October 29: St. Gaetano Errico

"Let us kindle the love of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the hearts of all people." (St. Gaetano Errico, 1791- 1860)

Well, I do not post much now about Saints and Holy Relics (which is my specialty, but I do not post much about it because of other concerns that needs posting), but because it is my birthday, I could not help but post about a Saint whom I admire much and whose presence in his relics bring me great joy.

St. Gaetano Errico is a priest-founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, whose main charisma and apostolate was to promote devotion to the Sacred Hearts. Born in Naples, Gaetano Errico entered the local diocesan seminary at age sixteen. In 1815, he was ordained a priest and spent the next twenty years teaching. He had a vision in which St. Alphonsus Liguori instructed him to found a new religious order. He had a great devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1836 he founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The community is dedicated to serving the needs of God’s family while witnessing the great love present in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. By the time of his death at 10 am of October 29th,  the community had ten houses in southern Italy. He was beatified in 2002 by St. John Paul II and canonized in 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Why I like him so much, let our blog's favorite theologian, Benedict XVI say it for us:

"The ministry of reconciliation, therefore, is a ministry that is relevant. The priest Gaetano Errico, founder of the Congregazione dei Missionari dei Sacri Cuori di Gesù e di Maria, dedicated himself to this sacrament with diligence, assiduity and patience, never refusing it nor counting the cost. He thus entered among the group of other extraordinary priests who tirelessly made the confessional a place to dispense God's mercy, helping men to rediscover themselves, to fight against sin and make progress in the spiritual life. The street and the confessional were the two particular places of Gaetano Errico's pastoral work. The street was the place that permitted him to offer his customary invitation: "God loves you, when shall we meet?" and in the confession he made their encounter with the mercy of the heavenly Father possible. How many wounded souls did he heal in this way! How many people did he help to be reconciled with God through the sacrament of forgiveness! In this way St. Gaetano Errico became an expert in the "science" of forgiveness, and concerned himself with teaching it to his missionaries: "God, who does not wish the death of the sinner, is always more merciful than his ministers; so be as merciful as you can and you will find mercy with God!" (Benedict XVI, Homily at Canonization Mass, October 2008).

Personally, I got to know this Saint when I was still a sophomore student in High School. I was looking for a birthday Saint to celebrate with, and through God's providence I was introduced to him. I researched and saw that some of my friends had relics of him. Fast forward to 2011, I was introduced by a friend to Fathers Luigi Toscano, postulator of the Cause, and Fr. Salvatore Izzo, who worked in the MSsCc General Curia. (Fr. Salvatore died recently, may his memory be eternal!) I asked Fr. Izzo if he had any relics of St. Gaetano, to which he replied via FB that he can ask Fr. Toscano about it. Soon enough, a package arrived at home with his relics. That made me so happy. I was now close to a special protector and friend.

A relic of St. Gaetano which I have in my custody.
The image is not mine, but is taken somewhere from the Internet.

Having a birthday saint is cool. You get to know that on your day, countless Saints are cheering you up to become holier and better each day. They challenge you to become holy like them: "If its possible for them, its possible for me too!" So, this birthday of mine is not merely a day to celebrate a gift called "myself" but also of the gifts of the Saints whose constant presence and intercession we never fail to invoke.