IFTTT Autopost 
José Olallo Valdés was born on February 12, 1820, in Havana, Cuba. One month later, he was abandoned and left in a basket at the St. Joseph Orphanage in Havana. Attached to his garment was a note that gave his date of birth and that he had not yet been baptized. He was baptized two days later, March 15. There, he was raised until he was seven, and then he was transferred to La Casa de Beneficencia orphanage in Havana.
In 1834, José joined the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God in Havana, where they managed the Hospital of Ss. Philip and James.
In April of 1835, he finished his novitiate and was assigned to the order’s Hospital of St. John of God in Puerto Principe (now Camagüey). There, Brother José spent the rest of his life nursing all in need, including those in the cholera epidemic of 1833.
In 1845, Brother José became the head of nursing in the hospital, and in 1856 he was made prior of his religious community.
Brother José loved being a Hospitaller Brother, and he loved being a nurse. In fact, when the Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba encouraged him to become a priest, Brother José declined, for he would not be able continue his work at the hospital as a nurse.
Although Brother José treated all who needed his care, his first love was to those who were poor, orphaned, elderly, or marginalized by society.
In his many years as a nursing brother, José faced many challenges. One of the biggest was nursing during Cuba’s Ten Years’ War (1868-1878). As a true nursing professional, he did not let politics get in the way of his patient care. He treated soldiers on both sides in the war with sensitivity, compassion, and up-to-date nursing skills.
A second major challenge was the death of fellow Hospitaller Brother, the last member of the order from Spain who was in Cuba. So, for the last 13 years of his life, Brother José was a “community of one.”
Because of his many years of serving the people of Camagüey, he achieved a sterling reputation. People called him an “apostle of charity,” “father of the poor,” and “the poor people’s priest” even though he was not an ordained priest.
Brother José died on March 7, 1889, at the age of 69 in Camagüey, Cuba. In February of 2008, he remains were moved to the chapel of the hospital where he served for many years. And on November 29, 2008, he was beatified in Camagüey.
Blessed José Olallo’s feast day is March 7. He is a patron of nurses, orphans, and Camagüey.
