John Berchmans was born on 13 March 1599, in the city of Diest situated in what is now the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, the son of a shoemaker.

He grew up in an atmosphere of political turmoil caused by a religious war between the Catholic and Protestant parts of the Low Countries.

[2] Later, in August 1621, the prefect of studies selected Berchmans to participate in a discussion of philosophy at the Greek College, which at the time was administered by the Dominicans.

That same year, Phillip-Charles, Duke of Aarschot, sent a petition to Pope Gregory XV with a view to beginning the process leading to Berchman's beatification.

[3] At the time of Berchmans's death, his heart was returned to his homeland in Belgium where it is kept in a silver reliquary on a side altar in the church at Leuven (Louvain).

"Being unable to speak, I said in my heart: 'Lord, Thou Who seest how I suffer, if it be for your honor and glory and the salvation of my soul, I ask through the intercession of Blessed Berchmans a little relief and health.

[7] The feast day of John Berchmans has never been inscribed in the General Roman Calendar, but prior to the liturgical reforms of Pope John XXIII there was a Mass set for him among the section of Masses for Various Places (Missae pro aliquibus locis) of the Roman Missal which foresaw that it would be celebrated in different places on either 13 August or 26 November.

The Belgium Post Authority issued a philatelic stamp in 1965 featuring John Berchmans pictured alongside his parental home in Diest.

The community founded a school in a one-room structure that also served as a chapel when the priest from Sacred Heart Parish visited.

They named the parish in honor of the saint because of the miracle experienced by Mary Wilson in nearby Grand Coteau, Louisiana.

[10] One of the famous catholic instituitions in the name of the saint is SB College Changanassery, Kerala in India founded by Venerable Mar Thomas Kurialacherry in 1922 on the cornerstone laid by the French Jesuit priest, Mar Charles Lavigne who had the wish to provide higher education for the commoners in Travancore region of Kerala.

Mar Charles Lavigne, with the help of clergies and Holy See of Catholic Church, started reforming the primary education by building one of its first English High School, in the early 1890s in Kerala, dedicating it to the saint of students, youths and altar boys, St. John Berchmans, SB English High School Changanasserry, Kerala in India.