⛪ Saint of the Day : January 4
⛪ Other Names :
• Apostle of the Abandoned Tabernacles • Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle • Emmanuel González García
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| Saint Manuel González García, Pray for us ! |
• 25 February 1877 at Seville, Spain
⛪ Died :
• 4 January 1940 in Madrid, Spain of natural causes • Buried next to the tabernacle in the Capilla del Santísimo, Cathedral of Palencia, Spain
⛪ Beatified :
• 29 April 2001 by Pope John Paul II • The beatification miracle involved the healing of Sara Ruiz Ortega, then 18 years old, of tuberculosis peritonitis which had left her paralyzed
⛪ Canonized :
• 16 October 2016 by Pope Francis • The canonization involved the healing of a Galician woman who suffered from aggressive lymphoma
⛪ Patronage :
• Children of Reparation • Disciples of Saint John • Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth
Founder of the Congregation of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth, the Disciples of Saint John and the Children of Reparation, Seville born Monsignor Manuel González García was the fourth of five male siblings born to a carpenter and his wife. Choir member of the cathedral of his native city, Manuel entered seminary in Seville at the early age of twelve years and was ordained priest there by Blessed Marcelo Spinola y Maestre, then local ordinary, on September 21, 1901. The following year an event happened to impulse the young priest to oversee throughout his remaining years, that a special dedication to the Holy Eucharist is carried amongst as many as possible, such that he remains called to this day, the "Apostle of the Abandoned Tabernacles".
It happened that his ordinary sent him to preach a mission and arriving at the destined church, found it mucky and neglected. Kneeling before the tabernacle, he felt a call to promote Eucharistic love and devotion amidst his ministry, which soon started by his appointments as chaplain of the nursing home of the Sisters of the Poor in Seville and parish priest of San Pedro de Huelva. Overseeing special care to the underprivileged and advancing educational arrangements for the youngsters, he was particularly concerned with the working class, helping to provide food for those children whose parents worked as miners. Founding the Disciples of Saint John on March 4, 1910, with its aim being the spreading of devotion to both the Eucharist and Saint John, the congregation soon scattered across Spain and Europe, leading Pope Saint Pius X to personally interest himself in his labours and Eucharistic devotion. With the said Pontiff's successor, Benedict XV, appointing him auxiliary for the archdiocese of Málaga on December 6, 1915, Don Manuel received his episcopal consecration with the titular see of Olympus from Cardinal Enrique Almaraz y Santos on January 16 of the following year. Appointed bishop of Málaga on April 22, 1920, following the demise of Msgr. Juan Muñoz y Herrera, he was transferred to the diocese of Palencia on August 5, 1935, vacated the previous year following Msgr. Agustín Parrado y García's appointment to Granada. During his tenure he went on to initiate the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth and the Disciples of Saint John and the Children of Reparation.
Falling ill while visiting Zaragoza, he was transferred to Madrid for further observation. Passing away there at sixty two years of age, his remains were transferred to Palencia and there buried at the local cathedral "next to a tabernacle", as he specifically stated in his will, "so that my bones, after death, as my tongue and my pen in life, are saying to those who pass: there is Jesus!". With his cause for canonization introduced in 1952, the Bishop was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 29 2001 and canonized by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016. His liturgical memory is held on January 4.
