Collection: St. Didacus of Alcalá

Artist: Francisco de Zurbarán – c. 1658

The California city of San Diego is named after San Diego de Alcalá (also known as Didacus of Alcalá), a lay brother of the Order of Friars Minor who was born around 1400 into an impoverished family in a town near Seville, Spain.

At a very young age, Diego went to live with a nearby hermit and practiced living in austerity. After several years as a recluse, he returned to his parents but soon applied for admission to the Franciscan Order at the convent of Arizafa and was received as a lay brother. In 1445 he became guardian of a Franciscan community on the Canary Island of Fortaventura. In 1449 he was recalled to Spain. From there he traveled to Rome to attend the canonization of San Bernadino of Siena in 1450. While in Rome he took charge of the infirmary in the Ara Coeli convent, and according to his biographers, miraculously cured many of the patients he attended.