NEW SAINT OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

 

Among the Blesseds to be canonized this year is the martyr, PETER TO ROT, who is the first saint of Papua New Guinea. He served as catechist in his village and was entrusted with the local parish during World War II when Imperial Japanese forces occupied the region.

He stood up for religious values in the face of Japanese oppression and continued to hold secret services when the Japanese restricted him from active pastoral service. Bl.To Rot was an outspoken critic of  the Japanese. 

 Bl. Peter To Rot was born  in 1912 on the New Pomerania island in the then-German New Guinea. He was the third of six children of the well-respected village chief, Angelo Tu Puia,  and Maria Ia Tumul who had both converted to Catholicism in 1898.

 His father taught him the basics of catechism and sent him to the local mission school in 1919 despite the fact that education was not an obligation at the time. He was quite agile in climbing coconut trees and he was more than willing to do this to acquire coconuts for older villagers.

 In 1930 Father Laufer, the parish priest of Rakunai, asked Bl. Peter’s father if he would allow the young man to start his studies for the priesthood. His father said that the time was not right for that but it would be more than appropriate if his son studied to become a catechist. He began his studies at Saint Paul's College of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Taliligap after which he was commissioned as a catechist for the parish of Rakunai in 1933 when the local bishop gave him the catechist's cross. He then returned to his village where he would go on to aid Father Laufer. He was an excellent teacher and an organizer of classes for all. It was noted tha he had a Bible on his person at all times.

 In 1936 he married Paula Ia Varpit and the couple went on to have three children, one  who died as an infant and another dying soon after the war. His final child, a girl, Rufina La Mama, was born after Bl. To Rot's death and is still alive. 

Once the Japanese forces occupied the nation in March 1942 their soldiers interned all of the foreign missionaries though remained indifferent to religion on the whole. The parish priest left Bl. Peter in charge of his parish and he became its active leader. He cared for those who were ill and poor while also aiming to better educate converts.

Towards late 1943 the Japanese authorities restricted religious services and a few months later forbade them in full. But  Bl.for his own life despite the fear of those around him. The destruction of the church a short while later saw him build a "bush church" outside the village to hold secret services; he kept records of baptisms and weddings there.

 He was planting vegetables to give to the Japanese when he was arrested on Christmas 1944.

 According to accounts, his questioning by the official was a  farce as well as an expression of the crudest violence. He was sentenced to two  months' imprisonment. Later, referring to his imprisonment, Bl. Peter said: "I  am here because of those who broke their marriage vows and because of those who  do not want the growth of God's kingdom".

He was held in a  concentration camp which had been set up in a cave. Various accusations were leveled at him, including: religious gatherings, undue interference in the Japanese plan for polygamy, and persistence in his catechetical activities.

 On one occasion his wife and two children came to visit him and she begged him to give up being a catechist so he would remain safe. But Bl. Peter was adamant he would not relinquish his responsibilities to the people. On the date of his death he said to his mother: "the police told me that, this evening, a Japanese doctor will come to give me some medicine. Surprising since I'm not sick. I suspect this is a trick. He told his wife to bring his cross and good clothes so he could go to God dressed in proper attire.

He was given a lethal injection and then given something to drink. But the guards seeing that the poison was slow to act so made him lie down while the doctor covered his mouth. He was stricken with convulsions and was held down as he died while being struck on the back of his neck with a beam. Upon his death a policeman went to the chief of the village, Rakunai and said: "Your catechist is dead".

The incredulous chief demanded to know what the officers did to Bl.To Rot but the officer said: "He fell ill and died". His uncle Taura was sent to the prison to view the body and to take him for burial. His remains were found warm and still curled up with cotton stuffed in his ears and nose with blood and a red scarf wrapped around his neck. The back of his neck was swollen and bore wounds and a clear needle mark was present on his right arm. He was given a chief's funeral in the Catholic cemetery, but the funeral was held in silence because people feared the Japanese.

The government of Papua New Guinea is so thrilled to have this native being honored by the Church, that they issued a series of postage stamps depicting his life.  May his devotion to the Lord be an example to his people today.

MADRECITA OF THE ANDES- A NEW SAINT

One of the blesseds to soon be canonized by the Holy Father is one of my favorites. Her biography reads like Indiana Jones in the jungle and I reprint it from my original Blog November  2012.

BL. MARIA TRONCATTI was born at Corteno Golgi (Brescia) on 16 February 1883. She grew up in a large family happily working in the fields and caring for her younger brothers and sisters. She regularly attended catechism in her parish, where she developed a deep Christian spirit and found her calling to religious life.  In obedience to her father and parish priest, however, she waited until she reached adulthood before asking to be admitted to the Institute of the Salesian Sisters. She made her first profession in 1908.

During the First World War Bl. Maria took a course in health care and worked as a Red Cross nurse in the military hospital. This experience was to prove very valuable in the course of her long missionary life in the Amazon forests of Ecuador.

Susan Cohen Thompson

She left for Ecuador in 1922, her first assignment being in Chunchi, a small town on the Cordillera.

After three years she was sent to work among the Shuar people where, together with two other Sisters, she began the difficult work of evangelization. Madre Maria was in her mid 40s when she headed for the Amazon on horseback to begin her work among these peoples. They faced dangers of every kind: the wild beasts of the forest; the fast flowing rivers that had to be waded through or crossed on fragile "bridges" made from creepers, in canoe, or on the shoulders of the Indians.

The indomitable Shuar of the Amazon, reputed to be the only tribe in the Americas that has never been conquered, have lived as warriors, hunters, cultivators, and healers for generations. Even in today's acquisitive, often wasteful world they defend their rainforests and sustainable ways of life and offer their philosophy of love, joy, and hope. Their area is on the rivers between Ecuador and Peru.

Madre Maria

Bl. Maria's first encounter with these people was life-threatening and terrifying.When they reached Mendez, a tribal chief's young daughter lay mortally wounded by a bullet when she was caught in the crossfire of two warring tribes. The witch doctor had been unable to cure her, so the chief demanded that the missionaries do it or die. Madre Maria operated immediately and after three days the girl's fever left and she was saved. Soon after this the tribal drums beat across the jungle about this "doctor" greater than all their witch doctors. The passage way for the missionaries was secured among the people.

Madre Maria in the middle

To her people she was nurse, surgeon, orthopedist, dentist, anaesthetist. But, above all, she was catechist and evangelizer, rich in the wonderful resources of her faith, patience and fraternal love and she worked effectively for the emancipation of the Shuar women.

A young woman taught them the language, and soon a home for young women was started as well one for babies who were born illegitimate or with defects. Up to the time of the missionaries, by law such infants were killed.

"A glance at the Crucifix gives me the strength and the courage to work” she often used to say.

Bl. Maria lived in the jungle 43 years and died in a tragic air crash at Sucúa on August 25, 1969. Along with two other sisters (who survived) they were on their way to Quito for their annual retreat.

All the surrounding villages came to mourn their loss of this saintly nun who offered her life for reconciliation between the colonizers and the Indians. Her remains lie at Macas, in the Province of Morona (Ecuador).

Madre Maria with some of her children

Josefa Yolanda Solorzano Pisco, from Ecuador, married with five children, was struck down in 2002 by one of the most dangerous forms of malaria,  which in a short time led to an irreversible degenerative process and a diagnosis of only a few days or even a few hours to live.

The collective trusting invocation of  Bl. Maria Troncatti, through a novena of prayers proposed by the Salesian Fr. Edgar Ivan Segarra  had the effect of obtaining for the sick woman the beginning of an unexpected recovery and soon a complete cure.

Her beatification took place November 24, 2012 in  Macas.



PERSONAL NOTE: The year before my trip to Peru I "drew" her name as patron  saint for the year. Who was this woman?  I was fascinated by her and her work. The following year I was offered a trip to Peru by wonderful friends. It was in the north of Peru, away from tourist areas.  I prayed to Madrecita
to keep me safe, especially in my hunt for birds in the mountains.

Looking at Ecuador

Since we were on the border of  Ecuador I had hoped we could cross over, but it was not a good time politically for border crossings. My Irish guide and friend took me to Ayabaca (10,000 ft) for birding where we spent three wonderful, magical days.  Each day as we walked we were able to peer over into Ecuador, praying to this wonderful woman who gave so much to her people.

ANOTHER TOWN FOR THE NEW POPE

 

Not often mentioned,  our new Holy Father, Pope Leo has also left his mark on another smaller  Peruvian city called CHULUCANAS, in the northern province of Piura, about 30 miles east of the regional capital of Piura (where I was to live for several months), where the desert coast begins to rise up into the Andes. Pope Leo arrived at the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, in 1985, at the age of 30. 

Chulucanas is a town in Morropón Province, Piura Region, Peru.*  It lies in the Piura Valley just north of the confluence of the Charanal River with the Piura River. Chulucanas is the administrative seat for both Chulucanas District and Morropón Province. The town is famous for its pottery. (Our monastery Christmas card featured a Mother & Child with birds and llamas I brought back from here). Photo below: polishing my Madonna.)

Chulucanas is a city of 40,000 inhabitants, whose origins date back to Inca times. In 1532  the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro is said to have reorganized his troops in the area around Chulucanas before launching his attack against the Inca Empire.

 In 1985, the North American  Robert Francis Prevost arrived as a young jeans-wearing missionary from Chicago with broken Spanish, landing in Chulucanas, Peru at a time when the country was being torn apart by internal conflict.

Chuculanas was not directly affected by the war because it was located far from the Sendero Luminoso's main areas of operation. But everyone living in Peru at the time felt the consequences of the violence. This was especially true for the young priest. Essentially, he had the same "clientele" in mind as the founder and leader of  Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán : the outcasts, the disadvantaged, and the humiliated. The former incited the peasants to violence against the "white" upper class, while Father Prevost tried to help them lead lives of dignity and peace. 

Guillermo Cornejo, Bishop of Lima, said of him: "Whenever there were natural disasters, he took a pick and shovel and went to work alongside those affected. He rode his horse into the mountains and learned Quechua, the language of the indigenous population. He wanted to show: I am here, I can understand you."

 People remember Father Prevost traveling to the adobe mud-brick churches that dot the region, sometimes walking on foot, sometimes on horseback, carrying crucifixes and ceremonial wine, asking altar boys for help with words in Spanish. He would take them on trips to beaches, and hiring karate, swimming and basketball coaches to keep the area’s youth away from crime.

Fidel Alvarado, a priest in the Chulucanas diocese, was a 20-year-old student in the seminary when he met Father Prevost. He recalled a bomb destroying the church door, and threats made to the priests, with the future pope and the other North American priests being told to leave in 24 hours or they would be killed. But they stayed.

 "What convinced them to stay was the people, they had traveled around and felt the love of the people," he said.

*Chulucanas is in the Region of Piura but the Province of Morropon. (See previous Blog for political division of country.)  It is about 1 ½ hour drive by car from the city of Piura where I stayed. The short distance of 38 miles took long due to the poor roads. Roads in this Bog typical, but the main part of the town does have paved roads. One can also see the mud huts people live in.

WHO EVER HEARD OF CHICLAYO?

 

By now everyone knows as much about the new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, as they think they can, and one of the new pieces of the puzzle of his most active life, was his long stint in Peru.

  “Greetings … to all of you, and in particular, to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith,” he said in Spanish, standing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for his first speech as the leader of the Catholic Church.

 Those who have followed this Blog over the years know what this country means to mean, most importantly the people. 

In past Blogs (June 2013) I briefly mention CHICLAYO, where the future pope was Bishop. Not only do I know Chiclayo, but I have stayed there on two occasions, with the mother of our friend, Elaina in Piura.  I could do many blogs on the wonderful and sometimes funny things that happened when in that most friendly city and surrounding area from sea to mountains.

(Photo of Elaina's family.  She is in blue, her mother seated to her right and her brother and his wife and their two daughters)

Chiclayo, with more than 800,000 people, is the main commercial hub of Peru’s northern Pacific coast, with highways linking it to the Andes mountains and Amazon region. The city is located a little less than 9 miles from the Pacific Ocean and is the capital of the Department of Lambayeque*. Its surrounding lands are agriculturally productive, but despite its economic impact, Chiclayo faces social problems, with roughly 20% of its population living in poverty. (Photo below shows fishermen still using reed boats to catch fish).

After a year, the future Pope left to finish his doctoral degree and serve briefly in Illinois. But he soon returned to Peru, serving as a missionary in the northern city of Trujillo. He stayed there through the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s, amid civil war between the government and various militant groups – primarily the Maoist guerrillas of Sendero Luminoso, or “Shining Path,” who aimed to install a communist state, devastating the whole country.

 The violence hit other regions more severely, but Trujillo and the surrounding area were home to car bombs, sabotaged electrical grids and brutal military dragnet operations. Father Prevost accompanied Peruvians through some of the darkest days of the country’s history.

As the country transitioned away from the civil war period, which ultimately left nearly 70,000 dead, Father Prevost remained in Peru. During the 1990s, President Alberto Fujimori’s government built a polarizing legacy by undermining democracy and citizenship rights. The future pope lived in Chiclayo for nearly 10 years when he served as bishop from 2015 to 2023, after obtaining Peruvian citizenship.

 The new Pope thought so much of his time in Chiclayo, that he has made a young man from Chiclayo, Edgard Rimaycuna, his new secretary.

*Peru is divided into both geographic and political divisions. Geographically, it's split into three main regions: the Costa (coast), Sierra (highlands), and Selva (jungle). Politically, Peru is divided into 25 regions and one province (Lima). These regions are further subdivided into 196 provinces, which are then divided into 1,891districts. 

This can be confusing and maybe more info than you need or want: Piura is the northernmost department (with its capital the city of Piura) Lambayeque is the second-smallest department in Peru, but it is also its most densely populated department. It has three provinces and 38 districts.  Its capital is Chiclayo. 

In top photo  we are eating a meal of cuy, which is guinea pig. Before you turn your noses up, let me tell you it is better than chicken, a lot like rabbit, which I love. Whenever I ate it, it was fried, but it can also be broiled, roasted or even made into a fricassee. 

Guinea pigs originated in the Andes and are an important culinary staple in the peoples of Peru and Bolivia. Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million guinea pigs each year. The animal is so entrenched in the culture that one famous painting of the Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco shows Christ  and His disciples dining on cuy. 

One must remember that much of western Peru is desert (or mountainous) so there is not the land for large livestock, and in many cases the people are too poor to raise such stock. Cuy require much less room than traditional livestock and reproduce extremely quickly and they can be raised in an urban environment. Both rural and urban families raise guinea pigs for supplementary income, and the animals are commonly bought and sold at local markets and large-scale municipal fairs. Guinea pig meat is high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol. 

NEW STAMPS

 The Vatican has issued its first official postage stamps featuring Pope Leo XIV.  Issued May 27, the commemorative set includes four stamps depicting key moments from the new pontiff’s first public appearances in early May.  The images portray the Holy Father blessing the crowd after his election, smiling in the Pauline Chapel, and praying in quiet contemplation.

Two of the stamps show Pope Leo XIV during his inaugural blessing in St. Peter’s Square on May 8, when he was formally introduced to the world. The other two highlight the pope celebrating Mass in the Sistine Chapel on May 9, which marked the official beginning of his ministry.

 Each stamp includes the inscription “Leone PP. XIV” along with “Anno I S.P. MMXXV,” referencing the first year of his reign.

 A total of 390,000 stamps were printed, and are now available through the Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office. For years we collected Vatican stamps as we had “insiders” in the Vatican who could go to the office for us.

These stamps not only represent the spiritual life of the church, but are a means of historic record keeping.

 For collectors of Vatican issues, the Pope Leo XIV release is expected to become a sought-after modern classic

MODERN MYSTIC OF UKRAINE

 

As we continue to pray for the on-going war in Ukraine, I present a mystic born in that country, who Father E. mentioned in a class recently. Will she be the next St. Faustina?

STEFANIA FULLA HORAK was a Lviv native, born in Tarnopol in 1909. She studied philosophy, graduating from the Lviv Conservatory, and working as a music teacher. She had a very inquisitive and unusually sharp mind. In her youth, she abandoned the faith she had learned at home, but not God, whom she desired with all her being. "I don't believe in anything that people believe in. I don't understand how they believe. I think that if God exists, He is much greater than anything that can be said about Him.”

During the war, she was a liaison officer for the Home Army, a post she retained until the end of the German occupation in Lviv.

In great torment, she searched for the truth for many years, praying: "God! If you are there - give me light!".  She wanted to experience God, "let Him satisfy me". She wrote many times about the desire for God to come to her. One of Fulla Horak's most moving entries are the words: "God! How I hate you for not being here!"

The great desire to meet God made Fulla decide to give an ultimatum to the Mother of God herself. From her notes we learn what she asked Mary for in Częstochowa: "If people obtain graces related to health or material matters from the image, why shouldn't I try to gain light for my soul there? Although I was an unbeliever, I decided to exhaust all recommended means, so that I would have nothing to reproach myself with and to gain proof of my best will."

Neither the fanfare at the unveiling of the image, nor the praying crowd, nor the dark face above the altar made the slightest impression on me. The vota seemed to me to be a distasteful, advertising decoration, and the priest calling from the pulpit - insincere. (...) And then, coldly, objectively and clearly, I gave the Mother of God an ultimatum: if within three months - simply, without any miracles, without shocks, without extraordinary things - I obtain faith and an inner sense of God - I vow to serve Heaven until death."

 Fulla's nephew, Father Tomasz Horak, told us that his aunt had received the desired light. In August 935, Fulla attended a salon meeting. During the conversation, one of the women talked about a case she had managed to solve thanks to the intercession of the Mother of God. Fulla admitted at the time that she did not believe in Mary. The woman addressed Stefania with the words: "God! How unfortunate you are that you do not believe!" A few days after the meeting, which had a strong impact on Fulla, Stefania experienced a presence from the afterlife.

And the light came, although not immediately. In August 1935, Fulla experienced the presence of someone from the afterlife for the first time. At that time, she did not know who, but she soon found out – it was St. Magdalena Zofia Barat, who had died 70 years earlier (1865), the founder of the Sacré Coeur congregation.

Under the dictation of St. Magdalena, she wrote down subsequent notebooks in a mystical way. The words written then concerned Fulla herself. Then came the mystical revelations presented in this book – an extraordinary journal of mystical meetings with saints, containing their teachings. During one of the visions, St. Magdalena told Stephanie to write down her words. "Take a piece of paper and a pencil. Don't shine the light. Write. Calm down, come next to me. Sit closer."

" I sat down with the notebook on my lap and suddenly the pencil started moving on the paper by itself. I was just holding it. I don't know what she was writing because I didn't hear any dictation. Shine the light and read it" - we read in the notes. The note contained instructions for Stefania.  Over time, Fulla began to have mystical revelations. They were presented in a book entitled "The Holy Lady. Mystical Revelations and Visions". The publication contains the teachings of the saints who came to Fulla, their messages, as well as descriptions of the realities of heaven, purgatory, and hell experienced by Fulla.

 Other saints came to Fulla’s apartment on Kopernika Street in Lviv: Cardinal Mercier, John Bosco, Teresa of the Child Jesus, January and Sylwester, Andrzej Bobola, John Vianney, Catherine Emmerich, Pierre Giorgio Frassati, Joan of Arc, Stephen, and Nicholas. They came to her very realistically – Fulla could, for example, touch the rough habit of St. Magdalena Zofia.

The altar in her house became a tabernacle. Fulla smuggled the Holy Communion stored there to prisoners whom she helped, but was caught and arrested by the Soviets. She was sentenced to 10 years, serving the entire sentence in the hell of the Gulag, surviving the terrible test of the cross, when she underwent an operation to remove her stomach and duodenum without anesthesia.

Returning to Poland, she settled in Zakopane with her sister Zofia, offering advice, prayers and hope  to those who came to her.

After a life full of sacrifice, suffering, and service, Fulla Horak died in Zakopane on March 9, 1993.

  Father Tomasz Horak points out that there is no answer to the question of why the Church has not recognized Fulla Horak's writings so far.  There were attempts by the German publisher to obtain the bishop's permission to print and distribute the book, i.e. an imprimatur. This is not a confirmation of the authenticity of the revelations, but consent to print may be confused with such confirmation. Hence the excessive caution of church offices. 

Only 27 years have passed since Fulla's death in 1993. In the scheme of things, this is not a long time. In the case of people who experienced revelations, very often the Church has banned the distribution of the content transmitted in the revelations, such as  the case with St. Faustina's "Diary".  So far nothing in her visions has been found to b against Church doctrine.

Some of the visions taken from her journals:

"The sufferings of purgatory are long and more severe than the hardest life! The torment of a soul eternally damned exceeds our imagination in its monstrosity. There is nothing in our concepts to which it could be compared. And the eternal happiness that God has destined for the saved, the happiness that I know from those who are already experiencing it, surpasses everything, and at the same time is worth overcoming all the weakness of our corrupt nature to gain it! God has promised eternal happiness to all who love Him, and He will keep His Word!" - describes Fulla in the book "The Holy Lady".

 Heaven  "The bland, helpless human imagination, unable to find another word for it, says that eternal happiness is singing, proclaiming the glory of God and constantly looking into the Face of God.. it is not stillness and inaction! "Looking into the Face of God" is the inability to do anything otherwise than according to His will. Here everything that our imagination could create is realized. For all the most fantastic human thoughts are but a pale, distant reflection of God's ingenuity. In Heaven the soul will find all desires, but it will find them in a perfect form. It will find there even that which, unthought of, lay at its bottom as a longing".

 "Purgatory is more terrible than anything that can be said about it. Purgatory consists of countless and most diverse circles. The circle of Hunger, Fear, Horror, Affliction. Speaking of Purgatory, I will omit the torment of longing for God, because this longing is the fundamental state of the repentant soul. It might seem that as we enter higher and higher Circles of purification, as we approach the Eternal Light more and more, the torment of longing weakens in the face of the hope of imminent satisfaction. No! The proximity of this Light intensifies in the soul the intense, unique striving to unite with it - it pulls it towards itself with incomprehensible force, so that in the last Circle of Purgatory, where there are no other sufferings apart from waiting, the longing for God reaches its highest intensity.

Nothing weighs down the soul in purgatory as much as the resentment or hatred of those left on earth. In contrast to the mutual benefit of prayer for the dead, such hatred brings mutual harm."

The most merciful, most tender, most powerful Advocate of the souls suffering in Purgatory is the Most Holy Virgin Mary.

Every offering always has, but especially on All Souls' Day, a huge real value for the souls in Purgatory. You can offer any little thing for them. Even the effort of going to the cemetery, carrying a wreath, the crowding in the tram, getting cold, getting soaked - everything! You just have to offer it consciously. The intention gives importance and meaning to every effort."

 Hell  "Like Heaven and Purgatory, Hell is divided into the most diverse and innumerable Circles. The lower the Circle, the more terrible the torment in it. The damned soul knows about the full greatness, power and beauty of God, and is simultaneously aware that it will never see Him. It knows that its suffering is eternal and that nothing will soothe or alleviate this torment. It is burned by the unquenchable fire of desire and longing for happiness that will never be its share.

 A torment that no words can convey: conscious, aware, hopeless, hateful and eternal torment - this is the state from which no damned soul will ever emerge. And this is Hell!"

The mystic also drew attention to the importance of Guardian Angels in our lives. "When God creates a human soul, He simultaneously assigns it a Guardian Angel. This is a Spirit whose properties are closely adapted to the character of the soul entrusted to His care. The Guardian Angel's care for a person is limited to protecting them from what God has allowed to happen to them. In such cases, the Guardian Angel has the right to intervene with Divine Providence and can remove many things from a person through his intercession. However, this can only happen when the good will of a person listens to the inner promptings and warnings of his Guardian Angel."

Father Tomasz Horak points out that there is no answer to the question of why the Church has not recognized Fulla Horak's writings so far.  There were attempts by the German publisher to obtain the bishop's permission to print and distribute the book, i.e. an imprimatur. This is not a confirmation of the authenticity of the revelations, but consent to print may be confused with such confirmation. Hence the excessive caution of church offices. 

Only 27 years have passed since Fulla's death in 1993. In the scheme of things, this is not a long time. In the case of people who experienced revelations, very often the Church has banned the distribution of the content transmitted in the revelations, such as  the case with St. Faustina's "Diary".

GOD'S ARCHITECT

 

Earlier in the month (May 16)  we dealt with an American Benedictine architect, Father Michael McInerney, OSB.   Here is another builder, more well known, now up for canonizaton.  VENERABLE ANTONI GAUDI I CORNET, known to be a ground-breaking genius, is internationally recognized as one of the most prodigious experts in his discipline, as well as one of the top exponents of modernism. His building designs were a product of his intense Catholic faith, his dedication to Spanish culture, and his obsession with the structural logic of nature. He is known as "God's Architect".

He was born in 1852 in Reus, where his family spent their summers. He came from a family of boilermakers, a fact that allowed the young Antoni to acquire a special skill for working with space and volume as he helped his father and grandfather in the family workshop. His talent for designing spaces and transforming materials grew and prospered until it eventually metamorphosed into a veritable genius for three-dimensional creation.

 As a child, Antoni’s health was delicate, which meant that he was obliged to spend long periods of time resting at the summer house in Riudoms. There, he passed many an hour contemplating and storing up in his mind the secrets of nature, which he thought of as his supreme mistress and ultimate teacher of the highest knowledge, being the crowning achievement of the Creator.

In 1870 he moved to Barcelona to pursue his academic career in architecture, at the same time working at various jobs to enable him to pay for his studies. He was an inconsistent student, but he was already showing some evidence of brilliance that opened doors for him, allowing him to collaborate with some of his professors. When he completed his studies at the School of Architecture in 1878 the Director, Elies Rogent, declared: “I do not know if we have awarded this degree to a madman or to a genius; only time will tell.”  His  ideas were not a mere repetition of things that had already been done up to that time.

He began to receive more and more commissions and at the same time began a transformation of his old self. The man, who in his youth had frequented theatres, concerts and social gatherings, went from being a young dandy with gourmet tastes to neglecting his personal appearance, eating frugally and distancing himself from social life, while simultaneously devoting himself ever more fervently to God.

His masterpiece and best known is the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, also known as the Sagrada Família, which towers over the city of Barcelona. In 1883 was offered the task of designing and building the Church of the Holy Family, a project sponsored by a lay association and relying entirely on individual donations. He was, in some ways, a surprising choice. 

Though hailed as a creative genius whose work combined an eclectic range of styles, he was also something of a dandy. Yet he took on the project with almost single-minded dedication. The church became more and more ambitious. Incorporating inlaid ceramics, wrought iron, and original sculpture, it began to grow into an astonishing work of art—a reflection of the artist’s imagination but also, increasingly, a reflection of his growing faith.  

As his church began to take shape, Antoni grew closer to the One he called “the greatest master builder.” He adopted an ascetic life, dressing as a workman, fasting frequently, and attending daily Mass. While also designing many other buildings, Holy Family became his central work. In the last months of his life he slept on a cot in the church.

On June 7, 1926,on his way to Mass, he was struck by a streetcar. Mistaken for a beggar, he was taken to the charity ward of the local hospital, where he died on June 10.   His funeral was attended by many of the citizens of Barcelona who came to bid a final farewell to the most original architect that the city had ever raised up.

Though work on the Church of the Holy Family continues to this day, it has long been recognized as one of the world’s architectural treasures. In 1999 it was also named as a basilica. 

The church is an active basilica and was dedicated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, 128 years after construction first began. "In this masterpiece, Gaudí shows us that God is the true measure of man; that the secret of authentic originality consists, as he himself said, in returning to one’s origin which is God. Gaudí, by opening his spirit to God, was capable of creating in this city a space of beauty, faith and hope which leads man to an encounter with him who is truth and beauty itself. The architect expressed his sentiments in the following words: “A church [is] the only thing worthy of representing the soul of a people, for religion is the most elevated reality in man”."

Nora Heimann, a professor of art history at The Catholic University of America in Washington, said that Gaudí’s canonization would bring many architects and artists joy to see one of the most renowned architects included in the canon of saints.

“God is the best artist of all, and I think artists like Gaudí that look to nature to find that beauty and then try and capture that beauty themselves in a completely innovative way. Even if you’re not religious, you feel a kind of sense of transcendence.”

                               Funeral Procession of Servant of God Antoni Gaudi