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This young saint of the Society of Jesus was born
in Flanders, the oldest of five children. He grew up in an atmosphere of
political turmoil caused by a religious war between the Catholic and
Protestant sections of the Netherlands. He studied at the Gymnasium at Diest
and worked as a servant in the household of Canon John Froymont at Malines in
order to continue his studies.
In 1615, the Jesuits opened a college at Malines,
and St. John Berchmans was one of the first to enter. He was an energetic
student and was a leader among the students. In 1616, he entered the Jesuit
novitiate at Malines and came under the influence of Father Antoine Sucquet.
The young Berchmans developed a strong and deep spirituality based on the
loving practice of fidelity. St. Aloysius of Gonzaga was his spiritual model,
and he was influenced as well by the example of the Jesuit English martyrs.
It was his realistic appreciation for the value
of ordinary things, a characteristic of the Flemish mystical tradition, that
constituted his holiness. He was affable, kind, and endowed with an outgoing
personality that endeared him to everyone. In 1618, he was sent to Rome to
study philosophy and was an exceptional student. He requested after
ordination to become a chaplain in the army, hoping to be martyred on the
battlefield.
In the summer of 1619, the intense heat of Rome
started to affect his health and he began progressively to get weaker. The
doctors could not determine what was wrong, and for two years he was
continually sick, requiring medical care, and as the summer of 1621 came, it
was clear that he would not last long. He died peacefully on August 13, 1621,
and numerous miracles were attributed to him at the time of his funeral.
He was beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1865 and
canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1888. His body lies in the church of St.
Ignatius in Rome, where Aloysius of Gonzaga is also buried.
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