IMPASSIONED FOR THE CHURCH
A son of Aytona, Francisco Palau was born into a large family on 29 December 1811, and was baptized on the same day. He is convinced that God wrote with His own finger in the depths of his heart the commandment of love. He studied in the seminary of Llerida from 1828 to1832. He would then embrace the Teresian Carmel but only for a few years due to the socio-political situation. The years that he was there were full of initiatives and shared fraternity ... then he was stripped of everything he desired. “The cloister widened my heart and lit the flame of love”, he confides; but Palau did not find the centre of his life.
Instead of being engulfed by difficulty, he resumed the path of history with an open heart to serve, love and hope. He was ordained to the priesthood in Barbastro. He helped in the parish work of the town while also withdrawing himself to the cave in Aytona. He formed part of the missionary group which at that time, in Catalonia, seeks to reaffirm the faith of the believers. As the social situation was untenable he went on exile to France. He was 29 years old. He lived there for 11 years… the most significant years in deep communion with the Church of his time. He devoted a considerable space for contemplation, at the same time directing and receiving all types of people, who were attracted to his firm and consistent personality, and who wanted to live the gospel according to his way of life.
He writes My Relations to the Church at this stage: Having lost the hope of dying for your honour, and being in the prime of my age, I could not bear the flame of love which was burning within me as I Iived among men, so I decided in the prime of my life to live as a solitary in the desert. I called you, and you did not answer, I searched for you in the heart of the mountain, in the midst of the woods, at peak of the solitary large rocks, and I did not find you. In the solitude of the mountain I exhausted my strength in search of you; in the beautiful spring mornings, in the quiet afternoons of summer, in the cold, freezing nights of winter inside the caves; in the calm nights of summer I searched for you at the peak of the mountains, and I did not find you. Where were you then? Ah, you were so near and I did not know it, you were within me, and I was searching for you so far away. Why did you not make yourself visible? (MR 22:16)
He left France and was incardinated to the bishopric of Barcelona, where he dedicated himself to the spiritual care of the seminarians of the diocese, to the faith formation of adults in the labour world, at the beginning of the industrialization. He also accompanied the new inhabitants in the marginalized villages. Meanwhile, groups of women were living the gospel in the diocese of Lerida directed by him.
The School of Virtue became a model of catechetical teaching for adult formation in the Church of Barcelona. The school grew diversely and became a chair of higher learning. The impact of the school very soon made itself felt in the cultural, Christian, political and social circles. Fr. Palau mobilized the ecclesiastical strength of the city, including the press. The work that would be undertaken at the School was known in advance in Barcelona and Madrid. The success made the director think of extending this type of catechesis to the other cities of the state.
The anticlerical and revolutionary sectors of Barcelona realized that Fr. Palau is gaining ground among the proletarian class. They mobilized their own media and multiplied satires and calumnies against the School, blaming it for causing the labour strikes. Finally, the military authority closed it and exiled Fr. Palau. It was in 1854. He met the same luck with the bishop of the diocese. On the other hand, the groups of women in Lerida were suppressed: “You saved my life a thousand times, because you had prepared for me other martyrdom a thousand times more cruel.” (MR 22:15)
He reached Ibiza as a prisoner of the state, slandered, persecuted and monitored. He faced the difficult situation in silence, praying and letting time pass by. He took up again his vocational style: from solitude to apostolic service, and from there to contemplative silence – the coordinating strength of his vocation. The six years of exile gradually becomes a gift from God. Fr. Palau erected the Marian shrine of the island; he led missions to improve the customs of the population; he lived a sober life of prayer and fraternity; from these, he accompanied the simple folks who sought his help in their way of life. An honest and brave man, Fr. Palau asked for his freedom, even writing to the Queen for this purpose, because there is no reason to live like a criminal.
Later, he would discover the mystery of the Church and would give himself totally to her service. And as a result of this discovery, he brought life to his religious family: his daughters and sons. They would take their vocational torch through time and cultures. Today they are the Carmelite Missionaries and the Teresian Carmelite Missionaries. The Church will focus their love, sustain and harmonize their whole life to be a focal point uniting their spiritual and apostolic activity.
He expresses: “Oh Church...ah, you were so near and I did not know it, you were within me, and I was searching for you so far away! Why did you not make yourself visible? At last, after forty years in search of you, I found you. I found you because you came to meet me, I found you because you let yourself be known.” (MR 22:17)
Fr. Palau is a good preacher and an esteemed confessor. He travelled to many cities: Palma de Mallorca, Madrid, Barcelona, Ciudadela, Upper Aragon. He presided in novenas, missions, Lenten preaching and other days of reflection and prayer.
The last stage of his life was dedicated to serving the marginalized. In Barcelona, he housed the sick in body and in spirit; those workers of the textile industry who can not bear the excessive work or lack of food, hygiene and affection. Francisco Palau welcomed, listened and prayed for them. With his collaborators and the sick, he ended being jailed and remained there for days, which seemed to be years. This shows his deep love for the Church: “And now that I've found you, I love you”. He adds, “You know that: the least I can offer you is my life, to correspond with your love. The passion of love which devours me will find its nourishment in you, because you are as beautiful as God, you are infinitely loveable. My heart was created to love you, here it is, it is yours, it loves you. I love you, and you are able to return my love; I know that you love me with pure, loyal, firm and constant love. I no longer belong to myself, but I am yours; because I love you, dispose of my life, of my health, my rest, and of all that I am and have.” (MR III: 2)
He founded the Carmelite Brothers in the Field of Education and the Tertiary Sisters of Our Lady of Carmel. Today there are two congregations: the Carmelite Missionaries and the Teresian Carmelite Missionaries.
Palau’s last act of service was with the plague victims of Calasanz. They were attended to by his daughters and he was there to comfort them.
He died in Tarragona on 20th March 1872. His mortal remains are in the chapel of the Mother House of the Teresian Carmelite Missionaries. The last words he uttered were a complaint: “My God, you have changed my luck!” He had always longed for martyrdom but he died surrounded by those who loved him. It was his moment to experience the reality he always cherished: “How sweet, how pleasant, how delightful must be the repose in a Virgin Mother’s arms, and how pure is the triumphant Church!” (Church of God, loose sheet, no. 8)
Pope John Paul II declared him Blessed on 24th April 1988. His liturgical feast day is on 7th November.
Esther S. Diaz, cm
