Saint John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church

John of Avila was born about 1500 at Almodóvar del Campo in Castile into a wealthy family of Jewish descent. After studying at Salamanca and Alcalá and being ordained, he gave away his inheritance and hoped to go as a missionary to Mexico, but the archbishop of Seville kept him to preach in Andalusia, where he worked for the rest of his life.

In 1531 he was denounced to the Inquisition and spent about a year in prison before being cleared; there he began his best-known book, Audi, filia. He founded schools and colleges, among them the university of Baeza, and advised Teresa of Ávila, John of God and Francis Borgia. He died at Montilla on 10 May 1569. He was canonized in 1970 and named a Doctor of the Church in 2012.