'Do-good brothers' mark feast of St John of God

Huddling with his cold, hungry and weary companions in the corner of a porch in the Spanish City of Granada over 470 years ago, John Ciudad had no idea of the movement he was founding.

In 1539, he was a man in his 40’s who had been a shepherd, a soldier, a book seller and a wanderer . Impoverished and homeless, he was struggling to put his life back together again after having been interred as a psychiatric patient in the city hospital. This was the stark and simple, yet profoundly beautiful beginning of the work which today still bears John's name, the Saint John of God Hospitaller Services.

Today the order has bases in over 40 countries, which include hospitals, care-homes, clinics, soup kitchens and shelters. They are also known commonly as the Fatebenefratelli, meaning "Do-Good Brothers" in Italian

Prior General Brother Donatus Forkan, OH has designated March 2011 to March 2012, The Year of the Family of St. John of God. He says “It is a year to honour the wider family and contribution made by all those associated in bringing life to the orders mission of Hospitality”. Listen: