A «jewel»… I had this in my «trunk» and because of those «inspirations of God» I had the idea of drawing back its veil, to give it light, to give it wings, to give it life. So many years with me, in my book «Liturgy of the Hours», like a «small piece of paper» with folds full of time and marks, with printing characters deteriorated to the maximum by the hidden running of silent years. Of an impressive fragility but docile to the caress, to a reading deciphered even with a magnifying glass to unravel the tenderness sheltered in the heart and fingers of a Sister distant in our present history, but alive in each one of her expressions, narrating with infinite affection, the last moments of the precious life of our Father and Founder. A deeply revealing testimony for these dates of such a pleasant memory.
An unexplored date: «October 7, 1934″… Still the echo of the bells and the smell of candles consumed in a reverent silence, let his presence be felt as squeezing between his cries the heart of a man with the perfume of God’s love. The Father rests in his tomb and begins his «eternal happiness». In the souls there are no memories, there are experiences, experiences of paternal embraces, of words full of desires and illusions about the future of his family, engendered in the fullness of his youthful years and strength. Male and female novices… promises of future in the footsteps of “that one of Assisi» are in the center of his spirit and in his visionary advice of time and history.
And there, in Masamagrell, in the House that he loved so much, in the Chapel that he himself invented, his body is deposited. And from this silent presence, from this «man of God’s will» emerges a reality that captivates and stimulates fidelity, authenticity, promptness in the face of the calls of the world, of the «common home» and of the Church, raising the flag of the compassionate and redemptive charism. Masamagrell, ALPHA AND OMEGA of the Father, beginning of his life and final rest of his corporal existence.
The fidelity of one who writes in obedience to a paternal command. «First of all, I receive a special blessing from you, as you entrusted me with paternal love and interest to write it on your behalf, which I do today with great pleasure».
We are about to «read» a sublime testament of love of our Father and Founder for his Sisters in America. I would like to publish it to the four winds of our geography and on our knees, pray, thank, share the filial echo of restless tears, silent sighs, cautious voices, fraternal glances, embraces of pain and strength, wishes of hope, faith and love in our future, promise of survival in the heart of God, of Mary and of the world that calls us to a total surrender for the Gospel.
Masamagrell, October 7, 1934
Most Reverend Mother Commissary Capitular
Yarumal
Dearest and unforgettable Mother Purificacion: May the Lord give you His peace.
With my heart torn by the sorrow and bitterness in which the death of our beloved and venerable Father Founder (R.I.P) has left us, I am writing these lines to communicate to you something of what we had opportunely gathered from his blessed lips during his last days. First of all, please receive a special blessing from him, as he asked me with paternal love and interest to write to you on his behalf, which I do today with great pleasure.
He, sensing his death, did not omit details in all the moments of the last time that he was among us. We had the joy of having him in this holy house from August 20 until September 6, when he went to Valencia to bless the wedding of his nephew Luis Boada Amigó and that same day our Capuchin Tertiary Fathers and Brothers took him to their Convent in Godella to see if there he would be a relieved by the change of air, but everything was useless: he died there, and Rev. Mother Rosario de Soano and Rev. Mother Cruz de Beniarjó had the incomparable joy of being present on his side when he offered his last breath because it was their turn to watch over him that night. He died at one o’clock in the morning of October 1, having the good fortune of R. P. Lauriano de Burriana, Tertiary Capuchin and Superior of the House of Godella, to give him the last absolution.
In vain did the doctors strive to combat the harms that weakened such a precious life, and so they were forced to exclaim: «The Bishop is dying without illness». And how can this be explained? Ah…it is that his illness was more close. The moral pain that devoured his heart was very great… and so he was slowly dying, praying and suffering in silence this ills that has taken him away from us: his Diocese, his poor priests in need… all this grieved him but he suffered it with the resignation of a saint! This is how he was venerated by all, as a true Servant of God. His heart was devoured by bitterness at seeing his Diocese in extreme misery: his Priests without bread and almost homeless. The sighs that choked his chest in his last days were continuous. The tears in his eyes were also almost continuous. In short… he has been a victim of circumstances which we have been lamenting for three years. Lately, he had no appetite for anything. He went five days without drinking or drinking water, only moistening his lips with it.
He received Viaticum sitting in an armchair, with the serenity and gratitude of a saint, on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, from the hands of Bishop Lauzurica, Auxiliary of the Archbishop of Valencia, to whom he had recommended his two Congregations. His days of illness were of great edification to all those who visited him. What gratitude he expressed, how he asked for forgiveness and what peace could be glimpsed in such a good Father. He died as the saints die: forgiving and blessing everyone.
Two days before his death, at one o’clock in the morning, he called all the novices and professed to his presence to bless them for the last time and give them his last advice. Here, too, during the days he was there. He went, two or three times, to the Novitiate to give the novices exhortations that they will never forget. He also spoke to us, Professed Sisters, about the life of our Seraphic Father St. Francis, encouraging us to have great confidence in Divine Providence, since God had promised the Poor Man of Assisi that if there were only two loaves of bread in the world, one would be for his children. He exhorted us to keep the Holy Rule and Constitutions as well as to try to preserve the spirit of Franciscan humility and poverty in which he always wished our beloved Congregation to be founded.
Let us pray to him, beloved Mother Commissary, to continue blessing us from heaven and to protect his work by pouring graces on his two beloved congregations so that the virtues that he always preached to us so much with his example may endure in the hearts of his sons and daughters: meekness, humility and gratitude to God and to all those who favor us in deed or word.
On the 2nd day, the funeral was held in the Community of Godella and in the afternoon his venerated body was transferred to the Parish of Masamagrell. I cannot explain to you how much the attendance, the veneration and the order was that there was… Well it has been seen how much they loved him!… On the 3rd day they were in the Parish officiating the Archbishop of Valencia, with attendance of the Chapter of Segorbe and other worthy authorities. Then they took the corpse to our Chapel and on the appointed day, of N. P. San Francisco were the funeral and burial. Everything has been orderly and devout as he was.
His memory will be recognized by all in general in this town where the Mayor and members of the City Council as well as all the other people and clergy of the neighboring towns have come to Godella as to this holy house to pay him the ultimate homage of their veneration and appreciation.
May our beloved Father, whose memory will always be blessed by his children, rest in peace.
The Most Reverend Mother General blesses her and through her all her beloved Colombian daughters.
Most affectionate and sorrowful Sister in the Seraphic Father who commends herself to your prayers.
Your Sister,
Josefa de Dabajuro
After enumerating such significant Sisters, what role do I play…? Simply a means to give flight to wings ready for a earthly and celestial journey since that October 7, 1934; to «take out of my chest», experiences, memories, existences more and more fascinating, to recognize in the shelves of our history the spiritual richness that underlies, in the prayerful silence of a tomb, pure tabernacle, where the genesis of our being of Capuchin Tertiary Brothers and Sisters of the Amigonian Family is….
Fraternally,
Dora Arboleda Hoyos t.c.
Province «Our Lady of Divine Providence».