John Berchmans is considered one of the three young saints of the Jesuit order, the other two being Stanislaus Kostka and Aloysius Gonzaga. They were all roughly contemporaries, living in the 16th century, a time of great challenge for the Catholic faith in Europe, and of great expansion of the Jesuit order. John was born in Dieppe, Normandy, of modest circumstances. As a young boy his outstanding quality was his piety and devotion, and he was generally considered a good influence on others. His parents were not happy with his decision to join the Jesuit order, and opposed it, but John was firm. He walked all the way to Rome to gain admission to the Jesuit novitiate. As a seminarian he was remarkable for the diligence with which he lived the present moment – his prayers, his studies, recreation in the community, the ordinary tasks expected of young Jesuits. His three dearest objects, he liked to say, were his crucifix, the symbol of his consecrated life; his rosary, the symbol of his devotion to Our Lady; and the book of rules of the Society. He firmly believed he was called on to put them into practice in the minutest detail. “If I’m not a saint when I’m young,” he had written in his diary, “I’ll never be a saint.” John died suddenly at the age of 21. He had distinguished himself the previous evening in a public debate, an academic exercise young Jesuit seminarians engaged in regularly. On his return to the seminary, he caught a fever, and within a short while, passed away. John Berchmans is one of those saints you don’t look at twice, they seem so ordinary. There was nothing spectacular about him. But then you look again, and you see a heart purified by devotion and a character toughened by discipline. You realize then that under the plain exterior shines a diamond.
