Today is the memorial dayof [at least] 13 Saints and Blesseds, ranging from [the fairly well-known] St. Helena to [the incredibly obscure, but Irish] St. Daig Maccairaill. Among this happy throng is St. Alberto Hurtado.
Born in 1901, this Chilean Jesuit priest was a lawyer, social worker, trade union organizer, writer and founder of the Hogar de Cristo movement. He died of pancreatic cancer on this day in 1952 and was canonized by Pope Benedict in 2005.
Apart from all the remarkable things this saint achieved during his relatively short lifetime, I was surprized to learn that this dead Chilean has more than 27,000 Facebook fans. Way to go, Alberto!
[Hat tip to Denise for noticing his Facebook stats.]
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Eric 08.18.09 at 4:05 pm
Paul,
Your post made me think of those Christian church communities who find attention paid to the saints offensive. There is so much we can learn about prayer and Christian living from the saints, both canonized and not.
Eric
mary kujawa 10.13.09 at 10:56 am
people ordinary people always seek the holy ones so m,uch wiser often than those debating scholastics