Augustin Arnaud Pagés

In 1904, the adoption of anti-congregational laws in France forced many religious to go into exile. The young Brother Victorin-Nymphas left his native country for Canada in the company of his brother Jean-Pierre, also a Lasallian. After a short stay on Canadian soil, he answered the call of his superiors and volunteered for the missions in the Caribbean. He arrived in Cuba in 1905, a country that became his adopted homeland. He pronounced his perpetual vows there in Havana in 1913. In Cuba, Brother Victorino deployed apostolic and educational activity of exceptional scope among the youth. He actively participated in the founding of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-La-Salle College in Havana and opened numerous catechism centers for children in working-class neighborhoods. His work was structured through the founding of several major movements: the La Salle Association in 1919, the Federation of Cuban Catholic Youth (boys and girls) on February 11, 1928, which would count thousands of members and inspire numerous priestly and religious vocations, the University Catholic Foyer (Focolare Cattolico Universitario) in 1946, and the Catholic Family Movement (Movimento Familiare Cattolico) in 1953. Recognized for his dedication, he received important civil and ecclesiastical distinctions, notably an honorary doctorate from the Santo Tomás de Aquino University of Havana in 1951, the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice cross in 1953, and the Legion of Honor awarded by the French government in 1955. In 1961, the advent of Fidel Castro's communist regime led to the nationalization of private schools and the expulsion of foreign religious. Forced into a second exile, Brother Victorino passed through Canada and Florida (Miami) before settling in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He devoted his final strength to organizing aid for Cuban refugees and reconstituting in exile the associations he had founded in Cuba. He passed away in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on April 16, 1966.

The reputation for holiness of Brother Victorino, firmly rooted among his former Cuban students and the faithful of Puerto Rico, led to the opening of his cause for beatification. In 1998, the Superior General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools appointed Brother Rodolfo Meoli as postulator of the cause. On March 15, 1999, Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, Archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, officially requested the opening of the process from the Holy See. After obtaining the Nihil obstat decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the diocesan inquiry was introduced on March 30, 1999. Testimonies were collected between 2001 and 2002 in Miami, San Juan, and Havana. The legal validity of the diocesan process was recognized in Rome on May 6, 2005. The Positio, a 590-page summary document retracing his life and virtues, was completed in November 2015.

On April 6, 2019, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of the virtues of Augustin Arnaud Pagés (Brother Victorin-Nymphas), thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable. For his beatification to be pronounced, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession is required.

Brother Victorino's spirituality is deeply rooted in the Lasallian charism, characterized by an intense spirit of faith and an ardent zeal for the Christian education of youth. He liked to repeat that he considered himself a "Cuban born in France," testifying to his total inculturation and his love for his adopted people. His legacy remains alive through the youth and Catholic action movements he initiated, which continue to bear fruit within the Cuban diaspora, notably in Miami where a bust in his likeness was inaugurated in 2020 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity.