Abrir ListaHe was son of Dr. Jorge Cardim Fróis – inspector general, ombudsman and appeal court’s judge in different instances of the royal administration, and of his wife, Catarina Andrade. He was born in Torre de Moncorvo on June 1st, 1585, where his father was the local ombudsman, but he was thought to have been born in Viana do Alentejo because when their parents didn’t have a confirmed address it was common practice to consider their children to have been born in their parents’ place of birth.
João Cardim started his studies at the School of the Companhia de Jesus, from the age 8 to 10, when he moved to Lisbon. He continued studying Grammar, Humanities and Rhetorics. His itinerary in the Companhia de Jesus was marked by his spiritual life, fervor, the rigorous ascetic life, the practice of heroic virtues and by a significant missionary activity, having taken part in several missions in the interior, organized by the Companhia de Jesus.
He had a brother in the Order of Christ, Father Plácido Cardim, and two other brothers that also professed at the Companhia de Jesus: Diogo Cardim, who was a missionary in Índia, and António Francisco Cardim, who was a missionary in Índia and Japan. And five sisters that were also professed nuns: Sister Isabel de São Francisco who professed at the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana do Alentejo and Soror Francisca da Trindade who also professed at the same monastery a few minutes before she died; Lady Inês de Andrade, Lady Serafina de Andrade e Lady Leonor Froes, all nuns at the convent of Santa Clara in Portalegre. He had another sister, Lady Maria Cardim de Andrade, who married a nobleman, Diogo Marmeleiro de Noronha in Coimbra, his hometown.
João Cardim died of an illness, in Braga, on the 18th February 1615, at the age of 29, having acquired the fame of saint.
The story of his life was the basis for the process of his beatification or canonization over the years 1643 and 1645, due to some miracles in what concerns the cure of illnesses, witnessed by a few people. About his life there is a fundamental work, dated from the 17th century, by Sebastião de Abreu: Vida, e virtudes do admiravel Padre Joam Cardim da Companhia de Jesu Portuguez natural de Vianna de Alentejo (Life and virtues of the admirable Father Joam Cardim of the brotherhood Companhia de Jesus, born in Viana do Alentejo). This work, that can be included in the scope of its contemporary hagiographic works, he was praised for being considered an example of certain virtues: modesty, poverty, obedience, chastity, penance and disdain for the material world, accompanied by the fervor of prayer and his devotions, solidified by the theological virtues.
Father João Cardim wrote several spiritual letters to Father António de Vasconcelos, from the brotherhood of Companhia de Jesus; to António Cardim, his brother and also a member of the brotherhood of the Companhia de Jesus; to Sister Isabel de São Francisco, his sister and a nun at the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana; to Lady Serafina de Andrade, also his sister and a nun at the convent of Santa Clara in Portalegre; and to his mother, Lady Catarina de Andrade.
In the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana, father João Cardim’s vows, written in blood and inlaid in silver, were worshipped and thought to be the cause of many miracles.
REFERENCES:
Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo, Memórias Paroquiais, Dicionário Geográfico de Portugal, Tomo 39, nº 150, pp. 891 a 910.
FERNANDES, Maria de Lurdes Correia, “Entre a família e a religião: a “vida” de João Cardim (1585-1615)”, Lusitânia Sacra, 2º serie, nº 5, 1993, pp. 93-120.
MENDES, Paula Almeida, “«Leia estas cartas, que nelas verá debuxado seu ferveroso espírito». sobre algumas cartas espirituais e directivas de religiosos portugueses (séculos XVI e XVII)”, Via Spiritus, n.º 21, 2014, pp. 57-74.
MENDES, Paula Almeida, Biografia e Espiritualidade em Portugal na Época Moderna: as Vidas de João Cardim, S.J. (1585-1615), Porto, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, 2007, 2 tomos, (Dissertação de mestrado policopiada).
MENDES, Paula Almeida, Paradigmas de papel: a escrita e a edição de “vidas” de santos e de “vidas” devotas em Portugal (séculos XVI-XVIII), Porto, CITCEM-Centro de Investigação Transdisciplinar «Cultura, Espaço e Memória, 2017.
João Cardim started his studies at the School of the Companhia de Jesus, from the age 8 to 10, when he moved to Lisbon. He continued studying Grammar, Humanities and Rhetorics. His itinerary in the Companhia de Jesus was marked by his spiritual life, fervor, the rigorous ascetic life, the practice of heroic virtues and by a significant missionary activity, having taken part in several missions in the interior, organized by the Companhia de Jesus.
He had a brother in the Order of Christ, Father Plácido Cardim, and two other brothers that also professed at the Companhia de Jesus: Diogo Cardim, who was a missionary in Índia, and António Francisco Cardim, who was a missionary in Índia and Japan. And five sisters that were also professed nuns: Sister Isabel de São Francisco who professed at the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana do Alentejo and Soror Francisca da Trindade who also professed at the same monastery a few minutes before she died; Lady Inês de Andrade, Lady Serafina de Andrade e Lady Leonor Froes, all nuns at the convent of Santa Clara in Portalegre. He had another sister, Lady Maria Cardim de Andrade, who married a nobleman, Diogo Marmeleiro de Noronha in Coimbra, his hometown.
João Cardim died of an illness, in Braga, on the 18th February 1615, at the age of 29, having acquired the fame of saint.
The story of his life was the basis for the process of his beatification or canonization over the years 1643 and 1645, due to some miracles in what concerns the cure of illnesses, witnessed by a few people. About his life there is a fundamental work, dated from the 17th century, by Sebastião de Abreu: Vida, e virtudes do admiravel Padre Joam Cardim da Companhia de Jesu Portuguez natural de Vianna de Alentejo (Life and virtues of the admirable Father Joam Cardim of the brotherhood Companhia de Jesus, born in Viana do Alentejo). This work, that can be included in the scope of its contemporary hagiographic works, he was praised for being considered an example of certain virtues: modesty, poverty, obedience, chastity, penance and disdain for the material world, accompanied by the fervor of prayer and his devotions, solidified by the theological virtues.
Father João Cardim wrote several spiritual letters to Father António de Vasconcelos, from the brotherhood of Companhia de Jesus; to António Cardim, his brother and also a member of the brotherhood of the Companhia de Jesus; to Sister Isabel de São Francisco, his sister and a nun at the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana; to Lady Serafina de Andrade, also his sister and a nun at the convent of Santa Clara in Portalegre; and to his mother, Lady Catarina de Andrade.
In the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana, father João Cardim’s vows, written in blood and inlaid in silver, were worshipped and thought to be the cause of many miracles.
REFERENCES:
Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo, Memórias Paroquiais, Dicionário Geográfico de Portugal, Tomo 39, nº 150, pp. 891 a 910.
FERNANDES, Maria de Lurdes Correia, “Entre a família e a religião: a “vida” de João Cardim (1585-1615)”, Lusitânia Sacra, 2º serie, nº 5, 1993, pp. 93-120.
MENDES, Paula Almeida, “«Leia estas cartas, que nelas verá debuxado seu ferveroso espírito». sobre algumas cartas espirituais e directivas de religiosos portugueses (séculos XVI e XVII)”, Via Spiritus, n.º 21, 2014, pp. 57-74.
MENDES, Paula Almeida, Biografia e Espiritualidade em Portugal na Época Moderna: as Vidas de João Cardim, S.J. (1585-1615), Porto, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, 2007, 2 tomos, (Dissertação de mestrado policopiada).
MENDES, Paula Almeida, Paradigmas de papel: a escrita e a edição de “vidas” de santos e de “vidas” devotas em Portugal (séculos XVI-XVIII), Porto, CITCEM-Centro de Investigação Transdisciplinar «Cultura, Espaço e Memória, 2017.
MUNICÍPIO DE VIANA DO ALENTEJO