Cappuccino "Apostle of Mercy"

Blessed Diego José de Cádiz
"Apostle of Mercy"
By Isabel Orellana Vilches

MADRID, March 24, 2013 (Zenit.org) - José Francisco López-García Pérez Caamaño and was born in Cadiz on March 30, 1743. He belonged to an illustrious family. His mother died when he was 9 years old and settled in the village of Grazalema Cadiz with his father. He studied with the Dominicans in Ronda, Málaga. But at age 15 elected the Capuchins of Seville, overcoming their opposition to the religious life, and this particular order, to take the habit and name that was to be exalted to the altars. Leaving the initial aversion to compromise established, years later, referring to his vocation retrospect be seen how much had changed. You may not remembered the weight of her emotions as a teenager when he wrote: "All my desire was to be cappuccino, to be a missionary and saint." In 1766 he was ordained priest. He was accompanied by one ambition: to achieve holiness. I wanted to be a great apostle without excluding martyrdom. And he recorded it: "What longing to be holy, to placate prayer with God and hold to the holy Church! Do I want to go public, to, with unveiled face, meet the libertines! ... What ardor to shed my blood in defense of what we have hitherto believed ". But the path of holiness God usually does not make it easy for their children. For some years the oscillations in their spiritual life were common, until he suffered a radical transformation with the grace of Christ. This did not experience book that usually appear in the itinerary that leads to union with the Holy Trinity. Passed by contradictions and obscurities. Were frequent struggles against the temptations of the flesh and had to fight outbreaks of apathy in fulfilling its mission, among other weaknesses that faced and overcame. No, only God knew the inner struggles of this great apostle, whose entrañabilidad and quirky sense of humor was appreciated especially at short distances.
From 1771 and for thirty years his activity in popular missions lasted almost throughout the Spanish territory. His great gifts of oratory and eloquence acted sentence passed by the wonders in the people through preaching from which further emphasizes its rigor, simplicity and dignity. His contribution was invaluable in a period marked by the regalismo and Jansenism that were at their peak. As so often happens in judging great minds, and with the depth of the blessed life, valuations are not always benevolent. When only examines their steps from a rational point of view, appealing to a historical analysis often prejudicial connotations, as some critics have done, is essentially in the dark: his spiritual greatness and outstanding qualities in the service of faith and the Church in times of difficulty doubt. Trying religious oratory, the great Menendez Pelayo placed him behind St. Vincent Ferrer and St. John of Avila. And is that Diego José promoted a profound spiritual renewal in his audience. He came to preach in the court. His words had great influence in public life and in the religious. Along with providing doctrinal instruction, lecturing men, women and children from all walks of life. I encouraged the celebration of public penance and prayer of the Holy Rosary. Emotions aroused equally commoners, clerics and intellectuals. His reputation preceded him and the crowd that could not be cited to hear him in the great cathedrals. I had to talk outside for several hours, sometimes up to forty to sixty thousand people, who considered him a "godsend."
This impressive display of crowds who came to him feverish shows that the members of the holy life were the true architects of social networks. A network of followers with high sensitivity, which many today would like to himself, knew how to identify God's greatness oozing unparalleled beauty in the words of this famous apostle. There were three decades of dedication to bringing faith singular zeal beyond the confines of Andalusia where he was well known. Aranjuez, Madrid, Toledo and populations of Ciudad Real, Aragon, Valencia, Extremadura, Galicia, Asturias, León, Salamanca, including Portugal and others were covered on foot by this tireless pilgrim imbued with the power of his voice, backed by one virtuous life, the heart of the people. A large majority of his time considered him a "new St. Paul." Constant prayer and penance were his apostolic weapons, while his body shivered under a rustic sackcloth. If I had the means and techniques that exist today his conquests for Christ surpass imagination.
He was a great devotee of Mary under the title of Divine Aurora, which was turned defender. He was blessed with extraordinary charisma and the gift of prophecy and numerous miracles effected his proverbial sense of humor and wit that had Andalusian. His correspondence, sermons, ascetic and devotional works are countless. He has been known as the "apostle of mercy." Round died in the March 24, 1801 when he was on trial before the Inquisition where he was taken by those who were unable to identify him as the saint who was. They covered with painful signs of ingratitude which resulted in a humiliating and unjust persecution. Above the blind human trials God had already booked eternal glory. He was beatified by Leo XIII on April 22, 1894.