From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
September 10th - Bl Francisco G=C3=A1rate, SJ
(1857-1929)
Francis Garate was born in the outskirts of Azpeitia, Spain, near the
ancestral home of St Ignatius of Loyola. He was the second of seven
children, and his early life was spent in an atmosphere of faith and piety--daily Mass in the Loyola basilica. At 14, he left home to work
as a domestic helper at the newly opened Jesuit College of Nuestra
Senora de la Antigua in Orduna and 3 years later he entered the
Society as a brother. Later, two of his brothers followed his example
and also became Jesuit brothers.
Francis went to southern France where Spanish Jesuits maintained a
novitiate in exile, after having been expelled from Spain during the
1868 revolution. After two years of noviceship, he pronounced his vows
of poverty, chastity, and obedience on Feb 2, 1876.
In the following year, Br Francis was appointed infirmarian at the
college in La Guardia a city in the extreme west of Spain, near the
Atlantic Ocean and Portuguese border. He also served as infirmarian to
two smaller institutions associated to the college. He had a total of
about 200 young boys under his care. For ten years he cared for the
sick students with great kindness and generosity, remaining all night
at a sick student's bedside and then doing a full day's wor=
k the next
day. These qualities were specially appreciated by the students under
his care. After 10 years as infirmarian, the strain on his health
began to show and his superiors transferred him to the University of
Deusto of Bilbao, in northern Spain, to take up the doorkeeper's
position.
At Deusto, Bro Francis chose the poorest room since it was near the
porter's lodge. He was courteous to all visitors who called at the
University. To the students, he gave them encouragement and advice and
even helped them copy their class notes. He was their confidante and
counselor and even fed the hungry and clothed the poor. His forty-one
years in Deusto was marked by prayer, mortification, and holiness,
living a simple and austere life. Like his patron, St Alphonsus
Rodriquez, whose picture hung in his simple room, Bro Francis prayed
while he worked and worked while he prayed and was practically never
without a rosary in his hand.
Bro Francis' health began to fail when he was 72 years old. On Sept=
.. 8
1920, the feast of our Lady's nativity, he suffered his first sharp
abdominal pains. He only agreed to go to bed after he had finished
several chores. In the evening when he knew he was soon to die, he
asked for Viaticum ( Sacrament for the sick) but because his
discomfort was so severe, the infirmarian called for the doctor. After
the doctor operated on his urethra which was blocked, Bro Francis
found temporary relief but he was not to recover. Early at 7 am of
Sept.=C2 9, on the feast of St Peter Claver, Bro Francis yielded his
soul to God after receiving anointing.
At his death, countless students came to pay their respect to their
beloved friend. They made sure that their rosaries and crucifixes
touched his coffin. Fr Francis was beatified by Pope John Paul II on
Oct 6, 1985.
Saint Quote:
The most powerful weapon to conquer the Devil is humility. For as he
does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to
defend himself from it.
--St Vincent de Paul
Bible Quote:
Gladly will I glory in my infirmities, that the strength of Christ may
dwell in me.=C2 (II Cor 12:9)
<><><><>
Humility
BE NOT troubled about those who are with you or against you, but take
care that God be with you in everything you do. Keep your conscience
clear and God will protect you, for the malice of man cannot harm one
whom God wishes to help. If you know how to suffer in silence, you
will undoubtedly experience God's help. He knows when and how to
deliver you; therefore, place yourself in His hands, for it is a
divine prerogative to help men and free them from all distress.
It is often good for us to have others know our faults and rebuke
them, for it gives us greater humility. When a man humbles himself
because of his faults, he easily placates those about him and readily
appeases those who are angry with him.
It is the humble man whom God protects and liberates; it is the humble
whom He loves and consoles. To the humble He turns and upon them
bestows great grace, that after their humiliation He may raise them up
to glory. He reveals His secrets to the humble, and with kind
invitation bids them come to Him. Thus, the humble man enjoys peace in
the midst of many vexations, because his trust is in God, not in the
world. Hence, you must not think that you have made any progress until
you look upon yourself as inferior to all others.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)