October 23: St John of Capistrano

October 23 is the feast day of St John of Capistrano, famous for giving his name to two Spanish missions in the USA. So who was he? Here's the low-down.

1. He was known as the soldier saint because he led a crusade in 1456 – at the age of 70. He did not, however, survive the experience, although he died of bubonic plague rather than being killed in a battle.
2. He is the patron saint of military chaplains, jurists, Belgrade and Hungary.
3. His father was a German knight who had settled in Italy. His father died when John was young.
4. He studied law at the University of Perugia and became an ambassador. During a visit to end a war, he was thrown into prison where he started to think about the fate of his soul. He had a dream in which St Francis told him to join the Franciscan Order, which he did in 1416. His mentor was St Bernadine of Siena.
5. He became famous as a preacher and attracted so many listeners that churches were too small to hold them all so he would preach in the open air. In Brescia, Italy, he once attracted a crowd of 126,000 people. However, there was a dark side. His sermons, whether he intended them to be that way or not, promoted anti-Semitism and led to the persecution of Jews. Some of his sermons led to regions in Germany expelling their Jewish populations.
6. As well as preaching, he still worked as an ambassador from time to time, and wrote. He promoted reform in the Franciscan order towards a simpler and more ascetic life.
7. He gave his name to two Spanish missions in the Americas: Mission San Juan Capistrano in Orange County California, and Mission San Juan Capistrano in San Antonio, Texas.
8. The one in Texas is now part of a national park and has been extensively restored. In 2000, three priceless altar statues were stolen from it.
9. The one in California has appeared as a backdrop in several Western films, and there is a lot of folklore associated with it. It is said to be haunted by the ghosts of a young girl who died when the roof collapsed, a faceless monk and a headless soldier.
10. This mission is also closely associated with American cliff Swallows, migratory birds said to have taken refuge in the mission when innkeepers destroyed their nests. The birds nest in the eaves of the mission every year. The return of the swallows to Capistrano in March each year is a much anticipated event. According to folklore, the swallows leave on St John's feast day, October 23, every year. The mission was also home once to the largest California Pepper Tree in the US.