Saint of July 13: Father Marianito. Catholic Santoral

The Blessed Mariano de Jesús Euse Hoyos, affectionately known as the “Father Marianito”, was a diocesan priest born in Colombia, who was sanctified through his service as a pastor. San Juan Pablo II called him “Don de Paz” for his country, at the time when this nation suffered the toughest attacks of violence.

The first Colombian to reach the altars

Although Santa Laura Montoya was the first Colombian to be canonized, Father Marianito is considered the “first Colombian saint” for having been elevated first to the altars. The priest was beatified on April 9, 2000, while Mother Laura was later, on April 25, 2004. Today, the cause of canonization of Father Marianito is still open.

In the homily of the beatification mass held in 2000, San Juan Pablo II stressed that the “Father Marianito… pledged tirelessly on the evangelization of children and adults, especially of the peasants”. The Pope recalled that the pastor “did not save sacrifices or penalties, surrendering for almost fifty years in a modest Parish of Angostura, in Antioquia, to the glory of God and to the good of the souls that were entrusted to him.”

That Christ who suffers by our side

Mariano de Jesús Euse Hoyos was born on October 14, 1845 in Yarumal, a municipality located in the Colombian department of Antioquia, whose capital is Medellín. His childhood passed it in rural environments, very close to those who work the earth. The first part of his education was received at home, after an attempt at the public school, from which he was separated by his parents due to the infiltration of liberal ideas of anti -Catholic roots.

At 16 he showed his desire to be a priest and was entrusted to his Uncle Pastor, Don Fermin Hoyos, to initiate his training. At 24 he entered the Medellín Seminar. Finally, on October 14, 1872, priest was ordered. His pastoral service led him to be a coadjutor for some time, until he was appointed pastor of Angostura, Antioquia, a position in which he remained until his death.

Already as a coadjutor had tried the meaning of the Ministry when one is delivered to the service of souls, but the months in which he had to hide from the civil war, the ‘War of Schools’, between conservatives and liberals (1876-1877) were even more hard.

Father Marianito was characterized by his humility and closeness with people. He didn’t care if they were rich or poor. He faced any danger or difficulty in order to make Christ the love prevail in the midst of the circumstances that they had to live. Thus, his fame of holiness spread throughout the region.

Great was his detachment of material things and his spirit of poverty. When he fell ill in his old age, solicitous people wanted to help him. At that time many saw how he lived: with nothing, without even the minimum garments that priests are made to carry out their ministry or for special occasions.

He never had repairs to using his own goods to relieve the hardships of the poorest among his parishioners. He frequently visited the sick and dealt with children and young people to help them walk along the path of prudence, morality and faith in God.

Near the poor and closer to Jesus

The Blessed Mariano de Jesus died on July 13, 1926 at age 81, after an enteritis crisis, an acute inflammation of the intestine. Those who attended him in the epilogue of his life remember his words: “I have already lived a lot. Now my greatest desire is to join my Jesus.”

The miracle that led him to the altars occurred in 1982, when Colombian priest Rafael Vélez Saldarriaga was inexplicably cured of a lymphatic tumor and the metastasis formed in his spine and in his main bones.