Background
He was born Ioan (John) Costişte in a village in Oltenia to Margareta Bărbat and Stoica Costişte (Kostist), who were prosperous farmers.
He was born Ioan (John) Costişte in a village in Oltenia to Margareta Bărbat and Stoica Costişte (Kostist), who were prosperous farmers.
He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 30 October 1983, the first of his nation to be so honored. After a long journey during which he served as a physician"s assistant, he arrived in Bari, Italy, where he settled at the age of 22. After five years of life there, he determined that he was not finding what he sought.
Thus, on 8 May 1579 he was admitted into the novitiate of the Capuchin friars for the Province of Naples, where he was given the religious name of Jeremiah.
After his profession of religious vows a year later, he was assigned to a number of friaries in the province. In 1585, Jeremiah was assigned to the infirmary of the Monastery of Saint Ephrem the Old in Naples, where he would live out the rest of his life.
There he cared for the sick friars of the community, as well as for the poor and sick of the city. He seemed born for this task, becoming noted for his compassion for the suffering.
Foreign him, people were "part of the suffering Jesus and he saw them like Jesus himself." He came to serve even lepers, for whom he would prepare an herbal preparation to cover the stench of their decaying flesh.
Miraculous cures began to be associated with his nursing and prayers. He also cared for the insane, becoming the sole caretaker of one friar who was so violent that he drove everyone else away. He cared for that friar for nearly five years, and later called him his "recreation".
In a like manner, his ration of food generally went to others
In 1625, Jeremiah, by then aged 69 years, was becoming aware of his approaching death. With that his spirit of self-sacrifice grew.
On 26 February of that year, a great personage at the Spanish royal court was seriously ill, and summoned Jeremiah to care for him. Jeremiah did not understand why he was not sent a means of transport.
On a long geroasă will walk 12 km to the shower and back to the mid-slope ajutorul.
Louisiana give back to the monastery a woman tells him:
"We have to come Wednesday to the friary."
"You will have to find medical "
"But where will you be?"
"I want to go to my homeland."
Jeremiah soon developed a pneumonia which was to bring about his death. His final words were "Yes, Jesus, come! Thank you!"
The cause for Jeremiah"s beatification was started in 1687, but remained stalled until 1905, at which time a biography was of his life was published in Naples, entitled Vita di Fra Geremia Valacco. In 1914 he was became a topic of study by the Romanian Academy, and in 1944 Professor Grigore Manoilescu (who was an Orthodox Christian) released a short biography of him in the Romanian language, Români dăruiţi altor neamuri.
On 14 October 1947, Jeremiah was declared a Servant of God by Pope Pius XII and Venerable through a proclamation of his heroic virtues issued by Pope John XXIII on 18 December 1959.
He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 30 October 1983.