Once again, the 14th calls us to the monthly memorial of our future Saint, the Venerable Father Mariano Avellana.
His heroic virtues, with which he was able to dedicate himself to the evangelizing work to which the Lord had called him, being a “missionary to the end” despite the great physical sufferings and negative tendencies he had to overcome, are worthy of permanent memory, especially in these days. His example is the greatest motivation for which we have been praying to the Lord for 35 years that he would deign to glorify him on earth by offering the miracle that would allow him to be elevated to the altars. So that the admirable light of his life testimony does not remain hidden, but that, according to the Gospel, it may illuminate from on high our own lives and those of the Christian people, encouraging us to leave our comfort and mediocrity to give ourselves to the neediest as he did.
And if it is a question of example, how can we not long for the heroism with which Mariano Avellana made his life a daily martyrdom, working tirelessly preaching hundreds of missions, while suffering physical pain and suffering in his body, to shine from the altar above all. It is no exaggeration to compare these sufferings, endured for decades, with the martyrdom in which 184 of his brothers in the Congregation died facing bullets rather than renouncing their faith amidst violent religious conflicts.
Today, when numerous wars, social upheavals and the collapse of economic systems are devastating the world, causing thousands of deaths, pain, hunger and suffering, especially to the prejudice of the poorest and most unprotected sectors, it is important not only to invoke the intercession of Mariano Avellana for the seriously ill, suffering and abandoned that such situations provoke, but to take on the example of his work to assist them and mitigate their sufferings in the image of Jesus Christ.
May the permanent memory of Mariano’s example, and especially in these 14th days, encourage us to be like him “missionaries to the end”, according to our respective place in social life and the commitment to which this obliges us according to the faith and the Gospel we profess.
Alfredo Barahona Zuleta
Vicepostulator, Cause V.P. Mariano Avellana
