Each year, on 21 November, the Sisters Hospitallers worldwide come together to honour a deeply significant moment in our history: the canonisation of Saint Benedict Menni. This is a time of gratitude, reflection, and renewed commitment to his mission of compassionate care.
Born Angelo Ercole Menni in Milan in 1841, Benedict Menni joined the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God as a young man, moved by a profound desire to serve the suffering. With great courage, he accepted the challenge of rebuilding the Order in Spain — at a time when religious communities faced political hostility — establishing hospitals and care centres for people suffering from mental illness, disability, and social marginalisation.
In 1881, together with María Josefa Recio and María Angustias Giménez, he founded the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a community committed to caring for the most vulnerable with dignity, respect, and love.
Canonised on 21 November 1999 by Pope John Paul II, Saint Benedict Menni is remembered as a prophet of hospitality whose legacy of mercy lives on in our work.
Menni believed deeply in the transforming power of love. As he once wrote in a letter:
“Outside this love (Jesus), the earth is a place of exile, a wasteland, a prison; but this love transforms pain and sorrow … into the highest good.”
This humble yet powerful insight reveals his spiritual vision: that true healing comes not only from care, but from the presence of love.
On this day of commemoration, we reaffirm our dedication to the very values Saint Benedict Menni embodied: hospitality, compassion, human dignity, and wholehearted service. With every person we support, whether in mental health, disability care, or community living, we continue his mission of offering not just professional care, but a welcoming heart and a hopeful presence.