Manuel González y García

The work of Saint Manuel González García is intrinsically linked to the foundation of the Eucharistic Reparation Family (Unión Eucarística Reparadora), a spiritual and apostolic movement intended to make reparation for the abandonment of Jesus in the Eucharist and to propagate Eucharistic adoration.

In 1910, while he was archpriest of Huelva, he founded the "Work of the Marys of the Tabernacles" (Obra de las Marías de los Sagrarios), which was initially aimed at lay women, then extended to men under the name "Disciples of Saint John" (Discípulos de San Juan), as well as to children with the "Children of Reparation" (Niños de la Reparación). The objective of this work is to offer faithful and loving company to Jesus in the tabernacles, especially where He is most neglected.

In 1921, in Málaga, he founded the female religious branch of his work: the Congregation of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (Misioneras Eucarísticas de Nazaret). The religious sisters of this institute have the mission of living a life of contemplation and Eucharistic adoration, while dedicating themselves to evangelization, catechesis, and service to parishes to ensure the dignity of Eucharistic worship.

He also founded the "Diocesan Eucharistic Missionaries" (Misioneros Eucarísticos Diocesanos) for priests desiring to live their ministry under the sign of Eucharistic reparation.

A prolific writer and outstanding pedagogue, he published more than thirty works and numerous articles on spirituality, catechesis, and pastoral care. His masterpiece, What a Priest Can Do Today (Lo que puede un cura hoy), published in 1910, became a reference work for the formation of seminarians in Spain and Latin America. He also founded several magazines, including El Granito de Arena (The Grain of Sand) for adults and Reine for children, in order to spread his Eucharistic message.

The reputation for holiness of Bishop Manuel González García, already immense during his lifetime, continued to grow after his death. Nicknamed the "Apostle of the Eucharist" or the "Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle," he was also described by his contemporaries as a "martyr bishop" due to the persecutions and exile he endured with patience and charity.

The cause for beatification was officially opened in the Diocese of Palencia on May 2, 1952. After the instruction of the diocesan processes in Palencia and Málaga, the cause was transmitted to Rome. On April 6, 1998, Pope John Paul II recognized the heroic nature of his virtues and proclaimed him venerable.

The path to beatification was marked by the recognition of a first miracle that occurred in December 1953 in Requena de Campos (Palencia, Spain). Sara Ruiz Ortega, an 18-year-old girl, had been suffering for five years from a severe tuberculous peritonitis (peritonitis tuberculosa) that had left her paralyzed and given up by doctors. The parish priest, Father Francisco Teresa León, placed a relic of Bishop González García under the patient's pillow without her knowledge and began a novena of prayer. At the end of the novena, the young girl was instantly and completely healed. This miracle, declared scientifically inexplicable by the Medical Board on December 3, 1998, was approved by Pope John Paul II through a decree promulgated on December 20, 1999. Bishop Manuel González García was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 29, 2001, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. In view of the canonization, a second miracle was examined. It concerns the healing that occurred in October 2008 in Madrid (Spain) of 78-year-old María del Carmen Varela Feijóo. Suffering from an extremely aggressive plasmablastic non-Hodgkin lymphoma (linfoma no-Hodgkin plasmoblástico), she was very weak and was preparing to receive the anointing of the sick. By an extraordinary coincidence, the priest requested was none other than Father Francisco Teresa León (the same priest who had been the instrument of the first miracle in 1953, while he was now serving in Madrid). Unable to travel immediately, Father Francisco Teresa León sent the patient a relic and an image of Blessed Manuel González García, inviting the family to recite a novena. On the fourth day of the novena, as the patient was going to the hospital to begin her chemotherapy, medical examinations revealed the total and inexplicable disappearance of the cancer. The Medical Board of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints unanimously recognized the scientific inexplicability of this healing on October 29, 2015. Pope Francis signed the decree recognizing the miracle on March 3, 2016. The solemn canonization of Saint Manuel González García was celebrated by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

The spirituality of Saint Manuel González García is entirely centered on the mystery of the Eucharist, viewed from the perspective of the real presence, love, and reparation. For him, the tabernacle is not merely a place for Eucharistic reservation, but the throne of a living Person, Jesus Christ, who continually offers himself to humanity and suffers from the indifference, forgetfulness, and abandonment of men.

His spiritual theology rests on the invitation to "eucharistize" daily life, that is to say, to conform all Christian existence to the humble, silent, and surrendered love of Jesus in the Eucharist. He exhorts the faithful to become "consolers" of the Heart of Jesus by offering him their presence, their prayer, and their affection.

The legacy of Saint Manuel González García remains alive today through the Eucharistic Reparation Family, present in many countries of Europe and Latin America. His writings continue to inspire priests, religious, and laypeople engaged in Eucharistic renewal and reparatory adoration. He is considered one of the greatest apostles of the Eucharist of the modern era.