With the year already more than three months behind us, we have turned the page on the celebrations that, as a Claretian family, we have been holding over the last two years in honour of our Venerable Fr. Mariano.
It began in 2023 with the commemoration of 150 years since the great missionary first set foot on Chilean and American soil on September 11, 1873—a date unforgettable and known only to the Lord as to why it occurred in Mariano’s life. Though it was not the first time he had left his homeland, as the current Venerable had already departed from Spain three years earlier, on September 11, 1870, to join the fledgling Claretian congregation in southern France, where the Founder Claret and his sons were living in political exile.
Following this commemoration—which made possible numerous activities, many of which reached international scope and had an impact far beyond Chile and America—in 2024, new events of various kinds were held to mark the 120th anniversary, on May 14, of Father Mariano’s passage to the Father’s arms.
All of these initiatives were clearly aimed at highlighting his extraordinary missionary witness, which, for more than 30 years, took him from north to south and east to west, to every corner of Chile he could reach across approximately 1,500 kilometres of the country’s long geography. He preached more than 700 missions, spiritual exercises, reflection meetings, and any other opportunity he had to bring the Gospel to different social strata, but always with a preference for the sick, the imprisoned, and the most abandoned. All this he did while enduring intense physical suffering, such as the 20 years in which a painful herpes infection ate away at his abdomen until the end of his days, along with a wound in his leg that never healed and grew to the size of an open hand. He bore these sufferings in absolute silence, without letting them stop his tireless evangelizing rhythm among fields, mountains, or remote mining camps far from civilization—many of which he reached on horseback despite his enormous pain. It was during the last of these missions, beside the altar, that he was struck down by a bronchopneumonia that, within days, led to his death.
In search of glorification
For decades, the Claretian congregation has worked hard to ensure that a testimony of holiness as extraordinary as that of Father Mariano would be officially recognized by the Church and honored on the altars. This effort culminated in 1987, when Pope John Paul II recognized the heroism of his virtues and declared him Venerable.
Since then, most of the efforts for his Cause have focused on imploring the Lord for the miracle needed to proceed with the beatification of our illustrious missionary. This goal has been strongly emphasized by the current Superior General of the Congregation, Fr. Mathew Vattamattam, as a top institutional priority. This is also in light of the singular privilege the Congregation already enjoys in having 184 blessed martyrs who gave their lives in faithful witness to their missionary commitment, to whom it would be a great blessing to add Father Mariano—who, while he did not shed his blood, is comparable to those martyrs through his daily witness of sacrifice over decades, striving to be, like them, a “missionary until the end.”
However, this miracle has not occurred in 38 years, and only the Lord can decide how and when it will happen. Meanwhile, as the faithful are encouraged to invoke the Venerable’s intercession in cases of serious illnesses or accidents—hoping that in one of these the Lord may grant the much-desired miracle—the question arises: what is truly the ultimate goal of his glorification on the altars? The answer, time and again, appears clear: what matters most is not to have another Claretian saint to ask for new miracles and favours for his devotees, but to have a privileged opportunity to spread his extraordinary missionary witness and propose it as an example that we are all called to strive to imitate—an essential duty of all Christians, both religious and lay.
It will never be superfluous to emphasize once again the deepest motivation that must move us as we continue to implore the Lord to grant soon the long-awaited miracle that would allow us to see on the altars the greatest evangelizer in the history of the Claretian missionaries of Chile—perhaps of America and of many other lands where they have left their mark.
Alfredo Barahona Zuleta
Vice-Postulator of Ven. Fr. Mariano Avellana, CMF
