Every November 16, the Church celebrates San Roque González de Santa Cruz, Jesuit priest, martyr and first Paraguayan saint.
Patron of two cities
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Saint Roque was born in Asunción, Paraguay, in 1576. At the age of 22 he was ordained a priest and later appointed parish priest of the Cathedral of Asunción. In 1609 he entered the Society of Jesus and a few years later, on March 25, 1615, he founded the “reduction” of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Itapúa (current Posadas in Argentina), which would later be transferred to the Paraguayan city of Incarnation. This is the reason why San Roque González is considered the founder and patron of both cities.
“Reductions” to enlarge the soul
Throughout his missionary life, San Roque founded other reductions, which also gave rise to the corresponding current cities of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
Father Roque González made the Virgin Mary the guide and protector of his evangelizing work. He always carried a picture of the Mother of God with him and preached with it in front; She walked the roads carrying it in her hands, something that produced admiration among the indigenous people, who, moved by the maternal figure of the Mother of God, used to open their hearts to God and faith, becoming Christians.
However, not all the natives were receptive to the announcement of the Gospel, nor to the proposals of the Jesuit brothers. In the Ijuí area, the chief Ñezú, head of the local Guaraní tribe, rejected the idea of living in a reduction and ended up confronting Father Roque.
Witnesses of faith, hope and charity
On November 15, 1628, those in charge of the reduction, Father Roque González de Santa Cruz and the Spanish priest Alonso Rodríguez Olmedo, were murdered. His executioners used a stone ax to secure their nefarious objective. The same fate befell the Jesuit Juan del Castillo, also Spanish, two days later.
‘The saint who spoke from the heart’
The bodies of Father Roque and Father Alonso were thrown into the fire. Miraculously, Father San Roque’s heart was left intact while the rest of his body was reduced to ashes. A group of indigenous people approached to collect the heart, when, according to testimonies recorded later, some of the Indians heard a voice that – with the same tone and with the same words – called them to repent. Those who heard the voice were stunned, motionless, not knowing how to react, because the voice seemed to come from the Jesuit’s heart. Each and every one of those present who heard the call did so in their own language.
Shortly after, the heart of San Roque – considered a relic – was recovered by other Jesuits, who confirmed to their surprise that it remained in perfect condition. As time passed and the heart remained incorrupt, it was taken to Rome along with the stone ax with which the group of Jesuit missionaries made up of Roque Gonzalez de Santa Cruz, Alonso Rodríguez Olmedo and Juan del Castillo was martyred.
Currently, the heart of San Roque and the ax are located in the Chapel of the Martyrs, in the Colegio de Cristo Rey in the city of Asunción (Paraguay).
Canonization
In 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II, during his visit to Paraguay, canonized Saint Roque González, and the Spaniards Saint Alfonso Rodríguez and Saint Juan Del Castillo; all of them Jesuit martyrs in American lands.
“Neither the obstacles of a rugged nature, nor the misunderstandings of men, nor the attacks of those who saw in their evangelizing action a danger to their own interests, were capable of frightening these champions of the faith. Their unreserved dedication led them to martyrdom,” highlighted the Pilgrim Pope on that occasion.
A particular devotion to San Roque González
On July 12, 2015, Pope Francis visited Cristo Rey College to pray in front of the martyr’s relic. The papal visit to the sanctuary lasted about 15 minutes.
The then Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Father Federico Lombardi, said, after the visit, that “Francis has as Pope, more than as a Jesuit, a particular devotion to Saint Roch González.”
Saint Roque, pray for us! Intercede for your Paraguayan children!
More information at: https://www.aciprensa.com/santos/santo.php?id=343.
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