Didacus of Alcalá
Franciscan lay brother, missionary and saint
Feast: 13 November (1962 Missal, III class) · not on the current Roman calendar
Who they were
Didacus (San Diego) was born of poor parents at San Nicolás del Puerto in Spain and formed by a local hermit. He joined the Franciscans as a lay brother, and in 1445, unusually for a lay brother, was made guardian of the community in the Canary Islands. In 1450 he went to Rome for the canonisation of St Bernardine, and served there as infirmarian at the Ara Coeli convent, where his biographers record many cures of those he nursed.
He spent his last years in penance and contemplation at Alcalá, where he died on 12 November 1463.
The miracles
The miracles examined for his canonisation are not described in the sources we have used.
Why that counted as sanctity
A humble lay brother was trusted with leadership and spent himself nursing the sick, with a holiness the whole Church came to recognise.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Didacus
- Wikidata Q451841 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Didacus of Alcalá (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.