5,000 Venezuelans in Rome for the canonization: José Gregorio and Mother Carmen are instruments of unity

This Sunday, October 19, Leo

Thousands of compatriots woke up early to follow the celebration live from the Plaza de la Candelaria in Caracas. They also arrived at Saint Peter’s Square in Rome from the early hours of the morning. It is expected that there will be about 5,000. Among them was a group of 17 pilgrims, led by Susanna de Cartier and her husband Gregory Cartier.

The pilgrimage is a way to express gratitude and hope in the midst of the difficulties that your country is going through. “We want to celebrate this event that brings so much happiness to all Venezuelans. José Gregorio was a man of charity, who cared for so many sick people and helped those in need. We identify with him, with his great humanity, his mercy and his love for God and the Virgin Mary,” explains Susana in conversation with ACI Prensa.

Venezuelans call only by his name this saint known as the “doctor of the poor,” who treated the sick for free and even paid for the medicines himself. He is such a beloved figure that Pope Francis waived the requirement of a miracle to be canonized.

The first Venezuelan saint, Mother Carmen Rendiles, is also very beloved. She wanted to be a nun, but since she was born without her left arm, several congregations rejected her.

Finally, she was admitted to a small French congregation, the Servants of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, where she spread the cult of the Eucharist, helped priests and opened schools for needy girls. After the Second Vatican Council, she decided to found a new congregation, the Servants of Jesus of Venezuela, and continued opening convents and schools.

“Without love and charity we are nothing”

The life of mother Carmen Rendiles and José Gregorio Hernández, says Susana, is “also a call to raise awareness in our children, to accompany them in this beautiful education, to give them that medicine that is faith for the soul and to teach them that without love and charity we are nothing.”

For his part, Gregory Cartier, her husband, highlights the deep spiritual significance of the moment that Venezuela is experiencing before the canonization. “I believe that this event that we Venezuelans have been waiting for for 76 years, God knows first, and He knows what the needs of our beloved country are. With the canonization of these saints, faith is going to soar in the hearts of Venezuelans, because we need to change the heart,” he says.

Gregory expresses his hope that this event will spur a spiritual revival not only within the country, but also among Venezuelans living abroad.

“We hope that this faith takes root in every heart of the Venezuelan, both in our homeland and abroad. We know that the Lord is going to pour out many graces, not only in Venezuela, but in the entire world,” he said.

“We have to strengthen unity and not be like the Pharisees”

The couple agrees that canonization should also be an occasion for national unity and reconciliation. “We have to strengthen unity and not be like the hypocritical Pharisees who say one thing and do not imitate the virtues of the saints. This must be a bond of love and forgiveness, because forgiveness is necessary. José Gregorio and mother Carmen were and are instruments of unity: the Holy Spirit unites us, because he is God,” Gregory maintains.

Susana and Gregory Cartier are known in their country for their evangelizing work through television. For three years they have hosted the program “God heals today” on the TV Familia channel, which is broadcast from Monday to Saturday after the Chaplet of Mercy. In this ten-minute space they preach the Word of God, pray for people and give a message of hope and spiritual healing.

There is also a space dedicated to music and songs composed by Susana in order to encourage spectators and “fill them with the Holy Spirit,” as the couple explained.

Susana and Gregory have been organizing pilgrimages and promoting the Catholic faith for more than two decades. They guided this group of 17 pilgrims to Rome, among whom there are also several older ladies: “there is one who is 90 years old, another 78, another 85. The youngest is 40 or 45. We are very grateful, first to God, because this pilgrimage was made with a lot of effort—economic and spiritual—and with a lot of prayer,” Susana explained.

Fatima, Medjugorje and Rome

The group began its itinerary in Fátima, where they participated in the solemnity of October 13, anniversary of the miracle of the sun. “There we had a beautiful experience; a miracle happened for us too,” she added excitedly. After their visit to the Portuguese Marian places, the pilgrims also passed through Medjugorje, before returning to Venezuela.

Susana considers that the testimony of the Venezuelan saints invites us to rediscover faith in the family environment: “Everything comes from the home, from the family. José Gregorio learned from his father, who worked in a pharmacy. It is a call to accompany our children and grandchildren, to give them that medicine that is for the soul: love, charity and mercy. Without them we are nothing.”