Testo originale del articolo in inglese qui
This Sunday in Piazza San Pietro in Rome the Holy Father will canonize ten new saints, among whom the first Uruguayan, the Italian-Uruguayan suora Maria Francesca di Gesù, born Anna Maria Rubatto (1844-1904), who spent part of her life in South America, died in Montevideo, and was the founder of the Terziarie Cappuccine di Loano.
Numerous faithful from different countries will participate in the ceremony, in which will be canonized also the French diocesan priest Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), "povero entre i poveri", the Dutch Carmelite religious Tito Brandsma, murdered in the Nazi death camp Dachau in 1942, and Lazaro, an Indian martyr of the twelfth century, killed in hatred of the faith.
As reported by Omnes, a group of journalists has asked Pope Francis to nominate the Carmelite saint, St. Francis of Sales, as patron saint of journalists. For them Brandsma has incarnated the values of the journalism of peace as a service to all people.
Among the new saints we also find other Marys. Maria Rivier, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary; Maria de Jesus (born Carolina Santocanale), foundress of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of Lourdes; and Maria Domenica Mantovani, cofoundress and first general superior of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.
Drawing up a list of the three Blessed who are added to the previous seven scheduled for canonization, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, said that "the saints are our brothers and sisters who have accepted the light of God in their hearts and have transmitted it to the world, each one in his own way". Riguardo a Tito Brandsma, ad esempio, il cardinale Semeraro ha sottolineato che è morto da martire nel campo di concentramento di Dachau, "dopo aver studiato a fondo l'ideologia nazista, intravisto i suoi pericoli e criticato il suo approccio antiumano".
The fourth centenary of a great canonization
On March 12, 1622, 400 years ago, Pope Gregory XV solemnly canonized five saints who in time would have been recognized as great figures in the history of the Church: St. Philip Neri, St. Teresa of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Saverio and St. Isidore Labrador.
"Si diffuse tra gli italiani la notizia, forse mossa da una certa invidia, che quel giorno il papa aveva canonizzato quattro spagnoli e un santo. What is certain is that, of the five new saints, four were relatively contemporary, while the cult paid to Saint Isidore had been going on for centuries", writes in Omnes Alberto Fernandez Sanchez, episcopal delegate for the Cause of the Saints of the archdiocese of Madrid.
In fact, "this year 2022 marks the fourth centenary of this great event for the Church and also of the popular devotion paid to St. Isidore Labrador on the occasion of the 850th anniversary of his death, which according to the sources took place in 1172", adds the episcopal delegate.
To celebrate this anniversary, the Holy See has granted the Archdiocese of Madrid a Jubilee Year of St. Isidore, which will last from today, May 15, until the same day next year.
"In a society so lacking in models of family life, Saint Isidore, together with his mother, Saint Mary of the Head, and his son, Illan, are for us a concrete example of a family that lives in mutual love.
Alberto Fernandez has written that "In a society so lacking in encouragement and encouragement for workers, the holy account is proposed to us as a model of work that trusts in the providence of God the Father".
Points of reference of the San Isidro Way
The journey of the jubilee is a way to get to know San Isidro better by visiting the places where he visits, together with his mother Santa María de la Cabeza and his son Illán, and reflecting on its significant aspects. It is also the occasion to obtain the grace of the Giubilee.
During the Holy Year, the archdiocese of Madrid will host numerous religious and cultural celebrations. Those who come to visit the tomb of the Saint, in the Royal Collegiate Church of San Isidro, can obtain the plenary indulgence, i.e. the remission before God of the temporary penalty for the espionage of sins.
To obtain it, as provided by the archdiocese of Madrid through various means of communication, visitors must have the right interior disposition, recite the Creed, pray according to the Pope's intentions, receive the sacrament of Penance (about 15-20 days before or 15-20 days after), and communion in a Eucharistic celebration close to the date of the visit.
The giubilee route of San Isidro is made up of six stages: 1) Cappella della Natività; 2) parrocchia di San Andrés, dove San Isidro fu battezzato e visse la sua fede; 3) Museo di San Isidro, che fu a suo tempo la casa di Iván de Vargas, per il quale lavorò il santo; 4) Collegiate Church of San Isidro, which became the provincial cathedral when the diocese of Madrid-Alcalá was created in 1885, a category that was later lost in 1992 when the cathedral of Almudena was consecrated; 5) Cathedral of San Isidro, located in the meadow; and 6) Cathedral of Santa María la Antigua, where tradition places two of the miracles attributed to San Isidro.
The beatifications are an example of synodality
"La santità nella vita della Chiesa è palpabile nei sentimenti del popolo fedele di Dio. Alberto Fernandez writes: "I processi di beatificazione e canonizzazione sono forse uno degli eventi ecclesiali in cui entra maggiormente in gioco il 'sensus fidelium', la sinodalità di cui tanto si parla oggi, because in these events the Church hears the voice of the fedele people who, spontaneously and inwardly, in the Spirit, ask for the sole recognition of what the faithful already know with certainty: that this person has lived and died as a saint, competing with the will of God, and that he can be considered a model and an intercessor before the Father".
The episcopal delegate of Madrid adds that in the case of St. Isidore, only one century after his death, "the codex of John Deaconus collected all this fame of sanctity of the saint from Madrid, his abandonment to the will of God, his love for the poor and the needy, his faithful prayer, his work seen under the watchful eye of the Father".
Thus "what the Christians of Madrid transmitted was written in this code, and centuries later, as we have said, on March 12, 1622, was recognized by the papal magisterium. His cult spread rapidly throughout the Church, and it is not rare to find chapels and shrines in churches and countries of the world dedicated to this saint, nominated patron of Spanish accountants also by Pope John XXIII in 1960".
"San Isidro non era un superuomo".
In Madrid is kept and venerated the relic of the sacred uncorrupted body of Saint Isidro Labrador, which has been preserved uninterruptedly since his death and which, beyond the miracles of which he was the protagonist, is a further example of the devotion that the people of Madrid, with the realities and authorities in mind, have paid tribute to this great saint", says Alberto Fernandez.
Monsignor Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, Bishop of Madrid attending the closing ceremony of a congress organized by the Angel Herrera Oria Cultural Foundation on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the canonizations of March 12, 1622, affirmed that "if we do not know the saints we cannot know the will of God".
In a letter that you can consult here the archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Carlos Osoro, wrote: "In this our patron we can clearly see what sometimes we do not see. We believed on many occasions that the saints were superiors, that they were perfect beings. But we are aware of their truth: they are men like us. The only difference is that they have known how to accept God's love and have dedicated their lives to giving that love to others".
