Around two in the morning, a growing multitude began moving toward the church to reserve their places before sunrise. What was about to happen? Why so much excitement at such an hour? Some less-informed inhabitants peered from their windows to inquire about the commotion. They all got the same answers from those rushing by below:
“Father Avila is going to preach! Father Avila is going to preach!”
But the sermon would only take place after sunrise…
Who was this Father Avila, whose coming filled cathedrals, churches and streets at any hour, even impeling some to climb onto roofs to see or hear him?
A penitential childhood
John of Avila was the son of Alonso of Avila and Catherine Gijón, a respected and wealthy couple from Almodóvar del Campo. Before his birth, his mother made an arduous pilgrimage—barefoot and in sackcloth—to the Hermitage of St. Bridget, located in a wild mountain range some distance from the city, to implore the gift of motherhood. Her devout supplication was heard; on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1499, a child entered the world who would mark his age, be raised to the honour of the altars, and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.
John was precocious in setting out on the way of asceticism and penance. When he was four, his parents went to the Shrine of Guadalupe in Cáceres, leaving him with some neighbours. His hosts were filled with admiration when they found him, in the middle of the night, lying on the ground, on some rough kindling that he had gathered.
At ten years of age he asked his parents to prepare a grotto for him apart from the house so that he could live a solitary life, in a setting conducive to prayer and sacrifice, to the “edification of the local clergy and inhabitants.”1 Until today this place is known as the Grotto of penance.
A preaching vocation is discovered
When he reached the age of 14, he departed for Salamanca, to study Law at that city’s famous university. After four years of study, Providence called him to Himself in a sui generis manner: during a bullfighting spectacle, Our Lord made him feel the utter emptiness of earthly things and the need to concern himself with his eternal salvation. Taken by grace, he withdrew from the festival ready to give himself entirely to God.
Forsaking his studies, he returned to the grotto of his childhood in 1517, with the aim of resuming his former life of recollection. For the next three years, he dedicated himself to contemplation. His mortification and penance were remarkable, as was his diligent reception of the Sacraments and many hours of adoration of the Eucharistic Jesus.
A Franciscan friend of the family, fearing that the great vocation he discerned in John would not be fulfilled in these circumstances, counselled him to study theology at the University of Alcalá de Henares, so that, “with his learning, he could better serve Our Lord in His Church.”2 Accepting the invitation, John first studied arts and logic, then sacred science. He ascended to the priesthood in 1526.
He came into a considerable inheritance from his parents, who had died before his priestly ordination. Gripped by the desire to be a missionary in the then little-known American continent, he sold all his goods, distributed the money among the poor, and offered to accompany the recently appointed Bishop of Tlaxcala, in Mexico, Most Rev. Julián Garcéz. Ready to plunge into this bold mission, John headed to the port of Seville from where the prelate would depart for the New World.
While he waited, he devoted himself to preaching in the city and surroundings. There, a former classmate, the Venerable Fernando de Contreras, encountered him. Amazed with the young cleric’s fervour and oratorical skills, he asked the Archbishop, Most Rev. Alonso Manrique, to have John of Avila remain in Spain in order to preach the Gospel in Iberian lands which stood in dire need of apostolic souls.
The ecclesiastic welcomed the suggestion and, in the name of holy obedience, ordered the young priest to remain. The latter promptly heeded the order, relinquishing his dream in recognition of God’s plans for him.
Attracting multitudes
The first sermon given by order of the Archbishop was in that same year, 1526, in the Church of San Salvador in Seville, on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, before religious and civil authorities. He ascended the pulpit trembling, but delivered one of his best sermons ever. The missionary work of John of Avila had begun, and he would prove himself to be a tireless labourer.
No one was indifferent to his preaching. His homilies lasted about two hours, and such was his ability to captivate the faithful that not a single soul showed a sign of fatigue or annoyance. Rich and poor, young and old, the righteous and sinners flocked to hear him. His exhortations were like an echo of the Imitation of Christ: “Attend to My words, which enkindle the heart and enlighten the mind, which excite contrition and abound in manifold consolations.”3
What was at the source of this power of attraction? One reason for the fruitfulness of his homilies stemmed from the fact that he prayerfully prepared them on his knees, before a crucifix.
The following is a typical testimony regarding this apostolate, by one of his main biographers: “When he preaches, the churches are filled, and he also gives his sermons in public squares. The people become quiet and composed at the mere sight of him. He lives modestly, does not accept offerings or alms for his sermons, and if someone insists on making a donation, he beseeches them to give it to the poor. He is humble, patient, and zealous for the good of his neighbour, organizing collections to help the needy and to support clerical students.”4
Educational institutions, disciples, and followers
St. John of Avila gathered a group of priests around himself, who, awed by his virtues and example, placed themselves under his influence, and together with him founded various clergy-run colleges. At the service of the Archdiocese, these colleges were destined for the education of youth, especially those preparing for the priesthood. After the Council of Trent, these became conciliar seminaries, the most famous among them being the Seminary of St. Catherine, that of los Abades and of St. Michael, in Granada.
In the Avilian colleges, “learning did not mean wearing out one’s eyes with studying, but toughening one’s knees with praying.”5 In a letter to one of his disciples, he recommended reading the writings of St. John, St. Paul, and Isaiah, and if necessary, having recourse to “some holy interpreter” of these works, especially St. Augustine. And he added: “Place yourself before a Crucifix and understand Him in everything, because He is all, and everything proclaims Him. Pray, meditate, study.”6
He counselled his disciples, “strengthen your spiritual life through frequent Confession and Holy Communion, and, if possible, never neglect to do two hours of mental prayer on the Passion and the Last Things, in the morning and evening.”7 In this way, their giving of themselves to others would be an overflow of their interior life. He recommended that they value prayer more than study, for in this way they would learn the true art of preaching and attain better fruits from the apostolate. He taught them that it was not enough to ascend to the pulpit with piety alone: they ought to hunger and thirst to conquer souls for Our Lord.
His influence transcended the realm of these colleges. The University and Royal College of Granada, for example, founded by Emperor Charles V, owed part of “their lustre, if not their very being, to the solicitude and guidance of the venerable master John of Avila.” The Metropolitan Archbishop Gaspar Ávalos de la Cueva, relied on his aid, and the sovereign charged him “to be the patron, write the statutes, and choose the professors”8 of these two educational institutions.
John of Avila further founded the University of Baeza in Jaén, which “for centuries, was an important reference point in the formation of clerics and laity.”9
Difficult trial
In 1531, some ecclesiastics, driven by envy, denounced him to the Tribunal of the Inquisition of Seville, using some of his affirmations that were susceptible to wrong interpretation. The ardent preacher was imprisoned and submitted to unremitting interrogations over the course of several months.
Even in prison, his apostolic zeal spurred him to activity. He wrote many letters to his spiritual sons and others who sought his advice and he rewrote the old Spanish translation of the Imitation of Christ.10
He confided to Friar Louis of Granada that, during this time of trial, Our Lord granted him intimate insight and knowledge on the mysteries of the Redemption and of God’s love for men, and he glimpsed the great reward reserved for the just after they joyfully endure difficulties in this life. Such an eminent grace convinced him that his prison was a blessing, “for in it he learned, in a few days, more than in all his years of study!”11 It was in the wake of this grace that he undertook the writing of his spiritual masterpiece, Audi, Filia: “a marvellous synthesis of the Christian life, conceived by Avila as a participation of soul in the great mystery of Christ.”12
In mid-1533, the Tribunal of the Inquisition absolved him, having verified the perfect orthodoxy of his teachings and the emptiness of the accusations brought against him. His departure from prison was marked by a solemn Mass in the Church of San Salvador. When he ascended the pulpit, trumpets sounded and the faithful acclaimed him in transports of enthusiasm.
Relationship with other saints
The conversions worked by the unction-filled sermons by this apostolic man were innumerable, including those of souls whom the Church would later register in the catalogue of Saints.
A famous episode took place in Granada on January 20, 1537, feast of St. Sebastian. John of Avila spoke on the happiness of suffering for Jesus Christ on this earth, in order to participate in His glory in Heaven. He drew such an attractive picture of the chaste delights of virtue and the disgrace that is the lot of sinners, that his words penetrated the heart of another John, who, overcome with compunction, converted and became the great St. John of God, founder of the Order of Brothers Hospitallers. He became a disciple of the master Avila, whose help he sought in all trials and difficulties, and who encouraged him in his vocation, from their very first meeting: “I tell you that the mercy of God will never forsake you.”13
Our holy preacher was held in high regard by St. Ignatius of Loyola, with whom he exchanged some letters. He maintained contact with other distinguished members of the Company of Jesus, and sent around 30 of his best disciples to this Order. He played an important role in the conversion of the Duke of Gandía, the future St. Francis Borgia. At the burial of the Empress Isabel, spouse of Charles V, in Granada, Borgia was struck with how ephemeral human beauty is. He sought the master Avila and, after hearing him, left the court, became a Jesuit and served as the third Superior General of the Company.
Noteworthy among others who benefitted from the zeal and learning of the Apostle of Andalusia is St. Thomas of Villanova and St. Peter of Alcantara. St. John de Ribera requested of him preachers to renew his diocese in Badajoz, and kept a manuscript with 82 of his sermons in his library. St. Teresa of Jesus—also a Doctor of the Church—had the master Avila for her spiritual director and maintained a continual correspondence with him, even sending him, after many difficulties, one of the first manuscripts of her Autobiography. St. John of the Cross managed, with the help of the disciples of our Saint, to reform the masculine Carmelite Monastery of Baeza.
Countless others took him as a model. In proclaiming him Doctor of the Church in 2012, Benedict XVI mentions Blessed Bartholomew of Braga, Friar Louis of Granada—his most famous biographer—and Venerable Fernando de Contreras, responsible for his remaining in Spain, among others who “acknowledged the moral and spiritual authority of the Master.”14
Plenitude of the vocation
Despite his weakened state due to the illness which ended in his death, the Archbishop of Granada wanted to bring him to the last two sessions of the Council of Trent to act as an advisor theologian. Unable to appear, he wrote his Memoriales, which greatly influenced the important ecclesial event. In them, he highlighted that the Church of his time needed two classes of priests: confessors and preachers. The latter, he specified, should be the right arm of the Bishops, “with which, ‘like a captain with his knights, they will strike terror into the demons.’”15
Sensing that his life was drawing to a close, he bequeathed the legacy of his disciples and colleges to the Company of Jesus, a desire that could not be effected due to unforeseen obstacles. Having overcome many other trials and hardships, he retired to the Andalusian city of Montilla, where he died a holy death, on May 10, 1569. His final words, pronounced repeatedly, were: “Jesus, Mary.”16
Undoubtedly, St. John of Avila fully realized his vocation. Preaching, for him, “was something consubstantial to his apostle’s temperament: his study was principally ordained to preaching; his prayer was the fire that tempered his spirit for the pulpit; and what were his own letters, but written sermons? It can be further affirmed that his school and his disciples were the vibrant and anointed echo of his voice, spreading throughout every ambit in Spain.”17
The authenticity of his words was marked by his pious and unblemished life, as befits every priest, who should be holy “so as to attract, convince, and enrapture.”18 It can truly be said that that this outstanding preacher attracted, convinced and enraptured! ◊
Notes
1 GRANADA, Louis of. Vida, apud SALA BALUST, Luis. Introducción biográfica. In: ST. JOHN OF AVILA. Obras Completas. Madrid: BAC, 1952, v.I, p.48.
2 Idem, p.54.
3 KEMPIS, OSA, Thomas. A Imitação de Cristo. L.III, c.43, n.1. 25.ed. São Paulo: Paulus, 2009, p.326.
4 SALA BALUST, op. cit., p.65-66.
5 SALA BALUST, Luis. San Juan de Ávila. In: ECHEVERRÍA, Lamberto de; LLORCA, SJ, Bernardino; REPETTO BETES, José Luis (Org.). Año Cristiano. Madrid: BAC, 2004, v.V, p.221.
6 ST. JOHN OF AVILA. Carta al P. Alonso de Vergara, apud SALA BALUST, Introducción biográfica, op. cit., p.144.
7 SALA BALUST, San Juan de Ávila, op. cit., p.220.
8 SANTIVÁÑEZ. Historia Prov. Andalucía S.I., apud SALA BALUST, Introducción biográfica, op. cit., p.105.
9 BENEDICT XVI. Apostolic Letter Proclaiming St. John of Avila, diocesan priest, Doctor of the Universal Church, n.2.
10 Cf. SALA BALUST, Introducción biográfica, op. cit., p.96, nota 11.
11 GRANADA, op. cit., p.81.
12 SALA BALUST, San Juan de Ávila, op. cit., p.219.
13 MAGNIN, Ignacio Maria. Vida popular de São João de Deus. Porto: Fonseca, 1925, p.51.
14 BENEDICT XVI, op. cit., n.3.
15 SALA BALUST, San Juan de Ávila, op. cit., p.220.
16 Idem, p.223.
17 SALA BALUST, Luis. Introducción a los sermones. In: SÃO JOÃO DE ÁVILA. Obras Completas. Madrid: BAC, 1953, v.II, p.3.
18 CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. A santidade sacerdotal [Priestly Sanctity]: Homily from Friday of the Third Week of Advent, Caieiras, Dec. 19, 2008.
