José Marcos Figueróa Umpierrez

At the College of the Immaculate Conception in Santa Fe, Brother José Marcos Figueroa performed various humble tasks: assistant nurse, buyer, tailor, and cook. However, it was in the role of the college porter, which he held from 1889 (or 1891 according to the Company's archives) until his death, that he carried out his true apostolate. He spent more than fifty years there, becoming an essential figure of the institution, affectionately nicknamed "The Porter of the Immaculate" (El portero de la Inmaculada). The porter's lodge became the privileged place for his ministry of welcome and charity. Brother Figueroa received students, teachers, wealthy families, and the most destitute people who came seeking help with the same affability and respect. Gifted with a prodigious memory, he remembered the smallest details of his interlocutors' lives to better accompany them. Passionate about reading during his quiet moments, he acquired a vast theological, spiritual, and scientific culture as an autodidact. He also became a promoter of the Apostleship of Prayer, distributing numerous magazines and pious readings.

Upon his death on November 19, 1942, a vast crowd of students, former students, and the faithful attended his funeral, testifying to his reputation for holiness already well established during his lifetime. He was initially buried in the Piquete cemetery. In 1952, ten years after his death, the Jesuits decided to transfer his remains to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Miracles (Santuario de Nuestra Señora de los Milagros), adjacent to the Santa Fe college. During the exhumation, his body was discovered perfectly intact and incorrupt. He has rested since then in the left side aisle of this sanctuary. The cause for beatification was officially introduced at the diocesan level in September 1950. After several decades of work, the public closing session of the diocesan process was held on May 9, 1995, under the direction of the vice-postulator, Father Alejandro Gauffin, SJ. The acts were then transmitted to Rome to the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Causes of Saints.

On December 17, 2022, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God José Marcos Figueroa, thus conferring upon him the title of "Venerable." His cause is currently underway, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession to pave the way for his beatification.

The spirituality of the Venerable José Marcos Figueroa is anchored in simplicity, humility, and silence ("work and silence"). Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, he fully lived the principle of Ignatian indifference, finding his inner freedom in the joyful accomplishment of the most ordinary tasks. His daily life constantly oscillated between active service at the porter's lodge and silent contemplation before the Tabernacle, where he spent long hours in prayer. His legacy is that of an accessible holiness, lived day by day through the welcoming of others. He remains a model of a life hidden in God for the Society of Jesus and the faithful of Argentina, Uruguay, and his native island of Lanzarote, where he is celebrated as an example of unwavering faith and charity.