Saint of the Day – 13 July – Blessed Mariano de Jesus Euse Hoyos (1845-1926) Priest

Saint of the Day – 13 July – Blessed Mariano de Jesus Euse Hoyos (1845-1926) Priest, Defender of the Poor, children, the sick and the rural communities – born on 14 October 1845 at Yarumal, Diocese of Antioquía, Colombia and died on 13 July 1926 at Angostura, Antioquia, Colombia of natural causes.    Fr Mariano had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin’s Most Holy Rosary.  Patronages – against cancer, of Rural labourers.  Blessed Mariano was the first Colombian to be Beatified.

Mariano de Jesús Euse Hoyos was born on 14 October 1845 as the eldest of seven children to Pedro Euse and Rosalía de Hoyos Echeverri during an uncertain period of anti-religious sentiment.   He was Baptised on 15 October and received the Sacrament of Confirmation in 1847.   His great-grandfather Pedro Euse hailed from France.

In 1860 he entered the College of Saint Joseph of Marinilla where he studied mathematics and passed all his studies with excellent results.From the age of sixteen in 1861, he harboured the desire of becoming a Priest and was then entrusted to the care of his Priest uncle Firmino Hoyos – the Parish Priest of Girardota – and received from him a cultural and spiritual formation.   He commenced his studies for the Priesthood on 3 February 1869 at a new Seminary opened in Mendellin and was Ordained on 14 July 1872.   He began his clerical career as a curate to his uncle until his uncle died in January 1875 when he was transferred to Yarumal in 1876.

In 1878 he was assigned as a Parish Priest in Angostura and spent the remainder of his life there.   It was there that he became well aware of the parish difficulties such as the construction of an appropriate parish church.   He became well noted for being a simple and effective preacher and tended to the social and spiritual needs of the poor of the region with a particular emphasis on rural labourers;   he often called the poor “Christ’s nobles.”   His particular Parish was in an area that civil war often plagued – in which neither side favoured the faith – so he had to several times hide in caves in the area to escape the fighting. The Priest also encouraged popular devotions such as the Sacred Heart and encouraged recitation of the Holy Rosary amongst families.

He became bedridden in mid-June 1926 with a serious infection and later died in the first few hours of 13 July 1926.   He had been stricken – on 12 July – with enteritis.   He said on his deathbed:  “I have already lived long enough.   Now my greatest desire is to be united to my Jesus.

Pope John Paul II granted his final approval to the cure of Fr Rafael Gildardo Velez Saldarriaga (born 1912) from Medellin, as being a credible miracle on 26 March 1999 and Beatified Father Mariano on 9 April 2000.

Father Mariano knew how to integrate himself totally in the life of the people, sharing in the sorrows and joys of all.   For all of them he was a diligent Father, teacher and trustworthy counsellor and a faithful witness of Christ’s love among them.  The poor, whom he called ‘Christ’s nobles,’ were his favourites.   He never hesitated to use his own goods to alleviate the penury and indigence of the weakest.   He frequently visited the sick and was available at all times of the day and night to help them.   He took care of children and youth with infinite gentleness and simplicity to lead them on the road of good habits and prudence. – Vatican Information Office