09 FEB - SAINT OF THE DAY [S MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO MUNOZ (1854-1910)]

 Miguel was born to a prominent family in Ecuador with an unknown disability, he was unable to stand until age five when he received a vision of Our Mother. 

    At age 8, he was miraculously protected from being mauled by a wild bull. He enrolled in a school run by the Christian Brothers, 

    an Order which had only recently come to Ecuador and joined the Brothers at age 13. He became a school teacher at Quito, a position he held for 32 years. 

    A gentle, dedicated, and enthusiastic teacher. 

    Wrote his own textbooks and some were adopted by the government, and used throughout the country. 

    He was elected to the Ecuadoran Academy of Letters in 1892, and to the Academies of Spain, France, and Venezuela. 

    He was sent to Europe in 1905 to translate texts from French to Spanish for use by the Order; worked primarily in Belgium. His health began to fail and he was transferred to the school near Barcelona, Spain. 

    In addition to being a religious role model, Miguel is considered a national hero in Ecuador for his success in so many worthwhile areas. 

    His grave was disturbed during the Spanish Civil War, and his body found incorrupt. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1984.






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