Feast Dayof Blessed John the Discalsed Franciscan Friar

BLESSED JOHN the DISCALCEDFranciscan Friar(1280-1349)
Blessed John the Discalced was born near Quimper in France. In his youth he was a laborer; he made and erected crosses, built bridges and arches. Works useful for the glory of God or the welfare of his neighbor were the ones most agreeable to him. However, God was calling him higher, and by perseverance he succeeded in studying to receive the priesthood, despite the opposition and mockery of an artisan from whom he had learned his trade, one of his relatives.
From that moment on his life was very austere; he fasted three times a week on bread and water, visited the poor and the sick, and became the object of universal veneration. For thirteen years he served as a parish priest in his diocese, and never did he take a horse for his parish visits, but walked barefoot; hence his name, the Discalced or unshod. His very frugal life might have permitted him to set money aside, but the indigent received all that was not strictly necessary for him, and sometimes that as well .