| BLESSED JOHN DE BRITTO
|
| Martyr, born in Lisbon, 1 March,
1647, and was brought up in court, martyred in India 11 February, 1693. Entering
the Society of Jesus at fifteen, he obtained as his mission-field Madura in
Southern India. In September, 1673, he reached Goa. Before taking up his work he
spent thirty days in the Exercises of St. Ignatius at Ambalacate near Cranganore.
De Britto apparently entered the Kshatriyas, a noble caste. His dress was yellow
cotton; he abstained from every kind of animal food and from wine. Setting out
early in 1674, he traversed the Ghauts on foot and reached Colei in the Cauvery
Delta, where he perfected himself in the language. He journeyed northward at
least as far as Madras and Vellore, but Cauvery Delta, Tanjore, Madura, and
Marava, between Madura and the sea, were his chief field. In 1684 he was
imprisoned in Marava, and, though freed by the king, he was expelled from the
country. In 1688 he was sent to Europe as deputy to the triennial Congregation
of Procurators. Resisting urgent attempts to keep him in Portugal, and refusing
the Archbishopric of Cranganore, he returned in 1691 to the borders of Madura
and Marava. Having converted Teriadeven, a Maravese prince, he required him to
dismiss all his wives but one. Among them was a niece of the king, who took up
her quarrel and began a general persecution. De Britto and others were taken and
carried to the capital, Ramnad, the Brahmins clammering for his death. Thence he
was led to Oreiour, some thirty miles northward along the coast, where his head
was struck off, 11 Feb., 1693. He had wrought many conversions during his life,
established many stations, and was famous for his miracles before and after his
death. He was beatified by Pius IX, 21, August, 1853.
H. Woods From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913 by the Encyclopedia Press,
Inc. Electronic version copyright © 1996 by New Advent, Inc. |
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