The Life Of St. Didacus

The Life of St. Didacus (upper south side windows)

St. Didacus was a Spanish Franciscan Friar, a lay brother, who lived from 1400 to 1463. The first panel shows him in his Franciscan habit leaving his native Spain crossing the sea as a missionary to the Canary Islands.

The following panels depict events that are connected with the story of St. Didacus’ life. On one occasion it is told he rescued a young boy who was playing in an oven when his mother, inadvertent to his being inside, lit it. On another occasion he cured someone’s sight by anointing his eyes with oil.

It is also a part of the stories concerning Didacus that he and a companion were lost in the wilderness and an angel ministered to them by providing them with bread and water.

Symbols of St. Didacus, as portrayed by a painting of him at Mission San Diego, are a log cross, flowers, and bread. They represent his love for the poor and his early career as a missionary.

In his later year, Didacus became the Guardian of the Franciscan Monastery at Alcala, Spain, hence his title, St. Didacus of Alcala – in Spanish San Diego de Alcalá.