HOLY MASS IN HONOR OF NEW VENEZUELAN SAINTS

On 24th of October, the apostolic prefect of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan Bishop Vladimir Fekete celebrated the Holy Mass in honor of St. José Hernández, a lay physician, and St. Sister Carmen María Martínez Rendiles – two Venezuelan saints newly canonized by Pope Leo XIV during the Holy Mass of XXIX Sunday of the Ordinary Time, on 19 of October, at the Saint Peter Square.    

The Holy Mass which took place in the Church of the Immaculate Conception was attended by ambassadors of Republic of Cuba, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, United Mexican States, Republic of Colombia, diplomatic corps and the community of Latin America in Azerbaijan.

In his homily Bishop Fekete highlighted that saints are luminous signs of hope for all of us, because they offered their lives in the love of Christ and their brothers and sisters.

“We are gathered today at this liturgy to ask for their intercession and to honor in a special way two of them – the new saints from Venezuela: St. José Gregorio Hernández, the doctor of the poor, and St. Carmen Rendiles, foundress of the congregation of the Servants of Jesus. To commemorate the figures of St. José Gregorio Hernández and St. Carmen Rendiles, I will recalled a letter from the bishops of Venezuela in which, expressing joy at the event, they wished it to be “a strong stimulus so that all Venezuelans may come together and know how to recognize themselves as sons and brothers of the same homeland, thus reflecting on the present and the future, in light of the virtues that these saints lived heroically.” The new saints invite not only citizen of Venezuela, but every one of us to strength our virtues – in special way the virtues of faith, hope and love. The faith, first of all, is capable of transforming an ordinary life into “a lamp that every day illuminated everyone with a new light.” The fait is not against a science, not against a modern life. The fait is important support for our life also in modern world, because it open us to transcendent, to God. The virtue of hope impels one to live by achieving concrete goals and not “ephemeral,” “unworthy and degrading.” Without hope we cannot live real human life. “If someone has lost money, they have lost nothing. If someone has lost health, he has lost a great deal. But if someone loses hope, he has lost everything. Finally, charity it is the sign of true Christianity. The charity is a virtue “which makes us find the true meaning of life and asks us to build it up through service, whether to the sick, the poor, or the little ones.” – said bishop Fekete in its homily.