AMERICA/BRAZIL - On the solemnity of Corpus Christi in Belo Horizonte beatification of Dutch born missionary Fr Eustaquio Van Lieshout who devoted his life to serving the poor and the suffering

Wednesday, 14 June 2006

Belo Horizonte (Agenzia Fides) - On Thursday 15 June, Solemnity of Corpus Christi, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will preside Mass for the beatification of Fr Eustaquio Van Lieshout of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts (Picpus). Born in Holland at Aarle-Rixtel, on 3 November 1890, Eustaquio in 1913 joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts drawn by the example of Fr Damien missionary among the lepers in Molokai, (Hawaii) beatified by John Paul II in 1995. Ordained on 10 August 1919 at Bavel, Fr Eustaquio assisted the Master of Novices, engaged in parish ministry and worked among immigrants until 1925, when he was sent on mission to Brazil. He arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 12 May 1925 and ministered there until he died on 30 August 1943 at Belo Horizonte.
In Brazil his work was in parishes in a number of places mainly in the states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. He was particularly good at offering physical and moral assistance encouraging people who suffered not to seek healing in magic or spiritualistic practices but rather to rely on prayer and the Lord’s blessing. Many who came to him were healed and he became famous and known as a ‘saint’ while he was still alive, and this attracted large crowds. His fame forced him to move often to prevent disorder and his superiors even forbade him from public ministry for a time. Once in Rio de Janeiro the crowds gathered around the church where Fr Eustaquio was ministering were so large that the police had to stop the city traffic. His main field of apostolate was among the poor and the sick and in the end in his tireless ministry he caught typhoid fever which killed him. In his life he combined contemplation and action, striving to carry the Gospel of Jesus to people of every social condition. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 14/6/2006; righe:24, parole:365)


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