This
is something that I’ve had in mind for a long time now, and seeing that
tomorrow here in Spain we would be having the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar,
which is a big celebration here, I couldn’t find a more proper time to
“solemnly declare” and make known (to them I suppose, to others and to myself)
those whom I have chosen as my holy patrons being here in the midst of my
studies in Pamplona. The role and the figure of the saints with respect to us
is twofold, and is best expressed in the liturgy. In the Preface of Holy Men
and Women, as the Church directs itself to God, it states: “You are glorified in your saints, for their glory is the crowning of
Your gifts. In their lives you give us an example. In our communion with them,
you give us their friendship. In their prayer for the Church, you give us
strength and protection.”[1]
The lives of these people are proof of the power of God’s grace; their death is
the testimony of the power of the Risen Christ over death and the life promised
us by Christ. Entering into full communion with God, they continue to live, and
intercede for the Church on earth. As Christian models and powerful
intercessors their figure is relevant to us, despite of the distance that seem
to separate us from them, whether it be historical, cultural, or existential,
since the life that they live in communion with God is vastly different from
ours, at least for the moment. The devotion to the saints is coherent with the
faith in the Son of God who calls us to be His disciples, and to share in his
unique relationship with his Father in Heaven. This is coherent with the faith
in the Risen Christ, who has conquered the power of sin and death and continues
to be present in the Church through the Holy Spirit. The communion of saints,
which we profess in the liturgy, points out the relationship that we all enjoy
in the Church, one that transcends the limits of mortality and race and time.
The glory that they have is an incentive for all of us who ascribe to their
help: “This great company of witnesses
spurs us on to victory, to share their price of everlasting glory.”[2]
At
the start of this period of formation, both academic, intellectual, human and
spiritual, I have always looked to the saints, inspired by their example and
confident in their heavenly aid.
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| The image in Zaragoza |
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| the image that i have in my worktable in my room |
NUESTRA
SEÑORA DEL PILAR. As a seminarian in Pamplona the figure of Mary our Mother has
always been present, both in my joys and especially when things got difficult.
In the Church of San Nicolás in Pamplona where I was ordained a deacon, there is
a shrine dedicated to this Marian title. I used to go there in order to pray at
this shrine and implore her intercession. On the day of my diaconal ordination
I felt that it was a matter of justice and filial piety that I pass by her
shrine before going to the sacristy to get vested and ready for the ordination.
The story of the Virgin of the Pillar is unique in the sense that it talks
about the only time in the Virgin’s life that she bilocated. According to
Tradition, it was St. James the Great who evangelized the Iberian Peninsula,
and while he was going from place to place he was getting discouraged in his
mission for the lack of converts and because of the difficulties that he faced
along the way. The Virgin appeared to him in order to encourage him and
strengthen him with her motherly solicitude. As a sign of her visit and a token
of her maternal love for the apostle, she left him with a pillar of jasper,
which is the same one preserved in the Basilica built in her honor in Zaragoza.
Do I
not find myself in the same position as the Apostle? Away from my homeland, and
placed in the apostolate of study and formation in order to be in a better
condition to serve the Church, I have my daily share of disappointments and
trials that I have to face. I am deeply aware that one of the major enemies
that I have is discouragement, and so like the Apostle James, I look time and
again to Our Lady and ask for her intercession and grace, that as I continue
and finally conclude my studies, her love and intercession before her Son will
be for me a pledge of strength and consolation.
ST.
MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, defend us in the day of battle; be our safeguard against
the wickedness and the snares of the devil...thus we pray to one who is the
sign of God’s invincible power in the heavenly court. Invoking the patronage of
St. Michael the Archangel, “Who is like unto God?”, I pray that I may be kept
from evil in all its forms, be kept safe, and grow in the strength to do good
and be able to defend the Church as well.
ST.
AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, this great Father of the Church, who pursued the Truth and
thirsted for wisdom and found it in the person of Jesus Christ. He is a model
inasmuch as he shows that man was made to know and love God with all of his
powers; that man ought not to be afraid of the truth and to where it may lead
him, that man finds his true fulfillment in the embrace of God. He also teaches
us priests that part of our daily conversion unto Christ is the service that we
owe to the Church as shepherd who feed the sheep and protect them from wolves,
keeping them out of harms way through sure doctrine. May this holy pastor, the
model of how reason could be taught how to love and that love ought to be
taught how to think, intercede for me and obtain for me the grace to be as wise
and as loving as he is.
BLESSED
JOHN XXIII, companion and fascination of my years in the minor seminary, along
with Ven. Pope Pius XII and Paul VI. His sanctity and learning comes into my
mind, most especially considering that he himself was a historian, and was
interested in history. I especially implore him in my historical studies. But
he serves as a model also in the way that he happily lived his priesthood, with
fidelity and simplicity. May he help me to attain that gladness that comes from
a heart that is truly offered to God in the altar of the priesthood.
BLESSED
JOHN PAUL II. This list would not be complete without the invocation of this
man who has definitely played a big role in my vocation to the priesthood. For
us priests of the Twenty-first Century he has given us an example of a priestly
witness that is faithful and fecund, because it was the fruit of the total
offering of himself to God and to the Church. May he intercede for me as I
continue my priestly formation here in Spain.
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