GIOVANNI BATTISTA della CONCEZIONE, blessed. — Born in Almodovar del Campo (Spain) on 10 August 1561. In 1581 he entered the Order of the Most Holy Trinity. Having completed his study of theology (1585) at Alcalà de Henares and been ordained a priest, he devoted himself to preaching until 1596, when he was appointed superior of the convent of Valdepeñas. His efforts to establish a reform with the strictest observance were frustrated by the tenacious resistance he encountered. He therefore decided to go to Rome, where he arrived, after an adventurous journey, on 21 March 1598. The difficulties he encountered delayed until 20 August 1599 the papal bull approving the reform of the Discalced Trinitarians.
On 19 March 1600 the new religious entered the Convent of Valdepeñas, where, under the direction of the Blessed himself, the reform was initiated. At the reformer’s death, which occurred in Cordova on 13 February 1613, it comprised 17 religious convents and one convent of discalced nuns. The Blessed left several manuscript volumes, published in Rome in 1830 in a very defective edition. They deal with the history of his reform, but above all with mystical-ascetic questions (including extraordinary experiences that he himself underwent). He was beatified by Pius VII on 26 September 1819. Feast day: 14 February.