Venerable Alberto Capellán Zuazo –A Farmer, A Father and A Night Worshiper – Labrador like San Isidro
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| A Farmer, A Father and A Night Worshiper |
Although his parents were not
very religious, he was always attracted to attend mass during Sundays and help
as an altar server in the nearby church of San Francisco, which was run by the
Claretian Fathers.
But what he really liked was
dancing at the Santo festivities. And so, from the age of twelve, he belonged
to the Folkloric Group of her town.
Like some of the boys his age,
Alberto gradually abandoned religious practice, although he never stopped going
to Sunday mass. But after his conversion he daily attended the Holy Mass which
the Claretian Community celebrated at 5 a.m. How many times he waited in the
street until they open the Church doors! Before each Mass begun and when the
Church was totally empty, he would kneel down with his arms outstretched, as if
he is on the cross.
He was thinking only of having
a good time with friends. And since his parents didn't give him a lot of money
to go on a spree and deserve them with his friends, sometimes he even took bags
of wheat from their family barn without their permission, to sell them and keep
the money! Until one time her mother caught her red-handed. Such was the anger
that took, that never did it again.
For young Alberto, going to
dance on holidays was his maximum illusion and, therefore, he frequented the
elegant dance halls that existed at that time in Santo Domingo.
Another of his great hobbies
was going to the bullfights. He liked to go to the bullfights and jump into the
ring in the heifers. And have you ever had a serious scare!
He only thought about having a
good time. And it was then, at the age of 16, that he met her soon to be his
wife. Her name was Isabel Arenas Mahave and she was the woman of his life.
On June 30, 1909, and after
five years of dating, Alberto and Isabel were married. The first years of their
marriage were not very happy. Alberto was ambitious; he had an excessive desire
for work, to earn money and to have economic prosperity. He didn't care about
anything else.
He had a strong character and
this did not make coexistence easy. Alberto realized that this could not
continue.
A feeling of emptiness and deep
dissatisfaction assailed him.
The search for wealth and
entertainment did not give him happiness. And it had to be the love of his wife
that opened his eyes to another reality that until then it has been hidden from
him.
Isabel made him see that he had
money, but that he lacked the most important thing: “God was with me but I was
not with Him. My heart looked too much to the earth and too little to Heaven.
This was the secret. "
Before his conversion, he loved
Isabel passionately, with jealousy and with his own temperament, ready to face
competitor but after his conversion, he continued loving her with the same
passion, but with greater serenity and control of his temper.
At that time a neighbor left
him the Catechism of Father Claret. At first, he began to look at him out of
curiosity, noting especially her beautiful illustrations. And he liked it so
much that, little by little, he began to read it. At that moment, something
changed: "It was no longer me, it was Christ in me who was moving in all
directions."
Many years later Alberto wrote
at that time, while he was praying at his house on Calle San Francisco, he felt
the real presence of the Virgin Mary for three nights in a row. He greets the
Blessed Virgin Mary three times a day with the prayers of Angelus, and if he is
with someone else he would pray out loud so that they could pray with him.
Every day surrounded by his children he praye the rosary.
That was only the beginning of
a long life of faith, which profoundly changed his way of seeing life:
"Thinking of Heaven is when things on earth are given true value."
After an initial period of
fervent prayer, Alberto made decisions that compromised the rest of his life
and took action: he abandoned three-quarters of his farms and sold part of his
animals, despite comments from neighbors, who they called it lazy and
irresponsible.
He himself recognized that it
was a difficult choice, since he had to raise his children. But he never
regretted letting go of his excessive obsession with work and money. He knew
that God would provide and that he would never let his family be in need. So it
was. He provided all of his children with a decent way to live.
His continuous inner struggles,
the temptations, ... took their toll on him, and many times he fell back on
them, feeling defeated. He did not even feel worthy of Communion every day,
despite his religious fervor and deep faith.
But then he found two channels
that helped him achieve a complete and definitive transformation: he discovered
Night Worship and love for the poor. This was reflected by himself in one of
the few dates he noted in a booklet: "I entered the Night Worship on June
12, 1919."
Nocturnal Adoration had been
implanted in Santo Domingo de La Calzada for nine years. Alberto was impressed
by the efforts of those Labrador farmers who were able to spend long hours at
night praying and worshiping Christ in the tabernacle, after having been working
hard in the fields.
Since then he wanted to be part
of their ranks and a year after his entry he was appointed head of one of the
three vigil shifts.
Years later, on January 30,
1927, he was elected President of the Santo Domingo Night Worship. Such was his
enthusiasm for the Sacramented Christ, that it infected many people from
Calceate. So the association had to create more shifts to organize so many
worshipers. He was re-elected for the third time in 1943. When he was named
president there were two turns of adoration, and within a few years another two
turns were created with more than 80 adorers. He made 660 vigils of prayer
before the exposed Blessed Sacrament which he committed himself.
The consequence of discovering
Christ in the Eucharist led Albert to discover him also in the poorest and
neediest brothers.
He gave himself
unconditionally. Just by looking out the window of his house, Alberto could
contemplate daily the lines of beggars who crowded in front of the doors of the
convent of the Claretian Fathers in search of food.
Given this, he decided to make
a haystack available to the poor for their refuge on the cold nights of Santo
Domingo de la Calzada.
But in 1928 he made a small
place better arranged, with a kitchen, fireplace, firewood and bedrooms, so
that those who begged on the street had a decent place to shelter.
At the beginning of the 1940s,
after the Civil War, the whole of Spain went through hunger and hardship in a
very difficult post-war period.
It is then when Alberto already
built what would be a large and definitive refuge, called the "Recollection".
The previous one had sunk after a storm. So he saw in the disaster an
opportunity to do something new and much better, even though he was already 54
years old.
The new building consisted of
two floors that had beds, mattresses, blankets, sheets, toilets, kitchens,
rooms, ... What Alberto wanted with all this is that people without homes or
resources should be treated with the dignity that any person deserves. Person
The new hostel had coexistence
rules and basic regulations for its proper functioning.
Sometimes, even if he was
already in bed, if some poor man knocked on the door of his house, he would not
hesitate to accompany him to the Retreat, even if it was snowing or even carry
him on his shoulders because they could not walk. "How many times have I
had the honor and happiness of carrying Christ on my back in the person of a
poor man!"
The cleanliness of the shelter,
the heat of the stove, the smoking of the potatoes in the pot ... all this was
important. But so were the words of encouragement, the good advice, and the
prayers shared with these hapless poor of life.
On 1959 during the celebration
of their Golden Wedding Anniversary they made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our
Lady of Lourdes with their children. In Lourdes he found together his three great
loves: Love for our Eucharistic Lord, love for the poor and the sick people and
devotion to Our Lady. Before the image of the Virgin in the Grotto he prayed
for a long period of time and with great emotion wishing to return her the
visit that obtained him the grace of his conversion.
One day a cart loaded with
grain hit his son Francisco. After having put his son to bed and having called
the doctor, he ran to the Church, only a few meters away, to prostrate himself
before the Holy Crucifix before whom he had prayed so often. His son recovered
immediately, to the doctor’s surprise and with the conviction of some that it
has been miraculous. It is the reason he consecrated his house and his family
to Christ Crucified. He also gave beautiful crucifix to his married children
that they may place in their own houses.
With fervor he prostrated
himself before Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and with the same faith
prostrated himself before Christ’s presence in the sick and the poor.
This farmer from La Rioja,
father of a large family, member of Night Worship, friend and refuge of the
poor, ended his days on earth on February 24, 1965, at the age of 77.
After her restless youth, far
from God, came her conversion. From there she lived the love of solitude in prayer,
the love for the Virgin Mary, the concern for the education of her children,
the love for Christ reflected in the face of the poor, ...
We are all called to be holy in
the little things of everyday life. And Alberto Capellán, without a doubt, was
an example of this.
Prayer
for the Beatification of Venerable Alberto Capellán Zuazo
Oh
God, you granted to your servant Venerable Alberto Capellan a singular love for
the mysteries of your Body and Blood and the charism of finding you and serving
you in the poor: make me also be able to pass through this live intimately
united to You serving you in our neediest brothers. Deign to grant me the favor
that I ask of you through his intercession (mention your request). Amen.
Our
Father…Hail Mary… Glory be…
CAUSA DE BEATIFICACIÓN DEL VENERABLE
ALBERTO CAPELLÁN ZUAZO
Oficinas Diocesanas del
Obispado de Calahorra y La Calzada-Logroño
C/ Obispo Fidel García, 1
26004 Logroño - La Rioja (España)
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