St. John Capistran (1385-1456), was a Franciscan preacher who promoted devotion to the Holy Name and is known as the "soldier saint" for his bravery at the Battle of Belgrade

A MAN OF SUCCESS IN THE WORLD
St. John was born in Capistrano in central Italy. His father died when he was young and his mother sent him to study in Perugia. He achieved great acclaim as a lawyer and was appointed governor of the city of Perugia by King Ladislaus of Naples. John rooted out much corruption and bribery. War broke out between Perugia and Malatesta and John was sent as an ambassador to negotiate peace. Yet the enemies of Perugia imprisoned him. It was then that he began to think about what he was doing with his life. In a dream, St. Francis appeared to him and commanded him to join his order. John realized that the only thing that really mattered was the salvation of his soul. Yet obedience to the Seraphic Saint was complicated by the matter that he had married a wealthy noblewoman of Perugia just before the war broke out. He was miraculously set free from prison, and given his unusual circumstances, including the fact that his marriage had never been consummated, the local bishop agreed to dispense John from the marriage contract. With every obstacle removed by Divine Providence, John entered the Franciscans monastery at thirty years of age (4 Oct 1416). He did much penance. For many years he ate no meat at all, except when he was sick. He slept only three or four house at night and his bed was a hard board.

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A GREAT FRANCISCAN PREACHER
At that time, the greatest Franciscan preacher was St. Bernadine of Siena, the Apostle of Italy. St. John became his student in theology (along with St. James of the Marches). He often accompanied the saint on his travels and account of his many gifts was allowed to preach while still a deacon (in those days, this was highly unusual). After his ordination, he was sent as an itinerant preacher and nearly rivaled his master in fame, zeal, and conversion. Commerce would cease in the towns he would visit and only the public squares were large enough to handle the crowds. In Brescia he once preached to 126,000! Unlike St. Bernardine, he had great success north of the Alps in the Germanic lands. His fame as a miracle healer had spread so wide and people had such confidence in him, that on one occasion over 2,000 sick were brought to him.
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DEFENSE OF THE HOLY NAME
Like St. Bernardine, he was a great promoter of the devotion to the Holy Name. Together they also spearheaded a great reform within the Franciscan Order. However they were opposed by many within the Church, both in and without their Order. Many of the Franciscans had grown accustomed to a life no longer marked by poverty. Many no longer remained faithful to the teaching and example of their founder or their rule. They could not stomach the reforms of these saints and venomously calumniated them, even to the point of denouncing them before the Chair of Peter. Saint Bernadine was accused of heresy by those envious of his work who were well connected with powerful men. The Pope believed the lies and had Bernardine imprisoned. More of the reforming Franciscans were accused of heresy, including St. John Capistran. Knowing his brilliant mind, powers of reasons, and eloquence in persuasion, his fellow Franciscans asked St. John to defend their case before the Supreme Pontiff. St. John did not disappoint. He convinced a commission of cardinals and won the admiration of the Holy Father, Pope Martin V (the pope who was elected to end the Great Western Schism). St. Bernardine was set free and made vicar general of his order.

St. John Capistran also helped reform the Poor Clares and served the Apostolic See for many years, including Eugene IV and Nicholas V. As papal legate he opposed the claims of an antipope in northern Italy and as apostolic nuncio to Austria to fought against the heresy of the Hussites. (Jan Hus was the forerunner of the Protestant Heresy and Martin Luther adopted many of his ideas. The Austrian King had him condemned for disturbing the civil peace and had been burned at the stake in 1415). St. John Capistran was also sent by the pope as his ambassador to France and to Poland.

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LEADING A CRUSADE
The greatest moment in the life of this Saint came at the tremendous Battle of Belgrade (1456). The Turks had made up their minds to conquer all of Europe and wipe out the Catholic Church of Jesus. In 1453, Mohammed II had conquered Constantinople. This was the last vestige of Imperial Christendom and was a feat which many had considered impossible for so many centuries. Pope Nicholas V had been unable to galvanize Christendom in an effort to save the Christian Byzantine Empire. Even worse, this defeat meant the reunion of East and West at the Council of Florence (1438-45) would not be realized and the East has remained in schism to this day. Now the Turks had amassed one of the largest armies ever seen and were prepared to overrun the rest of Christendom. Mohammad II had promised to march upon Rome and see the Pope and Christ destroyed. [/column][column size="1-3" last="1"][/column]
Pope Callistus III knew he could not fail in his defense of the Faith, of the Church, and of Christian civilization. He summoned St. John and sent him to rally the Christian Kings of Europe to beg them to unite to fight they mighty Turkish army. A great council was held in Frankfurt and the kings obeyed this poor, barefoot monk who stirred up their love of God and their courage with his fiery words. Many other missionaries were also sent by Pope Callistus as he called for this most urgent crusade in one of Christendom’s darkest hours. The Pope also asked all Christian men to pray for a Christian victory.

THE BATTLE OF BELGRADE
On 4 July 1456, the Turks lay siege to Belgrade. The invading army had some 160,000 armed men that had laid waste to the land behind them. John Hunyadi of the Kingdom of Hungary prepared the defense with some 25,000 men. Even though St. John Capistran brought a large army of Christians to aid him, it looked as though they would lose, for the enemy army was more numerous, stronger, and better equipped. Moreover the majority of the 70,000 “crusaders” were in truth peasants. St. John Capistran prayed fervently and had a vision that assured victory to the Christians in the Name of Jesus and the Cross - akin to Constantine’s famous ‘in hoc signo vinces’ vision (in this Sign [of the Cross] you shall conquer). St John Capistran offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and famously preached: “The Lord who made the beginning, will take care of the finish.”

After a week of battle and heavy bombardment upon the walls, the city appeared indefensible. Against Hunyadi’s orders, some of the peasant crusaders sallied forth beyond the walls of Belgrade to fight the trained Muslim army in hand-to-hand combat. St. John Capistran found himself in the midst of them. Despite being seventy years old, he ran to the front lines and encouraged the men to keep fighting and press harder. What a sight it must have been to behold this thin small man at the forefront of a raging battle, holding his crucifix high without fear, and crying out: “Victory, Jesus, victory!” How could the Christian soldiers not be filled with courage? They fought more bravely than ever before. Hunyadi began a fierce counteroffensive on the right flank and the Muslims were suddenly outmaneuvered. Historians record that the Muslims were “paralyzed by some inexplicable fear.” Many of them fled, 40,000 perished that day, Mohammed II was pierced by an arrow and fell unconscious, and hardly any of the crusaders died. By cover of night, on 22 July 1456, the Muslims retreated. The Battle of Belgrade had been won by Christ and Christian Europe was saved. This date is a national holiday in Hungary. (Sadly, Belgrade eventually fell to the Turks in 1521.)

In order to celebrate this victory, Pope Callistus III asked all Catholic churches to ring their bells at 12 noon. To this very day, this custom is still practiced in many parts of the world. While returning home, St. John feel victim to the bubonic plague, which flourished in the unsanitary conditions prevailing among armies in those days. Given his advanced age, and a body weakened by fasting and penance, St. John Capistran died on 23 Oct 1456 in Croatia. He is also known as the “Soldier Saint.” He is a patron saint of juristis, military chaplains and of Hungary.

FOR REFLECTION
Let us consider how just one person can do great things, if he is on God’s side. Let us make up our mind always to be on Our Lord’s side and stand up for what is right, even [especially] when it calls for a daunting battle.