Didacus

Didakus painting by Francisco de Zurbarán circa 1651

Didakus , Latin Didacus Complutensis also written Didatus or Didactus , Spanish San Diego de Alcalá or San Diego de San Nicolás del Puerto (born November 14, 1400 in San Nicolás del Puerto ( Kingdom of Seville ), † November 12, 1463 in Alcalá de Henares ) was a Spanish lay brother of the Minorites . He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

Didakus was born on November 14th, 1400 in San Nicolás del Puerto. His family lived in simple circumstances. He entered the Franciscan Minorite Order as a lay brother in the monastery of San Francisco de la Arruzafa in Córdoba and was sent to the monastery of Arrecife on Lanzarote in 1441 . After some time he moved to the Franciscan monastery of San Buenaventura, founded in 1414, in Betancuria on the island of Fuerteventura . There, although he was a lay brother, he was elected Guardian of the monastery. It is very likely that he preached to the natives there when he was in Gran Canaria. In 1450 he stayed in Rome. When an epidemic broke out there, he devoted himself to nursing. After returning to Spain, he lived in various monasteries. From 1456 he worked in the monastery of Santa María de Jesús in Alcalá de Henares as a gardener and porter. He died on November 12, 1463 and was buried in the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares. Its unworn body is the destination of many pilgrims every November 13th.

Diego de Alcalá was very revered after his death. Many important people made pilgrimages to his grave to pray for the health of loved ones. So did King Philip II who prayed there in 1562 for Prince Carlos to be healed . On July 10, 1588, at the suggestion of King Philip, the canonization of Diego by Pope Sixtus V took place.

Remarks

1. ↑ Complutum is the old Latin name of Alcalá de Henares

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Juan Álvarez Delgado: El "Rubicón" de Lanzarote . In: Anuario de estudios atlánticos . No. 3 , 1957, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 453-561 (Spanish, [1] [accessed September 16, 2017]).
2. ↑ Julio Sánchez Rodríguez: La Iglesia en las Islas Canarias . Gobierno de Canarias; Dirección General de Cultura, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2004, ISBN 84-7947-377-0 , p. 35 (Spanish, [2] [accessed September 3, 2017]).
3. ^ Andrés-Avelino Esteban Romero: Diego de Alcalá, Santo. es Catholic.net, accessed January 25, 2018 (Spanish). 

literature

Julio Sánchez Rodríguez: La Iglesia en las Islas Canarias . Gobierno de Canarias; Dirección General de Cultura, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2004, ISBN 84-7947-377-0 , p. 102 (Spanish, [3] [accessed September 3, 2017]). Sánchez Rodríguez 2004;