This 27th of May is the feast day of the Capuchin Blessed Joseph of Igualada, a beardless Capuchin, which for some of us in the Order can be understood as a sign of relief, for you don’t have to wear a beard to be a holy Capuchin. What counts is where the heart is.
José Tous y Soler was born in Igualada, Barcelona on 31 March 1811. In his circular letter dated 25 April 2010, the then Capuchin General Minister, Br Mauro Jöhri OFM Cap, stressed on the importance of the family environment which greatly helped in the formation of Blessed José. Br Mauro wrote: The role of the family in the life and formation of the young José turns out to have been fundamental. It was the place where he received the first seeds of faith, of the love and fear of God, which in time would produce fruits of genuine holiness in him.
In 1820, José’s family moved to Barcelona to look for better job opportunities. It was here, in Barcelona, where José providentially met the Capuchins. Their powerful testimony prompted him to leave everything behind and follow Jesus in their footsteps. Hence, on 18th February 1827, as a 16-year-old boy, he donned the Capuchin habit in the novitiate at Sarriá, in a friary known as “the desert”. From the beginning of his formation Br José showed utter religious commitment. The testimonies of his fellow-friars beautifully recount his exemplary recollection, his solid piety, his ready obedience, his humility and purity, and an impressive fidelity to the Capuchin Franciscan charism.
On 19th February 1828 Br José made his religious vows, and in the following years studied philosophy and theology in the friaries of Calella de la Costa, Gerona and Valls. Five years later, on 1st June 1833, Br José was ordained deacon in Tarragona, and the next year, on on the 24th of May he was ordained priest by Mgr. Pedro Martínez de San Martín in Barcelona. As the revolt broke out in 1835, Padre José was expelled from the friary with his entire Capuchin community and suffered imprisonment as well as exile. Following a brief stay in Italy, Blessed Joseph settled in Toulouse where he generously served as chaplain to the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
When he returned to Barcelona in 1843, fraternal life with the fraternity had not been brought back to normal, so Br José exercised his priestly ministry in different parishes, coupled with that extraordinary apostolic zeal and consistent pastoral charity. On this interesting point from Blessed José’s life, Br Mauro says in his circular letter: Br. José had managed to make the values of our life so much a part of his existence that he was able to remain faithful to what he had professed, even in extremely difficult conditions, obliged to move from one house to another. He had the ability, wherever he went, to fit in and start serving the people who were put in his charge. He let himself be moved by the needs of the people, and responded with practical efficacy.
Upon noticing the total neglect of children and young people, particularly girls, both morally as well as educationally, in 1850 Br José established the Institute of the Capuchin Sisters of the Mother of the Good Shepherd at Vila de Ripoli (Gerona) dedicated to the education of girls and youth. As his life story beautifully narrates, the Eucharist was the fulcrum of his inner life. He had the grace of being called by the Lord into his Heavenly abode while he was celebrating Mass on 27 February 1871. Br Josè was beatified on April 25 2010.
When reading prayerfully his silent heroic life totally given to Jesus and his Church within the setting of the Capuchin Order. two things I personally learn from the life of Blessed Josè. The first thing is that this Spanish Capuchin Brother, guided by the Holy Spirit, understood the importance of parishes as a means to tend to Christ’s flock in the manner of the Franciscan Capuchin Spirituality. In fact, in Constitution number 154, 1-3 of the Capuchin Constitutions approved by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Society of Apostolic Life on 4 October 2013 and promulgated by the General Minister OFM Cap on 8 December 2013, explicitly says: In keeping with the character and tradition of our Order, let the brothers be ready to offer pastoral assistance in parishes to the clergy of the local Church. Bearing in mind the urgent needs of the faithful, the ministers, with the consent of the council, we may also prudently accept the care of a parish in a spirit of service to the local Church. In order to stay faithful to our vocation when assuming this ministry, we ordinarily prefer parishes where we can more easily give witness to minority and live and work in brotherhood. In this way the People of God can appropriately share in our charism. What strikes me in this regard concerning Blessed José is that he was able to carry his brothers in his heart in whatever he did, said and lived.
Secondly, Blessed José nourished his consecrated and pastoral life from the Eucharist. The life of my Capuchin confrere Br Josè is a continual encouragement of what we read in the Capuchin Constitutions number 48, 1-4: We participate fully, consciously, and actively in the Eucharist, the source of the Church’s life: the root, the focal point, and the very heart of our life as brothers. We celebrate the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ until He comes, holding back nothing of ourselves, so that “He who offered himself totally to us may receive us totally.” In the breaking of the Eucharistic Bread we are raised to communion with Christ and with one another, manifesting the unity of the sacrifice, the priesthood, and the brotherhood. To make this more evident, we celebrate a Mass daily in all our houses as a fraternity. Should this not be possible, the Eucharist with the participation of all the brothers is to be celebrated frequently. Let the Eucharist, in which our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is present to us under the consecrated species, be reserved in our oratories and churches in a most fitting place and manner. After the example of Saint Francis, let us adore with faith, humble reverence, and devotion Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist. With Him, let us offer ourselves and our actions to God the Father through the Spirit, and frequently spend time in fervent prayer before Him, the spiritual centre of our brotherhood.
In his writings, Blessed José offers us the secret for united communities and families. In one of his speeches to the Capuchin Sisters of the Congregation of our Lady of the Good Shepherd he said: Yes, dearest Sisters, charity, peace, tranquillity, and holy union among yourselves are what transforms the cloister into a garden of delights, where the heavenly Bridegroom is pleased to dwell. Therefore we exhort all our Sisters to strive, in holy prayer, to be aflame with the love of Jesus and united in love to the heavenly Spouse of pure souls, so that, being one with Jesus, the King of peace who is so worthy of our love, there may reign among you all peace , charity, and holy union. When a heart is filled with the love of God, there is true humility, and when humility is real there is obedience, and so we cannot stress too highly how important it is for all the Sisters to be obedient.
Are not the virtues of charity, peace, tranquility, union, prayer, humility and obedience, all we need to open such essential environments for God’s Spirit of love and communion?
O God, you gave to Blessed José, your priest the grace to follow your Son faithfully in the spirit of poverty and humility, and to foster in the Church the Christian education of children. Through his merits and intercession grant that we may be fully refreshed by the sweetness of your perfect love: through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
