John Baptist of the
Conception
(1561-1613)
This Spanish reformer of the Trinitarian Order was
born to Marcos García
and Isabel López Rico
on 10 July 1561 in Almadóvar del Campo (Ciudad Real). He early evidenced remarkable spirituality and love for
recollection. The story is
told of the visit of St. Teresa of Avila to John’s
boyhood home and of her greeting to him and her prophecy to his
mother that he would be a reformer. John
studied philosophy with the Discalced Carmelites in his hometown and
theology at the universities in Baeza and Toledo.
It was in Toledo that John García
entered the Trinitarian Order in 1580, making his lifetime religious
profession the year following his novitiate.
He was a man admired for his outstanding virtue, mortification and
prayerfulness. In time, after his ordination to the priesthood,
John was made official preacher first at La Guardia and then at
Seville. The 1594
Interprovincial Chapter of the Order in Spain passed a series of Statutes,
one of which provided for the establishment of houses for a renewed and
stricter observance of the Trinitarian way of life.
The Spanish Recollection was thus born.
John Baptist Rico, as he was then known, was made minister of the
newly founded house in Valdepeñas. His love for God and self-effacement enabled him to overcome
opposition, sometimes quite harsh, to the reform of the Trinitarian Order.
He thought of his work as the restoration of the “primitive”
observance more than a reform. Travelling
to Rome in the fall of 1597 and arriving there in mid-March of 1598, John
Baptist was successful in his attempt to receive papal support for his
reform efforts. On 20 August
1599, Clement VIII issued his letter of approbation for the Spanish
Discalced Trinitarians. Returning
to Spain and enjoying the support of King Philip III and others, John was
likewise successful in spreading this Trinitarian reform, both among
recruits from the professed membership of the Order in Spain and then
among new candidates to this movement.
He himself made many significant foundations and was elected the
first Minister Provincial of the Spanish Discalced Trinitarians.
In the 1630s, this reform movement was granted independence from
the ancient observance of the Order and the right to elect its own
Minister General. Then, in
the centuries which followed, the Spanish Discalced observance spread not
only in Europe but into Africa and the Americas.
John Baptist of the Conception was a gifted mystic and spiritual
writer. His work fills nine manuscript volumes which are conserved in
the archives of the Trinitarian house of San Carlino in Rome.
He died on 14 February 1613 in the Trinitarian house of Córdoba,
which he founded. His relics continue to be venerated there today.
Beatified by Pius VII in 1819, John Baptist of the Conception was
canonized by Paul VI on 25 May 1975.
His feast is celebrated on 14 February, the day of his death.
Interestingly, St. John Baptist of the Conception’s death
occurred during the year of the 400th anniversary of the death
of St. John de Matha, founder of the Trinitarian Order.