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Today’s missionary hero is St. Francisco Coll y Guitart, a Spanish Dominican who lived in the 19thCentury.
Francisco was born on May 18, 1812 in Gombrén, Catalonia, Spain, the 10thof ten children of a wool carder.
When he was 10-years old, he was sent to a seminary, and even from a young age, he was concerned about the education of children.
In 1830, he joined the Dominican order. At that time, however, the Spanish government suppressed Catholic religious orders. Therefore, he was unable to wear the Dominican habit or live in a Dominican house. Nevertheless, he was ordained a Dominican priest on March 28, 1836.
As a new priest, Francisco offered his service to the local bishop and began serving as an itinerant missionary to parishes in northeast Spain for 40 years. Because of his great preaching, he was given the nickname, “The Apostle of Modern Times.”
From 1839 to 1850, Fr. Francisco worked with the poor and sick. In fact, in 1854 he helped nurse persons during a cholera epidemic.
In 1856, he cofounded a group of Dominican Sisters with his friend, St. Anthony Mary Claret. The group was known as the Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The purpose of this group was to provide the same education to girls that was available to boys. At the time of Fr. Francisco’s death, the order of Sisters numbered 300 sisters in 50 communities. Today, the Sisters serve in countries throughout the world.
On December 2, 1869, Francisco was struck blind while preaching. From that time on, his physical condition grew worse, and on April 2, 1875, he died.
Pope Benedict XVI canonized Francisco on October 11, 2009. St. Francisco Coll y Guitart’s feast day is May 19th, the date of his baptism.
