Lord. through the apostolic work of Saint Turibius and his unwavering love of truth, You helped Your Church to grow. May Your chosen people continue to grow in faith and holiness.
A 1000 times a day I pass by a statue of a saint I really have no particular devotion to, nor do I know much about. At least not until I looked more closely at the place these holy men and women have in our daily living the other day.
At the main entrance of the seminary, there are four statues which act as sentinels of faith and Christian perseverance: Saint Rose of Lima, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Saint Isaac Jogues and Saint Turibius de Mogrovejo. The link among these saints and blessed is their work of evangelization in the new world. They all had an experience of Christ and then set out to share that experience to others. They all worked for the salvation of humanity, even to the point of death (Jogues). Two of these saints are natives of the new world, two are immigrants from Europe, two are women and two are men and priests (one’s also a bishop), BUT all responded to Christ’s call to discipleship, to sahre in the cross and to shared the faith with others. And two lived and worked in Lima, Peru. Saint Turibio was the first to establish a seminary in the new world, following the mandates of the Council of Trent. And so, Saint Turibio has a special place in the life of seminarians in the USA and in particular to the seminarians of Saint Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers.
Saint Turibio de Mogrovejo, pray for us!