Jacint Alegre i Pujals

From July 1909, Father Alegre was assigned to the Sacred Heart College (Colegio Sagrado Corazón) in Barcelona, located on Caspe Street (Carrer de Caspe). There, he exercised a very active pastoral ministry among the youth and workers, dedicating himself to teaching, catechesis, and spiritual direction. In 1918, he was appointed director of the Marian Congregation of the Annunciation and Saint John Berchmans (Congregación Mariana de la Anunciación y de San Juan Berchmans). Alongside his educational duties, Father Alegre regularly visited the hospitals of Barcelona. He was deeply shaken by the situation of the poorest and most destitute patients, who suffered from total abandonment and received no visitors. To alleviate their distress, he began organizing pilgrimages of the sick to the sanctuary of Lourdes as early as 1922. It was during a trip to Italy that he discovered in Turin the "Little House of Divine Providence" (Piccola Casa della Divina Provvidenza), a work founded by Saint Joseph-Benedict Cottolengo. Impressed by the operation of this institution, which relies solely on absolute trust in Divine Providence to welcome the incurable and those rejected by all, he conceived the project of establishing a similar work in Barcelona. In 1926, during a pilgrimage to Rome, he submitted this idea to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. In 1930, the new Archbishop of Barcelona, Msgr. Manuel Irurita y Almándoz, who had chosen him as his confessor, gave him his enthusiastic support. However, in September 1930, a malignant tumor detected in his ear abruptly interrupted his activities. Sensing his end approaching, he entrusted his great project to his superior, Father Juan Guim Molet, S.J., and to his lay spiritual son, Rómulo Zaragoza, who promised him on his deathbed to realize his dream. Father Alegre passed away on December 10, 1930, in Barcelona, without having been able to see the opening of the house. Faithful to their promise, Rómulo Zaragoza and Father Juan Guim Molet, with the support of Msgr. Irurita, founded the first "Cottolengo of Father Alegre" in Barcelona in 1932, intended to welcome the incurable and destitute sick free of charge. To ensure the daily and spiritual service to the sick, the religious congregation of the Servant Sisters of Jesus of the Cottolengo of Father Alegre (Hermanas Servidoras de Jesús) was officially founded on October 23, 1939, by Dolores Permanyer i Volart, under the spiritual direction of Father Juan Guim Molet.

The cause for the canonization of Jacint Alegre i Pujals was introduced at the diocesan level in Barcelona. On December 10, 1999, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued the decree of legal validity for the diocesan informative process, officially conferring upon him the title of Servant of God. The meticulous examination of his writings and virtues continued under the direction of the postulation of the Society of Jesus. On January 19, 2013, the particular congress of theological consultants provided a favorable opinion regarding the recognition of the heroic nature of his virtues.

On May 9, 2014, Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Jacint Alegre i Pujals. By this act, the Catalan Jesuit was proclaimed venerable. For his beatification to be pronounced, the official recognition of a miracle obtained through his intercession is required by the Vatican authorities.

The spirituality of the Venerable Jacint Alegre i Pujals is deeply marked by filial abandonment to Divine Providence and by an active and concrete charity. His spiritual motto, which remains engraved on the pediment of all the houses of the work, perfectly summarizes his evangelical ideal: "For me, the whole world is reduced to loving God and the poor for the love of God; but with a love of deeds, not of words" ("Para mí todo el mundo se reduce a amar a Dios y a los pobrecitos por amor de Dios; pero con amor de obras, no de palabras"). The legacy of Father Alegre continues today through the action of the Servants of Jesus Sisters and the many volunteers who keep the "Father Alegre Cottolengos" alive. Faithful to the spirit of the founder, these reception centers do not accept any public subsidies and do not make any active requests for funds, choosing to live exclusively on the spontaneous gifts of Providence. The work has developed beyond Barcelona and today includes several foundations in Spain (notably in Valencia, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, Alicante, and in the Las Hurdes region), as well as in Portugal (Lisbon) and Colombia (Buenaventura and Popayán).