
“Saint John Berchmans”. Saints
of the Society of Jesus, 1891. CatholicSaints.Info.
29 December 2018. Web. 11 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-john-berchmans/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-john-berchmans/
The
Blessed John Berchmans, by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus at Ghent
The Blessed John
Berchmans was born at the little town of Diest, near Louvain; the house still
exists. His father, who was by trade a tanner, was much respected, and was in
our language Sheriff. Blessed John Berchmans was born the 13th March, 1599. His
childhood was distinguished by uniform meekness and obedience; he seemed to be
exempt from the natural faults of infancy; at an early age he was frequently at
the church, never playing in the streets with the children of his age. At the
early age of 11 he was confided, by his parents, to the care of the Professor
Watter Van Stiphent. He was, later, placed under the care of the Rev. S. F.
Emmerich, Religious of the Abbey of Tongerloo, Curate of Notre Dame of Diest,
who had established in his house a kind of seminary for young people who were
to be educated for the Church. As the father of the Blessed John Berchmans was
obliged in his business to receive persons of all conditions, he foresaw the
dangers which his youthful son was exposed to in his paternal home; therefore
determined to make every necessary sacrifice to keep him pure and
uncontaminated; he was equally careful for his other children. He entered the
Society of Jesus, and received the tonsure in March, 1618. The day following
the demise of his mother he received sub-deacon’s orders. He followed carefully
all the prescribed exercises in the house of F. Emmerich, and made his first
communion between the age of 11 and 12, after which he regularly confessed
every week, and received the Holy Communion every fortnight. His devotion to
Our Blessed Lady was extreme. More than once he was found in some corner of his
home on his knees, praying to Our Lady; and through her special protection,
like his great patron, he never felt any temptations contrary to purity; he
fled from the slightest danger as from the face of a serpent. Shortly after his
father announced to him that, owing to his having met serious reverses, he
could no longer meet the necessary expenses pf his career, and urged on him the
necessity of his adopting the career of the secular priesthood, as thereby he
might assist his family. John implored his father, with tears, to grant him a
few years longer, assuring him of the truth of his vocation.
Whilst Blessed John was
at Malines, all his professors were soon convinced of his angelic character and
goodness, and all loved and cherished him accordingly. He was always gay and
smiling, thereby contradicting the erroneous ideas of those who make sanctity
to consist in a disagreeable, austere exterior; nevertheless, with this gentle
exterior demeanour, he, then only 17 years of age, resisted with angelic
firmness all the entreaties, nay, commands, of his father to abandon his holy
vocation. His conduct whilst in the noviciate was the example for all; his
obedience, attention, and care of the most trifling incidents. Being sent to
Rome, he rejoiced at arriving in the Eternal City. His companion of the way died
during the third year of his studies from a chest affection. Blessed John
Berchmans did not long survive him. On the 5th August, 1621, he was attacked by
diarrhoea, followed by fever, and he sank from pure exhaustion, notwithstanding
the great care bestowed on him. He expired on Friday, 13th August, 1621, aged
22 years and 9 months, with his eyes fixed on the crucifix, his rosary, and his
missal. The many miracles which attested his sanctity induced the Court of
Rome, at the request of many very influential persons, to pronounce his
Beatification by a Papal Bull, signed 9th May, 1865, in the 19th year of the
Pontificate of His Holiness Pius IX, countersigned by his Eminence
Nicholas
Clarelli-Paracciani, Cardinal Priest of the Title of San Pietro in Vincoli, and
Secretary of Apostolic Briefs
Boetius
Adams Bolswert, Flemish (1580 - 1633), Portrait of the Jesuit Jan Berchmans, engraving,
circa 1621, 40 x 26.1, Philadelphia
Museum of Art
San Giovanni
Berchmans Religioso gesuita
Festa: 13 agosto
Diest, Belgio, 12 marzo
1599 - Roma, 13 agosto 1621
Nato a Diest in Belgio il
12 marzo 1599 , primo dei cinque figli di un calzolaio, a causa di una grave
malattia che aveva colpito la madre venne affidato alle cure di due zie e poi
di un sacerdote. Lavorando come domestico presso un canonico della cattedrale
di Malines riuscì a permettersi di studiare presso il collegio gesuita di
quella città. Completati gli studi, il 24 settembre 1618 emise la prima
professione religiosa divenendo novizio gesuita e nel 1619 si trasferì a Roma
per completare gli studi filosofici presso il Collegio romano (l'attuale
Università Gregoriana) ma, ammalatosi, morì due anni dopo, il 13 agosto 1621.
Il suo corpo venne sepolto nella chiesa romana di Sant'Ignazio e la reliquia
del suo cuore venne traslata nella chiesa gesuita di Saint-Michel a Lovanio. Il
suo processo di beatificazione iniziò subito dopo la morte ma venne interrotto
a causa dei problemi del suo ordine soppresso da Clemente XIV nel 1773; riprese
dopo il 1814, quando Pio VII restaurò la Compagnia di Gesù. Fu beatificato da
papa Pio IX il 9 maggio 1865 e canonizzato da papa Leone XIII il 15 gennaio
1888. (Avvenire)
Patronato: Giovani
studenti
Etimologia: Giovanni
= il Signore è benefico, dono del Signore, dall'ebraico
Martirologio
Romano: A Roma, san Giovanni Berchmans, religioso della Compagnia di Gesù,
che, amato da tutti per la sua pietà sincera, la schietta carità e l’allegria
incessante, dopo una breve malattia andò serenamente incontro alla morte.
Nacque il 12 marzo 1599 a Diest nelle Fiandre, primogenito dei cinque figli di Giovanni Berchmans, calzolaio e conciatore di pelli, e di Elisabetta, figlia del borgomastro Adriano Van den Hove. Quando nel 1609 la madre fu colpita da una incurabile e lenta malattia, Giovanni venne affidato, insieme ai suoi fratelli, alle cure di due zie e, nell'ottobre, posto nel pensionato retto dal premostratense Pietro Van Emmerick, pio parroco della chiesa di N. Signora di Diest. Avviatosi verso la vita ecclesiastica, iniziò gli studi latini nella Scuola Grande di Diest; ma nel 1612 il padre si vide costretto dalla situazione economica, a chiedere a Giovanni di abbandonare gli studi intrapresi e di imparare un mestiere; l'aiuto offerto poi da alcuni familiari rese possibile un'altra soluzione piú confacente alle doti e all'impegno del ragazzo. A metà settembre 1612, Giovanni entrò infatti nella casa del canonico Froymont, a Malines, per continuare i suoi studi presso la Scuola Grande di questa città, ma serviva al tempo stesso come cameriere il Froymont e come istitutore alcuni giovanissimi ragazzi della nobiltà, convittori nella canonica. Avendo nel 1615 i Gesuiti aperto un collegio a Malines, Giovanni poté compiere sotto la loro direzione gli studi di retorica e divenne anche membro della Congregazione Mariana. Provate alcune incertezze nei riguardi della forma concreta in cui attuare la sua vocazione sacerdotale, leggendo una biografia di s. Luigi Gonzaga, capí che Dio lo chiamava nella Compagnia di Gesú. Dovette tuttavia ancora superare la resistenza oppostagli dal padre, che sognava per lui una ricca prebenda vi riuscí in maniera cosí convincente che il padre stesso, dopo la morte della moglie, avvenuta nel 1616, abbracciò lo stato ecclesiastico e divenne sacerdote.
Conclusi gli studi umanistici in maniera brillante, Giovanni iniziò a Malines il noviziato sotto la direzione di A. Sucquet, autore della celebre opera Via Vitae Aeternae. I progressi spirituali furono cosí rapidi e sicuri che i superiori gli concessero di emettere, dopo un solo anno di noviziato, i tre voti perpetui d detti "di devozione" e lo nominarono ianitor, ossia prefetto dei novizi, che erano allora piú di cento. Poco dopo la fine del noviziato (24 settembre 1618) fu prescelto per essere inviato a Roma a fare i suoi studi filosofici al Collegio Romano, ove giunse il 2 gennaio 1619. Qui ebbe la fortuna di trovare nella persona di Virgilio Cepari - uno dei migliori scrittori spirituali di quel secolo - un eccellente direttore spirituale. Al termine degli studi filosofici, Giovanni fu incaricato di sostenere l'onorifico e solenne actus publicus, nello svolgimento del quale la chiarezza della sua intelligenza e la profondità delle sue cono scenze destarono grande ammirazione cosí come la sua modestia, umiltà e dolcezza. Il rigido tenore di vita da lui seguito e il clima di Roma, poco confacentesi a lui, ne avevano però minato l'alquanto delicata salute; quando, il 7 agosto 1621, fu assalito da violente febbri, accompagnate da catarro intestinale e da infiammazione polmonare, i dottori disperarono di poterlo salvare e infatti egli spirò il 13 agosto 1621 dando esempio di una morte santissima. Se Giovanni raggiunse nella breve durata della sua vita, svoltasi in circostanze del tutto ordinarie, le vette della santità canonizzata, ciò deve naturalmente essere ascritto innanzitutto alla grazia e provvidenza di Dio che—oltre ad avergli dato un temperamente felice, dei genitori cristiani esemplari e dei direttori spirituali di primo ordine—lo guidò manifestamente e lo colmò di grazie, fra le quali spicca il dono della piú perfetta castità. Non dobbiamo però dimenticare che Giovanni corrispose a questi doni di Dio con un amore fedelissimc e con un senso del dovere del tutto eccezionale. Educato sin dall'infanzia secondo i principi dell'antica scuola ascetico-mistica dei Paesi Bassi, egli si aprí poi completamente agli insegnamenti ignaziani e giunse cosí a godere--oltre che di una profonda pietà e un'ardente devozione verso l'Eucaristia e la Beata Vergine—di un sano e schietto realismo spirituale, che si rivela nel suo sapersi prefiggere chiaramente uno scopo, nello scegliere il metodo adatto da seguire e nella cura di ogni particolare nella attuazione.
Fedele ai suoi motti preferiti: Age quod agis e Maximi facere minima, riuscí a eseguire le cose ordinarie in modo straordinario e a diventare il santo della vita comune, in cui le regole del suc Ordine furono per cosí dire canonizzate. Non aveva però nulla del moralista, o dell'asceta rigido, o dello scrupoloso irrequieto: la sua era invece una spiritualità di libertà gioconda, di gioia e serenità nel Signore, di amore operoso, caldo ed affabile, che si approfondí e semplificò sempre piú, specie verso la fine della vita, quando cioè, dopo un previo periodo di aridità spirituale, Giovanni fu favorito della esperienza mistica della presenza divina. Furono precisamente questa profonda unione amorosa a Dio e la sua sorridente attuazione operosa nelle circostanze della vita concreta, che esercitarono un fascino ed un ascendente straordinario su quanti ebbero la fortuna di conoscerlo e che spiegano la sorprendente fama di santità diffusasi subito dopo la sua morte, sia a Roma, sia all'estero.
Già un anno dopo la morte di Giovanni si fecero le prime indagini canoniche in Roma e in Belgio; i decreti di Urbano VIII (1625) e di Innocenzo XI (1678) in materia di processi e procedura e, poi, la soppressione della Compagnia di Gesú ritardarono lo svolgimento della causa. Quando essa fu riattivata nel 1830 i progressi furono rapidissimi: 5 giugno 1843, decreto sulla eroicità delle virtú; 9 maggio 1865, beatificazione; 27 novembre 1887, decreto detto del tuto; 15 gennaio 1888, solenne canonizzazione.
Il corpo del santo riposa nella chiesa di S.Ignazio a Roma, mentre il suo cuore è venerato nella chiesa dei padri gesuiti a Lovanio. La sua festa si celebre il 13 agosto, mentre la Compagnia di Gesù festeggia la memoria il 26 novembre. Insieme a s. Luigi Gonzaga, Giovanni è venerato come patrono della gioventù studentesca.
Autore: Paolo Molinari
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/66050
Beeld
van Sint Jan Berchmans, Berchmanianum, Nijmegen
Statue of Saint John Berchmans, Berchmanianum, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Beeld
van Sint Jan Berchmans, Berchmanianum, Nijmegen
Statue of Saint John Berchmans, Berchmanianum, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Giovanni Berchmans
(1599-1621)
Beatificazione:
- 28 maggio 1865
- Papa Pio IX
Canonizzazione:
- 15 gennaio 1888
- Papa Leone XIII
- Basilica Vaticana
Ricorrenza:
- 13 agosto
Religioso della Compagnia di Gesù, che, amato da tutti
per la sua pietà sincera, la schietta carità e l’allegria incessante, dopo una
breve malattia andò serenamente incontro alla morte
“Fai bene quello che stai facendo e rendi il massimo
facendo le minime cose”
Primo di cinque fratelli, Juan
Berchmans nasce nell’umile famiglia di un conciatore di pelli fiammingo il
12 marzo 1599 a Diest. Quando ha soli 10 anni, la mamma si ammala gravemente,
così viene prima affidato alle cure degli zii e poi messo in un pensionato.
Ha già le idee chiare Giovanni: vuole diventare
sacerdote. Così inizia gli studi latini nella scuola di Diest, ma i soldi sono
pochi e deve lasciare per imparare un mestiere. A chiederglielo è il padre, che
non vede di buon occhio la sua vocazione, ma il contatto con un figlio Santo lo
cambierà a tal punto da farsi sacerdote lui stesso, dopo la morte della moglie,
nel 1616. Ed ecco l’intervento della Provvidenza: entra a servizio nella casa
del canonico Froymont, a Malines, dove come istitutore si occupa anche di
giovani ragazzi della nobiltà e così si guadagna il necessario per continuare a
studiare.
Siamo nel 1615. I Gesuiti aprono un collegio a
Malines, proprio nel periodo in cui Giovanni è però indeciso sulla forma da
dare alla propria vocazione. Leggendo, per curiosità, la biografia di Luigi
Gonzaga che era morto da pochi anni, capisce dov’è che il Signore lo vuole ed entra
nella Compagnia di Gesù.
È un allievo eccezionale, che osserva alla perfezione
le regole che gli vengono imposte e che allora erano diverse a seconda delle
comunità; tant’è che dopo appena un anno viene nominato prefetto dei novizi,
che sono più di un centinaio. Emessi i voti perpetui nel 1618, viene inviato a
Roma per proseguire gli studi, ma qui si ammala gravemente e muore, nel 1621,
all’età di appena 22 anni.
Viene seppellito a Roma nella chiesa della Compagnia,
Sant’Ignazio di Loyola, mentre una reliquia del suo cuore si trova a Lovanio,
nella chiesa gesuita di Saint-Michel.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/giovanni-berchmans.html
La spiritualità: Frate Ilaro
A giudicare dal soprannome che si guadagna nella sua
breve vita comunitaria – Frate Ilaro – possiamo affermare che Giovanni è il
Santo del sorriso, indicatore di una via per la santità che si snoda attraverso
l’allegria e la quotidianità. Il suo è un sano e schietto realismo spirituale
che gli viene certo dalle sue origini povere e dalla scuola ascetica belga, che
però poi si è del tutto aperto agli insegnamenti ignaziani. Esempio per tutti
di come vivere gioiosamente nel Signore, ha avuto esperienze da mistico ed è
stato toccato dalla grazia, ma quello che lo caratterizza di più è la profonda
pietà verso il prossimo e un’ardente devozione verso l’Eucaristia e la Vergine
Maria. Canonizzato da Leone XIII nel 1888, assieme ai Santi Stanislao Kotska e
proprio Luigi Gonzaga, è patrono della gioventù studentesca.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/giovanni-berchmans.html
Den hellige Johannes
Berchmanns (1599-1621)
Minnedag:
26. november
Skytshelgen for studenter
og ungdom og ministranter
Den hellige Johannes
Berchmanns (Jan) ble født den 13. mars 1599 i Diest i Brabant i Flandern, det
nåværende Belgia. I en bestemt hagiografisk æra var det nesten like viktig for
en helgen å forutsi sin egen fremtidige hellighet som å utrette den nødvendige
mengde mirakler. Johannes skal i så måte i tidlig alder ha kommet med det
perfekte, «moderat delfiske» sitatet: «Hvis jeg ikke blir en helgen mens jeg er
ung, kommer jeg aldri til å bli en».
Johannes var eldste sønn
av en skomakermester. Han vokste opp i et fromt hjem og var av natur vennlig og
kjærlig mot sine foreldre. Han var også en favoritt blant lekekameratene, modig
og åpen og med en lys og munter personlighet. Samtidig var han også heftig og
lunefull. Han var bare ni år gammel da hans mor fikk en langvarig og alvorlig
sykdom, og han tilbrakte flere timer hver dag ved sengen hennes.
Johannes begynte som
niåring i 1608 på den lokale latinskolen, og der gikk han til 1612. Han bodde
senere i presteboligen i sognet Vår Frue sammen med flere unge gutter som var
interessert i å bli prester. De fikk for en stor del sin utdannelse av Peter Emmerich,
en premonstratenserkannik fra klosteret Tongerloo. Han instruerte dem i bønn og
å gjøre tjeneste ved messen, han lærte dem å skive latinske vers og tok dem med
på besøk til helligdommer og til andre geistlige. Johannes foretrakk sitt eget
eller voksnes selskap, men viste interesse for drama i en tidlig alder, og det
betydde omgang med andre gutter. Han var en entusiastisk skuespiller i
mysteriespill, og han ble spesielt rost for sin fremstilling av Daniel som
forsvarer Susannas uskyld etter at de vellystige gamle anklaget henne for
umoral.
Da Johannes var tretten
år, fikk han beskjed fra faren om at han måtte slutte på skolen. Forretningen
gikk dårlig, så gutten måtte lære seg et håndverk og bidra til husholdningen.
Gutten ble svært skuffet, for uten skolegang kunne han ikke bli prest, men
faren hadde på ingen måte lenger råd til guttens utdannelse. Men presten i
Diest Béguinage Johannes Froymont, som var kannik ved katedralen i
Mechelen/Malines, var klar over problemene, så han tilbød seg å ta imot gutten
som tjener og til gjengjeld betale for guttens utdannelse på Grande Ecole.
Dermed flyttet Johannes dit i 1612. Hans plikter var å servere ved bordet,
springe ærend og tjene noen av de andre losjerende som gikk på katedralskolen
sammen med ham.
Det var vanskelig å
arbeide etter å ha tilbrakt hele dagen på skolen, men siden Johannes ønsket å
bli prest, var han villig til hva som helst. Kannik Froymont hadde et videre
interessefelt enn Emmerich. Han tok med Johannes på andejakt og lærte ham å
lære opp hunder til å hente fuglene.
Johannes ble en av de
første studentene på jesuittkollegiet i Mechelen, som ble åpnet i 1615, selv om
kannik Froymont var uenig i dette valget. Johannes fortsatte som ivrig
skuespiller i religiøse dramaer (ingen andre var tillatt) og var
bemerkelsesverdig from. Et år senere, den 24. september 1616, trådte den
17-årige Johannes inn som novise i den unge jesuittordenen (Societas Jesu –
SJ). Faren var skuffet, for familien trengte hjelpen Johannes kunne ha gitt som
sekularprest, men han gikk til slutt med på det.
Johannes førte detaljerte
notater, skrev kommentarer til sin asketiske lesning, og utviklet en filosofi
for et fordringsløst fromt liv som synes nærmest å ha foregrepet den
hellige Terese
av Lisieux' «lille vei». Han uttrykte det i sitt motto: «Lovpris små ting
mest av alt», og i slike erklæringer som: «Jeg liker å la meg bli styrt som et
daggammelt barn». Ingen ting var for smått eller ydmykende for ham – alt var
Guds vilje. Som novise utførte han alle sine foreskrevne plikter med glede og
nøyaktighet. Han lærte å beherske seg og ikke handle etter instinkt.
Johannes' mor døde i
desember 1616, like etter at han var blitt novise. Faren ga da opp
skomakerbutikken, begynte på bispedømmets seminar og ble presteviet i april
1618 og utnevnt til kannik i hjembyen. Den 2. september 1618 skrev Johannes for
å fortelle faren at han skulle avlegge sine første løfter etter to år som
novise i Mechelen og ba om stoff og lær for å få laget klær. Dessverre døde
kannik Berchmans dagen før sønnens løfteavleggelse, som skjedde den 25.
september.
Johannes dro til
Antwerpen for å studere filosofi, men han hadde bare vært der i tre uker da han
fikk beskjed om at han måtte reise til Roma for å studere på Collegium Romanum,
jesuittordenens største og beste kollegium med mer enn 2.000 studenter. Han kom
dit nyttårsaften 1618 etter å ha gått sammen med en ledsager fra Antwerpen i ti
uker. Han var en flittig student på Collegium Romanum, hvor den hellige
engelske martyren Henry Morse var
en av hans medstudenter.
Johannes ble et forbilde
for sine medbrødre gjennom sine dyder og sin munterhet. Hans omgang med de
andre var preget av stor hjertelighet, men han fulgte strengt alle ordenens
regler. Mange vitnesbyrd om perfeksjonen i hans liv eksisterer fortsatt, og p.
Massucci, som hadde vært sammen med den hellige Aloisius Gonzaga på
Collegium Romanum i dennes siste år, satte bare denne hellige novisen foran
Johannes.
Johannes gjorde det godt
ved eksamen i mai 1621 og ble valgt til å forsvare en tese i en offentlig
debatt. Men flittige studier i den varme romerske sommeren ble for mye for ham,
og hans helse begynte å svikte. Den 8. juli ble debatten holdt, og Johannes
håpet å kunne komme seg etterpå. Men den 6. august måtte han som den beste
jesuittstudenten spille en fremstående rolle i en offentlig disputt på det greske
kollegiet, som da ble drevet av dominikanerne. Dagen etter måtte han sendes til
sykesalen, da han fikk sitt første anfall av dysenteri. Deretter satte det inn
med feber, og han fikk lungebetennelse. Han viste et uvanlig godt humør, som da
han etter en motbydelig dose medisin ba presten som var der om å be etter
maten. Da legen beordret at hans tinninger skulle bades med gammel vin, sa
Johannes at en slik dyr sykdom ikke ville vare lenge. Da medlemmer av
kommuniteten besøkte ham, snakket han om Paradiset som om han snart skulle være
der.
Medbroren som drev
sykestuen, så hvordan pasienten raskt ble verre, så han foreslo at han mottok
kommunionen morgenen etter, selv om det ikke var søndag. Neste morgen kom
jesuittenes kommunitet i prosesjon med Viaticum til sin døende medbror. Etter å
ha mottatt Herrens legeme, ba Johannes om å bli salvet. Alle gråt, bare
Johannes var rolig. Nå når han forberedte seg til å møte sin Gud, ba han om
krusifikset sitt, rosenkransen og ordenens regelbok og sa: «Dette er de tre tingene
som er meg kjærest; med dem dør jeg gjerne», Cum his libenter moriar.
Neste dag var det en
strøm av jesuitter og klassekamerater som kom for å treffe ham en siste gang.
Ordensgeneralen besøkte ham også. Johannes siste kveld ble tilbrakt i bønn. Han
døde fredelig om morgenen den 13. august 1621, bare 22 år gammel. Da
jesuittkommuniteten hørte kirkeklokken klokken 8.30, visste de at Johannes var
i Paradis. Den ondartede sykdommen ble aldri diagnostisert.
Allerede ved begravelsen
oppførte menneskene seg som om han var en helgen, og hans berømmelse spredte
seg. Talløse mirakler ble tilskrevet hans forbønn, og hans kult spredte seg til
hans hjemland, for katolikker i Nederlandene (Nederland og Belgia) trengte sin
egen helgen. Innen få år skrev jesuittpateren Bauters fra Flandern: «Selv om
han døde i Roma, og få av hans landsmenn kjente ham av utseende, har allerede
ti av våre beste gravører laget hans portrett og minst 24.000 kopier er
produsert. Dette inkluderer ikke arbeider av mindre betydelige kunstnere samt
flere malerier».
Samme året som Johannes
døde, ba hertug Filip av Aerschot pave Gregor XV (1621-23) om å åpne en
informasjonsprosess med tanke på saligkåring. Selv om hans prosess ble innledet
allerede året etter, ble ikke Johannes saligkåret før den 28. mai 1865
(dokumentet (Breve) var datert den 9. mai) av den salige pave Pius IX (1846-78)
og helligkåret den 15. januar 1888 (bullen var datert den 22. januar) av pave
Leo XIII (1878-1903), som gjorde ham til skytshelgen for studentene.
På slutten av 1800-tallet
var det en på moten med hellige men ikke spesielt intellektuelle ordensmenn som
hadde dødd unge. Men Johannes eksempel konkurrerte ikke med de to andre hellige
jesuittene Aloisius Gonzaga og Stanislas Kostka.
Hans bakgrunn var grå og borgerlig, mens de to andre var aristokrater. Deres
usedvanlige oppførsel og unormalt samvittighetsfulle oppmerksomhet på hva de så
på som renhet, gjorde dem til mye mer nyttige skikkelser for predikanter og
lærere og skygget for deres reelle dyder. Johannes har havnet i nesten
fullstendig glemsel, og dermed eksemplifisert et annet av sine utsagn om seg
selv: «Min bot er å leve et ordinært liv». Likevel, ettersom periodens
overdrivelser viskes ut, synes han mer menneskelig og verdig å minnes enn de
andre to medlemmene av trioen. Sammen med dem er Johannes Berchmanns også
skytshelgen for ungdommen. Han æres også som ministrantenes vernehelgen.
Hans minnedag er 26.
november, men dødsdagen 13. august nevnes også. Hans navn står i Martyrologium
Romanum. Han avbildes som jesuitt med et krusifiks, en rosenkrans og sin ordens
regel, og han står gjerne overfor døden symbolisert av en hodeskalle eller en
knokkel. Han avbildes også ofte knelende i bønn foran et Mariabilde.
Benediktinerinnene i det romerske klosteret Via di Tor de'Specchi er i
besittelse av et portrett som ble gjort ferdig på hans dødsleie. Han er
gravlagt i jesuittkirken Sant'Ignazio i Roma rett overfor graven til Aloisius
Gonzaga. Hans hjerte oppbevares som en dyrebar relikvie i kirken i
jesuittkollegiet i Leuven/Louvain (Löwen).
Kilder: Attwater
(dk), Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Butler (VIII), Benedictines, Delaney,
Bunson, Tylenda, Engelhart, Schauber/Schindler, Index99, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron
Saints SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon - Kompilasjon og
oversettelse: p. Per
Einar Odden - Opprettet: 2001-07-17 16:11 -
Sist oppdatert: 2005-12-28 17:35
Linken er kopiert til
utklippstavlen!
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/johberch
San Juan Berchmans
Death: 08/13/1621
Nationality (place of
birth): Bélgica
Juan Berchmans
(1599-1621) personifica el ideal de que las acciones más ordinarias hechas
extraordinariamente bien pueden conducir hasta una gran santidad. Murió muy
joven, solo cinco años después de haber entrado en el noviciado, pero un gran
deseo de ser sacerdote le impulsó a vivir la vida religiosa en plenitud. Había
nacido en una familia muy religiosa en Diest, Bélgica, y había empezado muy
pronto a estudiar para ser sacerdote. Mientras estudiaba vivía en la casa
rectoral de la parroquia de Nôtre Dame, pasados tres años su padre le avisó de
que debía dejar los estudios y aprender un oficio práctico que le permitiese
ayudar a la economía familiar. El párroco del Béguinage de Diest se ofreció a
sufragar la educación de Berchmans a cambio de que trabajase como criado; el
1612 hizo un arreglo similar en Mechlin, en casa del canónigo Froymont. Pero
cuando Berchmans conoció a los jesuitas decidió unirse a ellos, abandonando la
idea de ser sacerdote diocesano. Su padre sufrió una desilusión, porque un
sacerdote secular habría podido ayudar a la familia, mientras que a un jesuita
no le iba a ser posible. A pesar de todo dio el permiso para que su hijo
siguiera su vocación.
Juan entró en el
noviciado el año 1616 y se ajustó a sus deberes como novicio con gozo y fidelidad
extrema. Buscaba el control de sí mismo a través de mortificaciones. Algunos
meses después de su entrada en la Compañía murió su madre; su padre abandonó su
zapatería y entró en el seminario diocesano. Fue ordenado sacerdote en abril de
1618. Poco después, en aquel mismo año, Juan hacía los tres votos religiosos y
pasó a Amberes a estudiar filosofía. Sólo habían pasado tres semanas cuando le
informaron de que debía trasladarse a Roma para seguir sus estudios. Antes pudo
volver a Mechlin a despedirse de su padre, que más tarde falleció
repentinamente.
Juan llegó a Roma el 31
de diciembre y se unió a la comunidad del Colegio Romano, donde siguió siendo
tan fiel a sus estudios y a la vida religiosa como lo había sido en el
noviciado. Sobresalió en los estudios y al final del tercer año fue elegido
para defender el curso entero de filosofía en disputa pública. El esfuerzo que
había realizado en la preparación del examen final hizo que se resintiera su
salud, y durante la preparación de la disputa pública, que había de celebrarse
el 8 de julio, se fue sintiendo cada vez más débil. Él hubiera esperado
descansar después, pero lo eligieron también para representar al Colegio Romano
en una disputa que se iba a celebrar en el Colegio Griego en agosto. Estas dos ocasiones
exigieron demasiado de su débil complexión.
El 7 de agosto sufrió un
ataque de disentería, y le subió la fiebre. El superior, al ver lo pálido y
débil que estaba Berchmans, lo envió a la enfermería. Pero allí su situación de
agravaba de día en día. Sus pulmones se inflamaron y estaba cada vez más débil.
Cuando venían otros escolares a visitarlo hablaba del paraíso como si pronto se
fuera a encontrar allí. El hermano enfermero sugirió que recibiera la comunión
al día siguiente aunque no fuera domingo. La comunidad vino en procesión
trayendo el Viático al hermano que se les moría. Pidió su crucifijo, su rosario
y el libro de las reglas, y comenzó a recibir una fila interminable de
visitantes, entre ellos al P. General. Pasó su última noche en oración y
falleció en la mañana del 13 de agosto.
Originalmente compilado y
editado por: Tom Rochford, SJ
Traducción: Luis
López-Yarto, SJ
SOURCE : https://www.jesuits.global/es/saint-blessed/san-juan-berchmans/