HOLY ENGINEER FOR CHRIST

We have been dealing with saintly physicians in the past Blogs, now here is another profession, which I am sure needs a patron.

As a student, SERVANT of GOD MARIO HIRIART’s spirituality began to radically transform his life and nature. As an engineer and later as university professor, he felt called to live a radical Christian life and to unite work, faith, apostolic commitment, leisure, and prayer in an organic way. As promoter of a distinctive lay spirituality he decided to join the Institute of the Brothers of Mary. He wanted to commit all his time, energy, and talents to make God present and able to be experienced in the contemporary world marked by the rhythm and laws of industry, research, and technical enhancement.  

In his lessons, in his apostolate among youth, and in his personal reflections he worked on an deeper understanding of and convincing response to the challenges imposed on Christian lay persons in a growingly secularized world.

At the same time he grew into a deep personal relationship with Jesus to whom he offered his life as a living sacrifice.  At age 33, he accepted his terminal illness of cancer as a final possibility to give all for the Lord whom he desired to emulate.

Mario was born in Santiago, Chile in 1931 in an affectionate family with ethical principles, but not religious. His maternal grandmother, an invalid aunt and his "nanny" Teresa communicated taught him the faith and how to pray. He studied at the school of the Marist Brothers of Santiago, where he stood out as a good student. In the last years of the study he joined a youth group of Catholic Action, where he began to grow towards a more active Catholicism.

The year that he began his university studies at the School of Engineering of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, he formed with some friends the first group of young people of the Schoenstatt movement in the capital. He was able to meet the founder, Father Joseph Kentenich in those foundational years. Father Jose  taught him fidelity to the Lord and His Blessed Mother. 

(The Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt was founded in Germany in 1914 by Father Joseph Kentenich, who saw the movement as being a means of spiritual renewal in the Catholic Church.The movement is named Schoenstatt, which means "beautiful place", after a small village close to the town of Vallendar near Koblenz in Germany.)

His great love for Mary deepened his relationship with Christ in the Eucharist, and ignited his dedication to others.  He was a brilliant working for a top engineering firm, but decided to devote himself to the education of youth, so he could lead them to Christ.

Understanding with pain that the path of marriage was not for, he decided to follow the Lord's call to be a lay saint, to dedicate himself exclusively to serving Him, yet staying in the world, doing the ordinary extraordinarily.

He left his home, to do his novitiate at the Secular Institute of the Brothers of Mary. There he served young workers in a technical school and traveled, encouraging many young people and couples to make a radical choice to live their faith and to engage in the construction of a Christian order of society and in public service.

After his return to Chile, he began to do classes at the engineering school of the Catholic University. He created a book bank to facilitate his acquisition to the most needy students and  was an example, a teacher and a friend. Mario  is still remembered for his smile, his love of poetry, music and singing. He played guitar and had a special joy in the contemplation of nature.

The Holy Spirit led him to a fullness of the Christian life according to the ideal he had assumed: to be " like Mary, living Chalice, bearer of Christ ". He knew suffering and loneliness. His bad health martyred him with permanent ailments, until a hidden cancer ended up totally undermining his physique.

With Father Joseph

 On a trip to then USA to speak with Father Jose, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died the day after meeting Father Joseph. He died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 15, 1964 at the age of 33, accepting  his terminal illness of cancer as a final possibility to give all for the Lord whom he desired to emulate. 
His remains rest after the Schoenstatt Shrine in Bellavista, La Florida, Santiago de Chile. 

He will become the first lay saint of Chile, being an example to all lay people, that holiness in the secular world is not impossible!  Maria lived out  the aim of Schoenstatt  which seeks to grow as free, dedicated, and active witnesses of Christ in modern life by uniting the faith with  everyday life, seeing Mary guide.