vendredi 23 mars 2012

Saint TURIBIO de MOGROVEJO, missionnaire, archevêque, fondateur et confesseur


Saint Alphonse Turibe de Mogrovejo

Archevêque de Lima (+ 1606)


Turibio de Mongrovejo fut un grand bienfaiteur des indiens du Pérou, qui avaient fort à souffrir de la cupidité des Espagnols qui avaient conquis leur pays.

Originaire de Mayorga en Espagne, il fut nommé, par le roi Philippe II, archevêque de Lima, un diocèse grand comme la moitié de la France. Il visita trois fois ses fidèles chrétiens d'origine indienne. Cela durait chaque fois sept ans.

Il lutta contre les autorités royales, ouvrit un séminaire, fit prendre conscience aux chercheurs d'or qu'ils ne devaient pas les traiter comme des esclaves. Doux, patient, habile, d'un courage indomptable, il transforma l'état des choses au Pérou, rendant à tous leur dignité d'hommes.

(...)

Mémoire de saint Turibio de Mogrovejo, évêque de Lima. Homme de loi, né en Espagne, il était encore laïc quand il fut nommé à ce siège au Pérou. Il gagna l’Amérique et, brûlant de zèle, il visita plusieurs fois son immense diocèse, souvent à pied, avec une vigilance assidue pour le troupeau qui lui était confié. Il extirpa dans des synodes les abus et les scandales dans le clergé, défendit fermement l’Église, convertit et catéchisa les peuples indigènes et mourut à Saña en 1606, au cours d’une visite pastorale.

Martyrologe romain


SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/849/Saint-Alphonse-Turibe-de-Mogrovejo.html

Vista de la escultura de santo Toribio de Mogrovejo en el Palacio Arzobispal de Lima.



Saint Turibe-Alphonse

Turibe-Alphonse, second fils du seigneur de Mongrovejo, naquit le 18 novembre 1538 à Mayorga, dans la province espagnole de Léon. Il fut porté vers la piété et l’horreur du péché dès l'enfance où il éprouvait un très vif bonheur en ornant les autels et en servant les pauvres. Fort dévôt à la Sainte Vierge dont il récitait chaque jour son office et le rosaire, il jeûnait tous les samedis. Lorsqu’il faisait ses études à Valadolid et à Salamanque, il donnait une partie de son dîner aux pauvres.

Bien que laïc, Philippe II le nomma président du tribunal de l'Inquisition à Grenade où il resta cinq ans avant d'être nommé, contre sa volonté, archevêque de Lima, capitale du Pérou ; Philippe II pensant que Turibe-Alphonse de Mongrovejo était le seul homme capable de faire cesser les scandales des conquistadores qui empêchaient la conversion des Péruviens.

Turibe-Alphonse de Mongrovejo se prépara à recevoir les ordres ; il voulut recevoir les quatre ordres mineurs en quatre dimanches différents pour avoir le temps d’en remplir les fonctions ; il reçut ensuite les ordres majeurs puis il reçut la consécration épiscopale après laquelle il s'embarqua pour l'Amérique où il arriva en 1581.

Son immense diocèse (cinq cent vingt kilomètres, le long des côtes) était alors un lieu de scandales et de dépravations où il fut d'autant plus mal accueilli que chacun savait que le Roi l'avait nommé pour y mettre de l'ordre. Les conquistadores s’étaient très mal conduits envers les indigènes qu’ils avaient tyranisés ; des guerres civiles et des dissensions domestiques s’en étaient suivies, les mœurs étaient dans un état déplorable et le clergé ne donnait guère le bon exemple.

Avec rigueur et patience, Turibe-Alphonse de Mongrovejo, supportant les persécutions de l'administration et des colons espagnols, prit des mesures fermes qui arrêtèrent dans Lima le cours des scandales publics ; aux Espagnols qui, pour excuser leur dureté et leurs abus, invoquaient la coutume, il répondait : « Jésus-Christ s’appelle la vérité et non la coutume ; à son tribunal, nos actions seront pesées dans la balance du sanctuaire. » Avec un zèle infatigable qui fut couronné de succès, pendant sept ans, il visita son diocèse, montrant l’exemple de la pénitence et de la piété. Il réussit à réformer son clergé qu’il réunit tous les deux ans pour des synodes diocésains et tous les sept ans pour des synodes provinciaux ; il fonda des séminaires, des églises, des écoles et des hôpitaux. Il fit encore deux visites de son diocèse, de cinq ans chacune, et obtint la conversion de très nombreux Indiens.

Turibe-Alphonse de Mongrovejo qui se confessait tous les matins, avant de célébrer la messe, faisait de sa vie une prière continuelle. Il tomba malade, au cours d'une visite pastorale à Santa, à quatre cent quarante kilomètres de Lima ; il distribua ses biens et se fit porter à l’église pour recevoir le viatique ; on le ramena dans la maison où il reçut l’extrême-onction et mourut le 23 mars 1606. L’année qui suivit sa mort, on transporta sa dépouille que l’on trouva sans corruption, à Lima où il fit plusieurs miracles. Béatifié par Innocent XI, en 1679, Turibe-Alphonse de Mongrovejo fut canonisé par Benoît XIII, en 1726.

SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/03/23.php


Saint Alphonse Turibe de Mogrovejo, évêque

Alfonso de Mogrovejo né à Majorque en Espagne en 1538. Il étudie à Valladolid, puis à l’Université de Salamanque où il devient professeur de droit. En 1571, même s’il est toujours laïc, le roi Philippe II lui offre de devenir juge en chef de la cour ecclésiastique de l’Inquisition à Grenade. Puis, en 1580, il est sélectionné pour faire partie d’une mission d’évangélisation au Pérou. Il refuse d’abord, prétextant qu’il ne peut faire partie d’une telle mission puisque laïc. Il est donc ordonné prêtre, puis consacré évêque, et enfin envoyé à Lima où il débarque en 1581. Il s’intègre très bien aux populations locales qu’il traite avec respect. Par trois fois, il mena une vaste visite pastorale de sept ans pour rencontrer chacun des fidèles, dans un diocèse immense. Il sut s’opposer au pouvoir royal et aux potentats locaux, il fonde de nombreuses églises, monastères et hôpitaux, de même qu’un des premiers séminaires sur le sol américain. Doux, patient, habile, d'un courage indomptable, il transforma l'état des choses au Pérou, rendant à chacun sa dignité d'homme. Il tombe malade alors qu’il se trouve à Pacasmayo et décède peu de temps après en 1606.

SOURCE : http://www.paroisse-saint-aygulf.fr/index.php/prieres-et-liturgie/saints-par-mois/icalrepeat.detail/2015/03/23/5685/-/saint-alphonse-turibe-de-mogrovejo-eveque

Monument to St. Toribio of Mogrovejo in his natal village, Mayorga (Province of Valladolid, Spain).

Monumento a Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo en su localidad natal de Mayorga (Provincia de Valladolid, España).


Pérou : IVe centenaire de la mort de saint Turibe de Mogrovejo

Message de Benoît XVI

24 AVRIL 2006REDACTIONÉglise catholique

ROME, Lundi 24 avril 2006 (ZENIT.org) – Le « Catéchisme de saint Turibe », a constitué « un instrument extraordinairement efficace pour instruire dans la foi des millions de personnes au cours des siècles », affirme Benoît XVI dans un message à l’Eglise du Pérou.

Turibe (Toribio) Alphonse de Mogrovejo, archevêque de Lima, (+ 1606), est en effet fêté le jour anniversaire de sa « naissance au ciel », le 23 mars, date du message de Benoît XVI.

Espagnol, originaire de Mayorga en Espagne, il fut nommé archevêque de Lima par le roi Philippe II. Pourtant, il combattit l’autorité royale pour défendre les populations, et il fit comprendre aux chercheurs d’or espagnols qu’ils ne devaient pas traiter les autochtones en esclaves.

Il est en effet connu pour sa sollicitude envers les populations autochtones d’origine indienne, dont il visita les communautés chrétiennes à trois reprises : des visites pastorales de 7 ans à chaque fois !

Doux, patient, habile, courageux, il réussit à imposer sa vision de la dignité humaine au Pérou. Et pour s’assurer des collaborateurs idoines, ouvrit un séminaire.

Dans son message, Benoît XVI souligne que ce IVe centenaire constitue une « occasion providentielle » pour fortifier les différents diocèses du pays.

Il souligne que ce saint archevêque de Lima « s’est distingué par son esprit d’abnégation » et son dévouement « pour l’édification et la consolidation des communautés ecclésiales de son temps ».

« Il l’a toujours fait, ajoutait le pape, avec un grand esprit de communion et de collaboration en cherchant l’unité comme le démontre sa convocation du IIIe concile provincial de Lima (1582-1503), qui a laissé un héritage précieux pour ce qui concerne la doctrine et les normes pastorales ».

Un des grands fruits de cet événement a été, soulignait le pape, le « Catéchisme de saint Turibe », qui s’est ensuite révélé être « un instrument extraordinairement efficace pour instruire dans la foi des millions de personnes au cours des siècles et de façon solide, et en accord avec la doctrine authentique de l’Eglise, en unissant en profondeur et en dépit des différences, ceux qui s’identifient parce qu’ils ont « un seul Seigneur, une seule foi un seul baptême » (cf. Ep. 4, 5) ».

Le pape soulignait cet autre fruit du « concile provincial »: « Conscient du fait que la vitalité de l’Eglise dépend en grande partie du ministère de ses prêtres, le saint archevêque a fondé le séminaire conciliaire de Lima, encore en activité aujourd’hui ».

Le pape a exprimé son espérance de le voir continuer à porter des fruits abondants en particulier à une époque où il est urgent de promouvoir les vocations au sacerdoce et à la vie consacrée, pour assumer la tâche importante de constituer des communautés chrétiennes qui se réunissent dans la joie pour la célébration dominicale, qui s’approchent des sacrements, qui aient soin de leur vie spirituelle, transmettent et cultivent la foi, donne un témoignage d’espérance ferme et pratiquent toujours la charité ».

Benoît XVI a également évoqué le profond esprit missionnaire de saint Turibe, qui n’hésita pas à apprendre plusieurs langues pour prêcher personnellement à tous ceux qui étaient confiés à sa sollicitude pastorale, mais, a précisé le pape, c’était en même temps un signe de respect pour la dignité de toute personne humaine, de toute condition, cherchant à susciter le sens d’être des enfants de Dieu ».

Enfin, le pape invoquait la Vierge Marie, « afin qu’elle protège le Peuple de Dieu qui demeure dans les terres latino-américaines et les guide vers la joie de vivre la foi dans le Christ pleinement et de façon cohérente ».

SOURCE : https://fr.zenit.org/articles/perou-ive-centenaire-de-la-mort-de-saint-turibe-de-mogrovejo/

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Saint Turibius of Mogroveio

Also known as

Turibius of Lima

Turibius…

Toribio Alfonso..

Turribius Alphonsus…

Turybiusz…

Turibio…

Memorial

23 March

formerly 27 April

19 February (Ambrosian Rite)

Profile

Born to the nobility. LawyerProfessor of law at SalamancaSpainOrdained in 1578 at age 40. Judge of the Court of the Inquisition at GranadaSpainArchbishop of LimaPeru on 15 May 1579. Founded the first seminary in the Western hemisphere. Fought for the rights of the natives against the Spanish masters. Organized councils and synods in the New World.

Born

1538 at Mayorga de Campos, Leon, Spain

Died

23 May 1606 at Santa, Peru of natural causes

Beatified

2 July 1679 by Pope Innocent XI

Canonized

10 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII

Patronage

Latin American bishops

native rights

LimaPeru

Peru

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MLA Citation

“Saint Turibius of Mogroveio“. CatholicSaints.Info. 31 October 2021. Web. 20 March 2023. <http://catholicsaints.info/saint-turibius-of-mogroveio/>

SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-turibius-of-mogroveio/

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St. Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo (1538-1606) 

Bishop and defender of the rights of the native Indians in Peru. He founded schools, churches, hospitals, and the first seminary in the New World. To assist his pastoral work among the Indians, he also mastered several Indian dialects. Together with Rose of Lima, Turibius is the first known saint of the New World, serving the Lord in Peru, South America, for 26 years.

Born in Spain and educated for the law, he became so brilliant a scholar that he was made professor of law at the University of Salamanca and eventually became chief judge of the Inquisition at Granada. He succeeded too well. But he was not sharp enough a lawyer to prevent a surprising sequence of events.

When the archdiocese of Lima in Peru required a new leader, Turibius was chosen to fill the post: He was the one person with the strength of character and holiness of spirit to heal the scandals that had infected that area.

He cited all the canons that forbade giving laymen ecclesiastical dignities, but he was overruled. He was ordained priest and bishop and sent to Peru, where he found colonialism at its worst. The Spanish conquerors were guilty of every sort of oppression of the native population. Abuses among the clergy were flagrant, and he devoted his energies (and suffering) to this area first.

He began the long and arduous visitation of an immense archdiocese, studying the language, staying two or three days in each place, often with neither bed nor food. He confessed every morning to his chaplain, and celebrated Mass with intense fervor. Among those to whom he gave the Sacrament of Confirmation was St. Rose of Lima, and possibly St. Martin de Porres. After 1590 he had the help of another great missionary, St. Francis Solanus.

His people, though very poor, were sensitive, dreading to accept public charity from others. Turibius solved the problem by helping them anonymously.

SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-turibius-of-mogrovejo/

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St. Toribio Alfonso Mogrovejo

Archbishop of Lima; b. at Mayorga, LeónSpain, 1538; d. near Lima Peru, 23 March 1606.

Of noble family and highly educated, he was professor of laws at the University of Salamanca, where his learning and virtue led to his appointment as Grand Inquisitor of Spain by Philip II and, though not ofecclesiastical rank, to his subsequent selection for the Archbishopric of Peru. He received Holy Orders in 1578 and two years later was consecrated bishop. He arrived at Payta, Peru, 600 miles from Lima, on 24 May, 1581. He began his mission work by travelling to Lima on foot, baptizing and teaching the natives. His favourite topic being: "Time is not our own, and we must give a strict account of it." Three times he traversed the eighteen thousand miles of his diocese, generally on foot, defenceless and often alone; exposed to tempests, torrents, deserts, wild beasts, tropical heat, fevers, and savage tribes; baptizingand confirming nearly one half million souls, among them St. Rose of Lima, St. Francis Solano, Blessed Martin of Porres, and Blessed Masias. He built roads, school houses, and chapels innumerable, and many hospitals and convents, and founded the first American seminary at Lima in 1591. He assembled thirteendiocesan synods and three provincial councils.

Years before he died, he predicted the day and hour of his death. At Pacasmayo he contracted fever, but continued labouring to the last, arriving at Sana in a dying condition. Dragging himself to the sanctuary he received the Viaticum, expiring shortly after. He was beatified by Innocent XI in 1697 and canonized byBenedict XIII in 1726. His feast is celebrated on 27 April.

Sources

DE HERRERA, Life of Toribio

Aymé, Edward. "St. Toribio Alfonso Mogrovejo." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912. 23 Mar. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14781a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by John Looby. Dedicated to Padre Pablo Hagan, Vicar Episcopal de Caylloma.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14781a.htm

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Turibius Mongrovejo B (RM)

(also known as Toribio of Turribius of Lima)

Born in Mayorga, León, Spain, on November 16, 1538; died at Santa (Sana) near Lima, Peru, on March 26 (or 23), 1606; beatified by Pope Innocent XI on June 28, 1679; canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726; feast day formerly on April 27.

Turibius (Toribio) Alphonsus was the son of Don Luis Alfonso de Mogrovejo and Dona Ana de Robles y Moran. Although he was devoted from a young age, he had no plans to become a priest. He studied at Valladolid and Salamanca, and was such a successful student that he became a professor of law at the University of Salamanca. In February 1571, although he was still a layman, King Philip II appointed him the chief judge of the ecclesiastical court of the Inquisition at Granada.

In 1580, when the authorities required an archbishop of strong character to work to convert the Peruvians of Lima, they selected Turibius. He was horrified by this decision, and he presented the canons forbidding the promotion of laymen to Church offices to support his contention. He was overruled, however, was ordained priest, consecrated bishop, and arrived in Lima, Peru, on May 24, 1581.

The saint proved to be a wise selection because he was a most zealous shepherd of souls. Upon his arrival he was confronted with an enormous diocese of 18,000 square-miles--his first visitation took him seven years--and one in which the Spanish were guilty of mistreatment of the native population. Undaunted he began his work, traversing his entire diocese three times, generally on foot because there were no roads, defenseless, and often alone, exposed to tempests, torrents, deserts, wild beasts, tropical heat, and fevers.

He came into immediate conflict with the secular authorities over the treatment of the Quechuans, whose rights he defended and whose dialects he learned to speak. He found that many of the baptized Indians knew little or nothing about Christianity and proceeded to evangelize them. He fought injustice and vice, among the clergy as well as the laymen, and succeeded in eliminating many of the worst abuses. At the same time, he helped Spaniards who were too proud to ask for help in such a way that they were not aware of his assistance.

He himself baptized and confirmed nearly a million souls. He continuously studied the various Indian dialects to assist in converting the native population. Among his flock were Saint Rose of Lima, whom he befriended and confirmed, Saint Francis Solanus, Saint Martin de Porres, and Saint John Massias.

He founded many churches, religious houses, and hospitals, and, in 1591, founded the first American seminary in Lima. He also assembled 13 diocesan synods. His favorite topic when preaching was: "Time is not our own and we must give a strict accounting of it."

Turibius fell ill at Pacasmayo but worked to the end. On one of his journeys he arrived at Sana in dying condition; he dragged himself to the sanctuary and there received the viaticum, dying almost immediately thereafter. He left his belongings to his servants and the rest of his property to the poor. 

His cultus was strongly celebrated in Latin America on April 27, until his feast was added to the universal calendar on March 23. He was selected for this worldwide cultus as a type of pioneering missionary and reforming bishop, and as a representative of South America, whose enormous Catholic population is often forgotten (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Schamoni, White). 

In art, Saint Turibius is portrayed as a bishop kneeling on the altar steps, surrounded by angels (Roeder). Saint Turibius is the patron saint of bishops of Latin American (White).

SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0323.shtml

Inca's presenteren een boek aan Turibius de Mogrovejo, Leven van de heilige Turibius de Mogrovejo (serietitel)
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March 23

St. Alphonsus Turibius, Bishop and Confessor

From his life by F. Cyprian de Herrera, dedicated to Pope Clement X., and the acts of his canonization.

A.D. 1606

[Archbishop of Lima.]  ST. TORIBIO, or TURIBIUS ALPHONSUS MOGROBEJO, was second son to the Lord of Mogrobejo, and born in the kingdom of Leon, on the 16th of November, in 1538. From his infancy he discovered a strong inclination to piety; and, in his childhood, it was his delight, at times of recreation, to erect and adorn altars and to serve the poor. He trembled at the very shadow of sin. One day, seeing a poor pedlar woman angry because she had lost something out of her pack, he most movingly entreated and exhorted her, that she would not offend God by passion; and, in order to appease her, gave her the value of her loss, which he had begged of his mother for that purpose. He was very devout to the Blessed Virgin, said every day her Office and Rosary, and fasted every Saturday in her honour. Whilst at school, he usually gave part of his slender dinner to the poor, and was so much addicted to fasting, that his superiors were obliged, by strict commands, to compel him to moderate his austerities. He began his higher studies at Valladolid, but completed them at Salamanca. He was introduced early to the notice of King Philip II., honoured by him with several dignities, and made president or chief judge at Granada. This office he discharged during five years with so much integrity, prudence, and virtue, that the eyes of the whole kingdom were fixed on him, and his life in the world was a holy noviceship to the pastoral charge. The pressing necessities of the infant church of Peru required a prelate who inherited, in a distinguished manner, the spirit of the apostles; and the archbishopric of Lima, falling vacant, Turibius was unanimously judged the person of all others the best qualified to be an apostle of so large a country, and to remedy the scandals which obstructed the conversion of the infidels. The king readily nominated him to that dignity, and all parties concerned applauded the choice. Turibius was thunderstruck at this unexpected news, and had no sooner received the message, but he cast himself on the ground at the foot of his crucifix, praying with many tears that God would deliver him from so heavy a burden, which he thought absolutely above his strength. He wrote the most urgent letters to the king’s council, in which he pleaded his incapacity, and other impediments, and laid great stress on the canons, which forbid laymen to be promoted to such dignities in the church. This humility it was that obtained the succour of heaven by which he performed wonders in the service of souls. Being compelled by obedience to acquiesce, he at length testified his submission by falling on his knees and kissing the ground.

After a suitable preparation, he received the four minor orders on four successive Sundays, the better to dispose himself for the functions of each; and after passing through the other orders, he was consecrated bishop. Immediately after which he set out for Peru, and landed at Lima, in the year 1581, of his age the forty-third. That diocess is extended one hundred and thirty-leagues along the coast, comprising three cities, and many towns and villages, with innumerable cottages scattered over two ridges of the mountains of the Andes, esteemed the highest and most rugged in the world. Some of the European generals, who first invaded that country, were men who seemed to measure everything by their insatiable avarice and ambition, and had so far lost all sentiments of humanity towards the poor savages, that they deserved the name rather of tyrants and plunderers than of conquerors. Civil wars and dissensions completed the misfortune of that country; and covetousness, cruelty, treachery, fraud, and debauchery seemed triumphant. Nor were the repeated orders of the Spanish court able to redress these evils. The sight of these disorders moved the good pastor often to tears, but his prudence and zeal overcame all difficulties, extirpated public scandals, and made that kingdom a flourishing portion of the Christian Church. Upon his arrival he immediately began a visitation of his vast diocess: an undertaking of incredible fatigue, and attended with many dangers. He often crept over the steepest and most rugged mountains, covered with ice or snow, to visit some poor hut of Indians, and give them suitable comfort and instruction. He travelled often on foot, and sometimes barefoot, and by fasting and prayer never ceased to implore the divine mercy for the salvation of the souls committed to his charge. He placed everywhere able and zealous pastors, and took care that no one in the most remote corners of the rocks should be left destitude of the means of instruction and of the benefit of the sacraments. To settle and maintain discipline, he appointed diocesan synods to be held every two years, and provincial synods every seven; and was vigilant and severe in chastising the least scandal, especially of avarice, in the clergy. Without respect of persons, he reproved injustices and vice, and made use of all the means which his authority put into his hands, to check the insolence of public sinners, and to protect the poor from oppression. Many of the first conquerors and governors of Peru, before the arrival of the most virtuous viceroy Francis of Toledo, were men who often sacrificed every thing to their passions, and for their private ends. From some of these the saint suffered many persecutions, and was often thwarted by them in the discharge of his duty. But by the arms of meekness and patience he overcame all affronts and injuries, and with an invincible constancy he maintained the rights of justice and truth. He showed that many sinners misconstrued the law of God to make it favour their passions; but that, as Tertullian observes, “Christ calls himself the truth, not custom,” and will weigh our actions not in the false balance of the world, but in the true scales of the sanctuary. Thus he extirpated the most inveterate abuses, 1 and established with so great fervour the pure maxims of the gospel, as to revive in many the primitive spirit of Christianity. To extend and perpetuate the advantages of religion, which by his zeal he had procured, he filled this country with seminaries, churches, and many hospitals; but would never suffer his own name to be recorded in any of his munificent charities or foundations. When he was at Lima, he every day visited several hospitals, comforted and exhorted the sick, and administered the sacraments. When a pestilence, though that calamity is seldom known in Peru, raged in some parts of his diocess, Turibius distributed his own necessaries in relieving the afflicted: he preached penance, because sins are the cause of chastisements and infinitely the worst of evils. He walked in the processions, bathed in tears, with his eyes always on a crucifix, and offering himself to God for his flock; fasted, watched, and prayed for them, without intermission, till God was pleased to remove his scourge.

Nothing gave the saint so much pleasure as the greatest labours and dangers, to procure the least spiritual advantage to one soul. Burning with the most vehement desire of laying down his life for his flock, and of suffering all things for him who died for us, he feared no dangers. When he heard that poor Indians wandered in the mountains and deserts, he sought them out; and to comfort, instruct, or gain one of them, he often suffered incredible fatigues and dangers in the wildernesses, and boldly travelled through the haunts of lions and tigers. He spent seven years in performing his first visitation: his second employed him four years, but the third was shorter. He converted innumerable infidels, and left everywhere monuments of his charity. In travelling, he either prayed or discoursed on heavenly things. On his arrival at a place, it was his custom to repair first to the church to pray before the altar. To catechise the poor, he would sometimes stay two or three days in places where he had neither bed nor any kind of food. He visited every part of his vast diocess: and when others suggested to him the dangers that threatened him from rocks, precipices, marshes, rivers, robbers, and savages, his answer was that as Christ came from heaven to save man, we ought not therefore to fear dangers for the sake of immortal glory. He preached and catechised without intermission, having for this purpose learned, in his old age, all the various languages of the barbarous nations of that country. Even on his journies he said mass every day with wonderful fervour and devotion. He always made a long meditation before and after it, and usually went to confession every morning; though they who best knew his interior, testified, that they were persuaded he had never in his whole life forfeited his baptismal innocence by any mortal sin. He seemed to have God and the divine honour alone before his eyes in all his words and actions, so as to give little or no attention to anything else; by which means his prayer was perpetual. He retired in private to that exercise often in the day, and for a long time together. In it his countenance seemed often to shine with a divine light. The care with which he studied to disguise and conceal his great mortifications and works of piety, was the proof of his sincere humility. His munificence in relieving the poor of every class, especially those who were too bashful to make their necessities publicly known, always exhausted his revenues. The decrees of his provincial councils are monuments of his zeal, piety, learning, and discretion: they have been ever since esteemed, not only in the new world, but also in Europe, and at Rome itself, as oracles. The flourishing state of the church of Peru, the great numbers of saints and eminent pastors with which it abounded, and the establishment of innumerable seminaries of piety and learning, and hospitals for the poor, were the fruit of his zeal. If he did not originally plant the faith, he was at least the great propagator of it, and the chief instrument of God in removing scandals and advancing true piety in that vast country, which till then had been a land of abominations; whilst Francis of Toledo, the great viceroy, first settled the civil government in peace and tranquillity by salutary laws, which have procured him the title of the Legislator of Peru. St. Turibius, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, in 1606, during the visitation of his diocess, fell sick at Santa, a town one hundred and ten leagues distant from Lima. He foretold his death, and ordered him to be rewarded who should bring him the first account from his physician that his recovery was despaired of. The ardour of his faith, his hope, his love of his Creator and Redeemer, his resignation and perfect sacrifice of himself, gathered strength in the fervent exercises and aspirations which he repeated almost without ceasing in his illness. By his last will he ordered what he had about him to be distributed among his servants, and whatever else he otherwise possessed to be given to the poor. He would be carried to the church, there to receive the holy Viaticum: but received extreme unction in his sick bed. He often repeated those words of St. Paul: I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. And in his last moments he ordered to be sung, by his bed-side, those of the Psalmist: I rejoiced in the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. He died on the 23rd of March, repeating those other words of the same prophet: Into thy hands I commend my spirit. His body being translated the year after to Lima, was found incorrupt, the joints flexible, and the skin soft. His historian, and the acts of the canonization, mention many sick restored to their health, and a girl raised to life by him whilst he was living: also many miracles wrought through his intercession after his death. He was beatified by Innocent XI. in 1679, 2 and solemnly canonized by Pope Benedict XIII. in 1726. On the miracles wrought by his intercession, see Benedict XIV. 3 and especially the acts of his canonization.

A pastor of souls must be careful to animate all his exterior actions and labours in the service of his neighbour, with the interior spirit of compunction, humility, zeal, charity, and tender devotion. Without this he loses the fruit of all the pains he takes, and by them will often deserve only chastisements in the world to come; so much will his intention and the affections of his heart be infected with self-love, and depraved by various imperfections, and secret sinister desires even in the most holy functions. Therefore, a fervent noviciate, employed in the exercises of an interior life, ought to be a part of the preparation for this state; and in the discharge of his duties, a person ought always to unite contemplation with action, and reserve to himself sufficient time for conversing with God and his own soul, and taking a frequent review of his own interior. From his labours he must return frequently to prayer, and constantly nourish in his soul a spirit of fervent devotion, which will thus accompany all his exterior actions, and keep his thoughts and affections always united to God. Those who are not faithful in thus maintaining and improving in themselves an interior spirit of piety, and in watching with fear and compunction over the motives of their own hearts, will generally advance very little the kingdom of Christ in the souls of others, and are in great danger of losing their own. This is what St. Bernard feared in his disciple Pope Eugenius III. whom he conjured with tears never to give himself up entirely to the care of others, so as not to live also for himself; so to communicate a spirit of piety to others, as not to suffer it to be drained in his own heart; to be a basin to hold it, not a pipe for it to run through. 4 This lesson is applicable, with due proportion to other states, especially that of teaching the sciences, in which the exercises of an interior life are so much the more necessary, as the employment is more distracting, more tumultuous, and more exposed to the waves of vanity, jealousy, and other secret and petty passions.

Note 1. The Indians were infamous for their debaucheries, and became so fond of the Spanish wines, after having once tasted them, that to purchase a small quantity they would give all their gold, and were never sober as long as they had wine to drink. But their crimes, which justly provoked the anger of heaven, could not justify the cruelty of their European enemies, in whom avarice seemed to have extinguished the sentiments both of humanity and religion. The missionary priests endeavoured in vain to put a stop to the outrages of their countrymen; and the Dominicans carried repeated complaints against them to the kings of Spain. At their remonstrances, Ferdinand, king of Castile, declared the Indians free, and forbade the Spaniards to employ them in carrying burdens, or to use a stick or whip in chastising them. The Emperor Charles V. was prevailed upon to send into America severe orders and regulations in their favour, but to very little effect. The officers, who assumed the haughty titles of conquerors, of Mexico and Peru, would not be controlled. Bartholemew de las Casas, a Dominican, and bishop of Chiapa, in New Spain, made four fruitless voyages into Castile to plead the cause of the poor Indians; he obtained ample rescripts from the king, and was constituted by him protector general of the Indians in America. But these expedients proved too weak against men who were armed. He therefore resigned his bishopric into the hands of the pope, in 1551, and returned into the convent of his order at Valladolid; where he wrote his books, On the Destruction of the Indians by the Spaniards, and On the Tyranny of the Spaniards in the Indies, both dedicated to King Philip II. The archbishop of Seville, and the universities of Salamanca and Alcala forbade the impression of the answers which some had written to defend the Spanish governors, on principles repugnant to the law of nature and of nations. These books of las-Casas, being translated into French, were scattered among the people in the Low Countries, who had taken up arms against the Spaniards, and animated them exceedingly in their revolt. But the crimes of some ought not to be imputed to a nation: and the same country which gave birth to some monsters was most fruitful in saints, and produced the most zealous apostles and defenders of the Indians. The great principle which las-Casas defended in the emperor’s council, and in his writings, was, that the conquered Indians could not, without injustice, be made slaves to the Spaniards, which the king’s council and the divines agreed to with regard to those who had not been taken armed in just wars. See the history of the isle of Saint Domingo, by F. Charlevoix. [back]

Note 2. Bened. XIV. De Beatif. et Canoniz. l. 1. Append. p. 496. [back]

Note 3. De Servor. Dei Canoniz. Romæ, 1738. fol. t. 4. Tr. de Miraculis, c. 16. p. 196. [back]

Note 4. Tuus esto ubique: concha esto, non canalis. S. Bern. l. de Consid. [back]

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73).  Volume III: March. The Lives of the Saints.  1866

SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/3/231.html

Turibius de Mogrovejo knielend voor een altaar, Leven van de heilige Turibius de Mogrovejo (serietitel)
prentmaker: anoniem, naar ontwerp van: Carlo Maratti, verlener van privilege: Pauselijk hof, opgedragen door: Juan Francisco Valladolid (vermeld op object). Prentmaker: Italië, naar ontwerp van: Italiëverlener van privilege: Rome. Datering: in of na 1625Leven van de heilige Turibius de Mogrovejo (serietitel)


Pictorial Lives of the Saints – Saint Turribius, Archbishop of Lima

Article

Turribius Alphonsus Mogrobejo was born on the 6th of November, 1538, at Mayorga, in the kingdom of Leon in Spain. Brought up in a pious family, where devotion was hereditary, his youth was a model to all who knew him. A tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin and a love of the poor marked this boy. He recited the Rosary and the Little Office every day, and fasted every Saturday in honor of the Mother of God. As a schoolboy he gave away his own food to relieve the poor. His life as a student at Valladolid and Salamanca showed no relaxation from his early spirit of prayer. All his leisure was given to devotion or to works of charity. His austerities were great, and he frequently made long pilgrimages on foot. The fame of Turribius as a master of canon and civil law soon reached the ears of King Philip II, who made him judge at Granada. That monarch marked the exalted virtue and ability of Mogrobejo. About that time the see of Lima, in Peru, fell vacant, and among those proposed Philip found no one who seemed better endowed than our Saint with all the qualities that were required at that city, where much was to be done for religion. He sent to Rome the name of the holy judge, and the Sovereign Pontiff confirmed his choice. Turribius in vain sought to avoid the honor, and wrote a long treatise, which he forwarded to Rome, to show how irregular it was to appoint a layman to such a position. The Pope, in reply, directed him to prepare to receive holy orders and be consecrated. King Philip was equally deaf to his appeals. Yielding at last by direction of his confessor, he prepared by a long retreat to receive minor orders and the subdeaeonship and deaconship. Then he was ordained priest and consecrated. He entered Lima in 1587, and entered on his duties. All was soon edification and order in his episcopal city. A model of all virtue himself, he confessed daily and prepared for Mass by long meditation. The influence of the holy man was soon felt. Saint Turribius then began a visitation of his vast diccese, which he traversed three times, his first visitation lasting seven years and his second four. He held provincial councils, adopting decrees framed with such wisdom that his regulations were adopted in many countries. Saint Turribius preached, catechized, and confirmed far and wide; he held diocesan synods, and encouraged his bishops to do the same. Almost his entire revenues were bestowed on his creditors, as he styled the poor, and he bore with intrepid patience the vexatious opposition raised to many of his reforms, maintaining the liberties of the Church with apostolical courage. While discharging with zeal his duties of priest and bishop, he was seized with a fatal illness during his third visitation, and died on the 23d of March, in the year 1666, at Santa, exclaiming, as he received the sacred Viaticum: “I rejoiced in the things that were said to me: ‘We shall go into the house of the Lord.'” His holy, austere, and devoted life had made the people regard him as a saint and a constant benefactor. They regarded him now as their patron in heaven, and miracles rewarded their faith. The proofs of his holy life and of the favors granted through his intercession induced Pope Innocent XI to beatify him, and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in the year 1726. Saint Turribius was a model for all states—as a holy youth, as a pious and zealous layman, as a great and exemlary bishop.

MLA Citation

John Dawson Gilmary Shea. “Saint Turribius, Archbishop of Lima”. Pictorial Lives of the Saints1922. CatholicSaints.Info. 14 December 2018. Web. 23 March 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-turribius-archbishop-of-lima/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-turribius-archbishop-of-lima/

Turibius de Mogrovejo knielend met een boek, Leven van de heilige Turibius de Mogrovejo (serietitel)
prentmaker: anoniem, naar ontwerp van: Carlo Maratti, verlener van privilege: Pauselijk hof, opgedragen door: Juan Francisco Valladolid (vermeld op object). Prentmaker: Italië, naar ontwerp van: Italiëverlener van privilege: Rome. Datering: in of na 1625Leven van de heilige Turibius de Mogrovejo (serietitel)


St. Turibius de Mogrovejo

Feast day: Mar 23

Catholics in Latin America and throughout the world will celebrate the life and ministry of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo on March 23. The 16th century bishop upheld the rights of Peru's indigenous peoples, and became one of the first canonized saints of the Americas.

Turibius was born in Spain during 1538, to a noble family in the kingdom of Leon. He frequently prayed, fasted, and gave to the poor even as a child, and eventually developed the daily habit of praying the Rosary along with the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

He went on to study law at the University of Salamanca, and eventually served as a judge for five years in the territory of Granada. His judicial wisdom and diligence drew the attention of King Philip II, who wanted Turibius – who was still a layman – to be consecrated as a missionary archbishop for the Spanish colony of Peru.

Turibius became greatly dismayed, protesting to the king and Church authorities that he was not even a priest and could not possibly accept the charge. In a series of letters, he pled that he was not personally capable of serving as the Archbishop of Lima – nor, he reminded them, did canon law permit a layman to become an archbishop.

Eventually, however, he had little choice but to comply. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1581, at the age of 43, and immediately left for Lima, Peru.

The new archbishop undertook to travel throughout the rugged and mountainous diocese, where he observed many of the worst effects of colonialism – both upon the enslaved and oppressed natives, and on many of the colonists who seemed to have lost their souls in the pursuit of wealth.

He responded with constant prayer and penance, as he traveled throughout his territory administering the sacraments, teaching the Catholic faith, and establishing schools, seminaries and hospitals.

To the indigenous Peruvians, the archbishop was a herald of the Gospel who held their lives as more precious than their country's supplies of gold and silver. But to the many colonists whose behavior showed no sign of their Catholic origins, he was a prophetic scourge – whose efforts to awaken the public conscience earned him rebukes and opposition.

Turibius ultimately managed to make three visitations of his diocese, under rugged and dangerous conditions, which occupied about half of his 25 years as Archbishop of Lima. He united the Peruvian Church at an administrative level by holding several local councils of its clergy, but was also known to spend days traveling to reach a single individual with the message of Christ.

The archbishop became seriously ill in 1606. He sensed that his death was imminent, and decreed that his possessions should be distributed to the poor. St. Turibius died on March 23, and his body was found to be incorrupt the next year. He was declared a saint in 1726, and is now regarded as the patron of native peoples' rights and Latin American bishops.

SOURCE : https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-turibius-de-mogrovejo-186

Sebastiano Conca, San Turibio divide l'acqua di un fiume (post 1726), [1] olio su tela; PiacenzaGalleria Alberoni


Mar 23 – St Turibius (1538-1606)

23 March, 2012

Summary: St Turibius of Mogrovejo, Spain died on this day in 1606 at Santa (Peru). A professor of law and a judge of the Inquisition in Spain, he was still a layman when appointed archbishop of Lima, Peru. he became an outstanding missionary reformer, building churches, hospitals, and the first seminary in the Americas. Remembered for his determined opposition to ecclesiastical abuses and to colonial exploitation, for his pastoral care and evangelisation of the indigenous peoples in their own languages, and for his visitation of the vast diocese.

Turibius was a native of Mogrovejo in Spain. Until he was 43, he was a layman working as a judge in the Inquisition in Granada in Spain.  

Patrick Duffy tells his story.

A layman appointed archbishop

Turibius was born at Mogrovejo in northern Spain, and from his infancy was a pious child and generous to the poor. He studied at Valladolid and Salamanca. King Philip II of Spain made him a judge of the Inquisition at Granada and he discharged his duties with such integrity and prudence that at the age of 43, though still a layman, he appointed him as archbishop of Lima, Peru. He had to be rushed through the four minor orders and the three major orders of deacon, priest and bishop in a matter of weeks.

An intrepid Missionary

Arriving in Lima in May 1581, Turibius directed the Church’s apostolate to the native population. He learned the local language, Quechua, and did most of his apostolic journeys on foot. His aim was to instruct the people and hold synods to settle and maintain discipline. Many of the Spanish generals in Peru were men of avarice and cruelty. Turibius fearlessly denounced injustice and vice. His concern for the native population was not shared by the Spanish civil authorities or even by many in the Church. They often thwarted him in the discharge of his duty.

Training Clergy

Turibius founded schools and hospitals, as well as churches. As a missionary he had enormous success mainly because he took the trouble to learn native dialects. In 1591 he founded the first seminary for training clergy in the Americas. This had a salutary influence in other South American countries. His charity extended to the Spanish as well as the indigenous population.

Influence

Turibius personally baptised and confirmed about half a million people, including two of South America’s best known saints, St Rose of Lima and St Martin de Porres!(shown here)

He died on Holy Thursday 1606 and was canonised in 1672. He is the patron saint of Peru.

SOURCE : https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-turibius-1538-1606/

Santo Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo, Archbishop of Lima, Segunda mitad del siglo XVII, 94,6 x 73,4,  Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes / National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires


San Turibio de Mogrovejo Vescovo

23 marzo

- Memoria Facoltativa

Mayorga de Campos - León (Spagna), 16 novembre 1538 (1536?) - Saña (Perú), 23 marzo 1606

Turibio de Mogrovejo (1538-1606) fu chiamato all'episcopato da laico, mentre era giurista all'Università di Salamanca e alla corte di Filippo II di Spagna. Su richiesta di questi Gregorio XIII nel 1580 lo inviò a Lima, in Perù. Aveva 42 anni. Giunse alla sede l'anno dopo e iniziò subito un'intensa attività missionaria. Nei suoi 25 anni di episcopato organizzò la Chiesa peruviana in otto diocesi e indisse dieci sinodi diocesani e tre provinciali. Nel 1591 a Lima sorgeva per sua volontà il primo seminario del continente americano. Incentivò la cura parrocchiale anche da parte dei religiosi e fu molto severo con i sacerdoti proni ai conquistadores. Fu, infatti, strenuo difensore degli indios. Morì tra loro in una sperduta cappellina al nord del Paese. E' santo dal 1726. (Avvenire)

Patronato: Vescovi Missionari

Emblema: Bastone pastorale

Martirologio Romano: San Turibio di Mogrovejo, vescovo di Lima: laico originario della Spagna, esperto di diritto, eletto a questa sede andò in America; mosso da ardente zelo apostolico, visitò più volte, spesso a piedi, la sua vasta diocesi provvedendo assiduamente al gregge a lui affidato; debellò con dei sinodi gli abusi e gli scandali nel clero; catechizzò e convertì gli indigeni, finché a Sanna in Perù trovò l’estremo riposo.

Turibio nacque da nobile famiglia a Maiorca (Spagna), nel 1538. Studiò Diritto nelle università di Coimbra e Salamanca. Aveva 40 anni ed era Presidente del Tribunale di Granada quando, su indicazione del Re Filippo II, il Papa Gregorio XIII lo nominò Arcivescovo di Lima.

Precipitosamente, quasi da un giorno all'altro, fu innalzato un semplice laico alla dignità di vescovo della Santa Chiesa. Sono così le vie della Provvidenza, quando ella decide di realizzare un'opera.  Si verificò col giurista Turibio lo stesso che, poco più di mille anni prima, si era verificato con lo statista Sant'Ambrogio: in quattro domeniche consecutive, Turibio ricevette gli ordini minori; poche settimane dopo fu ordinato presbitero e, infine, consacrato vescovo.

L'insigne giurista si fa catechista

San Turibio di Mogrovejo arrivò alla sua arcidiocesi nel maggio 1581. All'inizio dovette affrontare la decadenza spirituale degli spagnoli colonizzatori, i cui abusi i sacerdoti non osavano correggere. Il nuovo arcivescovo attaccò il male alla radice. Molti dei colpevoli di intollerabili vizi e scandali cercavano di giustificarsi:

- Facciamo quello che è costume essere fatto qui...

- Ma Cristo è verità, e non costume!- egli replicava.

Con energia e, soprattutto, col suo esempio personale, mise un freno agli abusi, moralizzò i costumi e promosse la riforma del clero.

In poco tempo, l'ex-giurista si trasformò in un esimio catechista che evangelizzava gli indigeni con parole semplici ma ardenti. Percorse tre volte in visita pastorale tutto l'immenso territorio della sua arcidiocesi, viaggiando instancabilmente per migliaia di chilometri. Entrava nelle capanne miserabili, cercava gli indigeni fuggitivi, sorrideva loro paternamente, parlava loro con bontà nei loro idiomi e li conquistava a Cristo.

Grandi attività, intensa vita di devozione

Le tre visite pastorali gli occuparono più di dieci dei suoi venticinque anni di episcopato!

Convocò e presiedette tredici sinodi regionali di vescovi. Regolamentò e perfezionò la catechesi degli indigeni e fece stampare per loro i primi libri pubblicati nell'America del Sud: il Catechismo in spagnolo, in quéchua e in aymara. Fondò cento nuove parrocchie nella sua arcidiocesi.

Tutto questo senza pregiudicare in nulla il punto fondamentale di ogni apostolo autentico: la sua propria vita spirituale. Richiamò l'attenzione di tutti coloro che avevano vissuto insieme a lui la sua intensa vita di devozione, alla quale dedicava quotidianamente molte ore di preghiera e meditazione.

Immensa gioia: "Andrai alla Casa del Signore!"

Ebbe l'inestimabile soddisfazione di convertire migliaia di indigeni e di cresimare tre santi: San Martino di Porres, San Francesco Solano e Santa Rosa di Lima.

La morte lo colse nel corso della sua ultima visita pastorale, in una povera cappella a quasi 500 chilometri da Lima. Sentendo approssimarsi l'ora estrema, recitò il Salmo 122: "Quale gioia, quando mi dissero: Andremo alla casa del Signore!". Spirò dolcemente alle 15,30 del 23 marzo 1606, un Giovedì Santo.

Benedetto XIII lo canonizzò nel 1726 e Giovanni Paolo II lo ha proclamato Patrono dell'Episcopato Latino- Americano nel 1983.

Fonte: Rivista Araldi del Vangelo, Marzo 2006


Tratti caratteristici della santità di San Turibio

San Turibio di Mogrovejo è stato perfettamente consapevole che il ministero pastorale ha un senso solamente se è vissuto in santità e se la promuove: è stata una evangelizzazione alla santità.

Contemplare la figura di San Turibio di Mogrovejo è contemplare la figura di un vescovo che si dedica con esuberante generosità al suo ministero, senza dare alcuna importanza alle difficoltà e agli inconvenienti che si possono eventualmente incontrare durante il cammino. 

Può sorgere allora legittima la domanda: quale è stato il segreto della santità di San Turibio di Mogrovejo?

Il segreto della santità di San Turibio, come di qualsiasi santo, è stato il suo essere prossimo a Dio, la sua fedeltà alla preghiera, elemento fondamentale del suo ministero apostolico. È un dato di fatto che nella vita spirituale la persona progredisce nella misura in cui prega. (...)

L'amore verso i bisognosi è stato pure un tratto caratteristico della fisionomia spirituale dell'Apostolo del Perù. Questo amore per i poveri si manifestava negli innumerevoli gesti realizzati dal Santo, dal suo tratto affabile con gli indi e i bisognosi, passando per la consegna ai poveri dei beni che riusciva ad ottenere, giungendo persino alla donazione dei suoi stessi vestiti, mobili, e utensili domestici.

In San Turibio rafforziamo la nostra convinzione che il tempo consacrato a Dio è garanzia di una fedele dedizione al compimento dei propri doveri e al servizio dei fratelli.

Nella preghiera, San Turibio Alfonso di Mogrovejo comprese che "una delle caratteristiche fondamentali del pastore dev'essere amare gli uomini che gli sono stati affidati, allo stesso modo di come ama Cristo, di cui è al servizio". Egli ha compreso il ministero pastorale come lo concepisce il nostro caro Papa Benedetto XVI, che ha detto nella Messa di inaugurazione del suo Ministero Petrino: "Pascere vuol dire amare; e amare vuol dire anche essere disposto a soffrire. Amare significa dare alle pecore il vero bene, l'alimento della verità di Dio, l'alimento della sua presenza, che Egli soltanto ci dà nel Santissimo Sacramento".

Fonte: Omelia della Messa commemorativa del quarto centenario della morte del Santo, il Cardinale Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Arcivescovo di Lima


Ci vuole coraggio a scagliarsi contro l’ingiustizia per difendere i più deboli che soccombono. Si rischia di toccare gli interessi di ricchi e potenti che potrebbero farla pagare, a caro prezzo. San Turibio Alfonso, vescovo di Lima (Perù) non se ne cura. Per tutta la vita accusa anche quella parte di clero (di cui fa parte) che è asservita all’arroganza dei più forti.

Patrono del Perù e dell’America Latina, Turibio Alfonso nasce a Mayorga, in Spagna, nel 1538 circa. Discendente della nobile famiglia dei Mogrovejo, si laurea e insegna legge all’Università di Salamanca. Nel 1580 viene nominato vescovo di Lima (Perù), un territorio lontano, vastissimo e selvaggio, oppresso dalla tirannia dei conquistadores spagnoli. Il clero è assoggettato al potere dei coloni, gli indigeni analfabeti vengono battezzati con la violenza, anche se nella maggior parte dei casi non sanno cosa sia il Cristianesimo. Dappertutto dilagano miseria, denutrizione, malattie, assenza di qualsivoglia rispetto per la dignità umana, anche per gli schiavi dalla pelle nera che cominciano ad arrivare dall’Africa, dove sono stati prelevati con la forza dai loro villaggi e fatti prigionieri.

Giunto in Perù dopo un lungo viaggio, Turibio si dà subito da fare e non si perde d’animo. Visita tutta la sua diocesi e, per andare in ogni luogo, occorrono sette anni. Soprattutto impara le lingue locali e fa tradurre libri di preghiere e catechismi per diffonderli tra le popolazioni indigene. Aiuta con umiltà tutti e per tutti esige almeno un letto dove dormire e un tavolo dove poter consumare i pasti. I suoi rimproveri severissimi li destina contro chi sottomette gli indigeni e contro i religiosi stessi, assoggettati all’autorità dei conquistadores. Per questo motivo il vescovo, amato dal popolo, forma nuovi religiosi.

Turibio trascorre tutta la vita assieme agli ultimi. Cammina con loro rifiutando di farsi trasportare in portantina e diserta le solenni cerimonie di corte, tanto da essere inviso allo stesso viceré spagnolo. Turibio Alfonso muore a Saña, nel Nord del Perù, nel 1606, durante una visita pastorale, tra le braccia dei suoi indios.

Autore: Mariella Lentini


Aveva studiato diritto canonico, ma era rimasto laico. Così, quando papa Gregorio XIII lo ha voluto vescovo, gli hanno dovuto conferire in un colpo solo tutti gli ordini fino al sacerdozio. Dopodiché, nell’agosto 1580 ha ricevuto la consacrazione episcopale e nella primavera del 1581 ha raggiunto la sua sede: Ciudad de Los Reyes, chiamata poi Lima, oggi capitale del Perú. Allora vi risiedeva un viceré spagnolo con autorità su un territorio vastissimo, ben oltre gli attuali confini peruviani. 

Turibio viene dalla nobile famiglia dei Mogrovejo, ed è noto per la rettitudine e il senso del dovere: re Filippo II di Spagna lo stima molto, è lieto di averlo a Lima come vescovo; ma non è lieto lui per quello che trova in quell’America meridionale, da meno di cinquant’anni sotto dominio spagnolo. Qui Filippo II, nella persona del suo viceré, comanda ben poco: sono i conquistadores a comandare veramente. Fanno quello che vogliono. E naturalmente si proclamano cristiani: anzi, propagatori della fede: e infatti ci sono moltissimi indios e meticci già battezzati, e anche i primi schiavi neri portati dall’Africa. Ma sono stati cristianizzati con la violenza, usando pure i precetti religiosi per tenerli sottomessi e poveri. 

Turibio aveva accettato con poco entusiasmo la dignità vescovile. Ma la scoperta di questa situazione gli dà la carica e la passione per una battaglia che durerà fino alla morte. I suoi 25 anni di episcopato sono occupati da successive visite pastorali, da concili locali e sinodi diocesani per migliorare innanzitutto la qualità del clero. È severissimo con i preti succubi dei conquistadores, e sul proprio esempio va formando un clero nuovo. Ha imparato la lingua locale per parlare direttamente con questa gente denutrita e umiliata, e la “rievangelizza” partendo dal rispetto della sua dignità, anche nelle forme: per ordine suo, i sacerdoti devono esortare e aiutare gli indios a mangiare sedendo a tavola, a dormire in un letto, a vivere da persone libere. 

Tutto questo gli procura l’avversione dei conquistadores; e persino il viceré ce l’ha con lui, perché è sempre in visita pastorale e non lo si vede mai alle cerimonie di corte. Ma gli indios amano questo vescovo che rifiuta di viaggiare in portantina e cammina con loro. Fa pubblicare catechismi e libri di preghiere nelle lingue locali, fonda il primo seminario delle Americhe a Lima, intraprende la terza visita pastorale e si ammala nel Nord del Perú. Non vuole interrompere il viaggio e muore a Saña, ascoltando il canto dei salmi il Giovedì santo. Benedetto XIII lo canonizzerà nel 1726.

Autore: Domenico Agasso

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/26500

Pintura anónima, óleo sobre lienzo, de un milagro de Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo en Perú. Museo de Salamanca


Turibius de Mogrovejo, Lima, Perú; 1e bisschop van Lima; † 1606.

Feest 23 maart.

Eigenlijk heette hij Torbibio Alfonso de Mongrovejo. Hij werd op 16 november 1538 geboren in de Spaanse plaats Moajorga, in de provincie León. Hij was van jongs af een vroom man. Na schitterende studieresultaten werd hij professor in de Rechten aan de universiteit van Samanca. Van daaruit werd hij benoemd tot voorzitter van de Inquisitie te Granada, en vervolgens in 1580 – op instigatie van koning Filips II († 1598) zelf -  tot eerste bisschop van de Peruaanse stad Lima. Dat was een onverwachte benoeming, gegeven het feit dat hij helemaal geen enkele wijding had: hij was leek. Na alsnog de benodigde wijdingen te hebben ontvangen scheepte hij zich in voor zijn nieuwe standplaats overzee.

Hij bleek een voortreffelijk bisschop; hij bevorderde de apostolische ijver van de missionarissen, verdedigde de kerk tegen de Spaanse overheden en kwam op voor de inlandse bevolking.

Hij werd in 1679 door paus Innocentius XI († 1689; feest 13augustus) zalig verklaard; zijn heiligverklaring volgde onder Benedictus XIII († 1730) in 1729.

Patronaten
Hij is patroon van Perú en van de hoofdstad Lima.

Bronnen

[Bdt.1925; Dries van den Akker s.j./2010.04.03]

© A. van den Akker s.j.

SOURCE : http://heiligen-3s.nl/heiligen/03/23/03-23-1606-turibius.php

Voir aussi :  http://www.jeunes-cathos.fr/questions-de-foi/vie-pour-le-christ/saint-turibio-de-mogrovejo

http://www.mcnbiografias.com/app-bio/do/show?key=toribio-alonso-de-mogrovejo-santo

http://archbishopterry.blogspot.ca/2011/03/wednesday-of-lenten-week-ii-st-turibius.html