[ad_1]
The solemn ceremony of exhumation of the mortal remains of the doctor Jose Gregorio Hernandez, known as a doctor of the poor and an apostle of peace, was held on the morning of this Monday, October 26, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Candelaria, in Caracas, Venezuela.
(In context: Pope Francis approves beatification of José Gregorio Hernández)
It is a step prior to the beatification ceremony, which is expected to take place in April 2021, possibly on the Saturday before next Easter Sunday.
“It has been possible to fulfill a requirement that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints demands (…) For me it was a source of immense joy. Is that the cause has lasted 71 years”Monsignor Tulio Ramírez, auxiliary bishop of Caracas, told EL TIEMPO who, as vice-postulator of the cause of beatification of José Gregorio Hernández, accompanied Cardinal Baltazar Porras and ten other authorities of the Archdiocese of Caracas at the ceremony.
During the act, which he described as “Legal, religious and liturgical”, The doctors, anthropologists, forensics and pathologists who would participate in the exhumation were sworn in, as well as the court, made up of a priest and two notaries, which has the mission of narrating the events after this event.
For 45 years, the remains remained in the aforementioned Caracas church inside a small cement urn, called “moses”. Now we seek to verify that it is the same skeleton that was transferred in 1975 to this place, from the General Cemetery of the South, in Caracas.
“They must coincide with the same skeleton that was buried there 45 years ago”explained Monsignor Ramírez.
For this, immediately after the solemn act, the remains were transferred to a place in the same parish that was prepared by the same doctors to study the skeleton.
“They have an estimated 72 hours for the detailed study of each of the particles of José Gregorio Hernández’s skeleton.. (…) They will present a report to the court and the court will hold a closing session of the acts of exhumation of the Venerable, ”Monsignor Ramírez reported.
(Also read: ‘Pope Francis does not speak of the sacrament or marriage’)
This session was called for this Saturday, October 31, at 10:00 AM, local time. In a next phase, the report would be sent to the Vatican along with a relic.
Then it only remains to wait for the precise date for the beatification, which has not been defined by the pandemic.
“It would be the most solemn ceremony, since it is done with the papal legacy sent by the Pope Francisco so that it presides over acts of a greater magnitude, such as making it known that José Gregorio Hernández has been definitively declared blessed, ”explained Monsignor Ramírez.
This approval from the Church would allow public worship in Venezuela, but not in the rest of the world. For this, canonization is necessary, something that the promoters of his cause also hope.
Monsignor Ramírez explained that the first way to achieve it is for Venezuelans around the world to ask the episcopal conferences of their host countries to celebrate the day that is proposed by the Holy See as José Gregorio Hernández Day. The other way is with a new miracle.
“I have full confidence in God, our Lord, that a miracle will be performed. Several miracles will be performed on the same day as the beatification, which also happened when Pope John Paul II was beatified, ”Monsignor Ramírez told this newspaper, while ensuring that the Venerable accompanies the Venezuelan pilgrims who pass through Colombia.
The Venezuelan doctor José Gregorio Hernández
Venezuelan Episcopal Conference
Who was José Gregorio Hernández?
The exhumation ceremony was held on the 156th anniversary of his birth. According to a brief biography shared by the Archdiocese of Caracas, José Gregorio Hernández was born on October 26, 1864 into the family of Benigno Hernández and Josefa Cisneros, in the town of Isnotú, in the western state of Trujillo. He had five brothers.
Although he wanted to be a lawyer, his father encouraged him to study medicine. He graduated from Caracas at 23 years old “with the best grades and the highest honors “. Then he was sent by the Venezuelan government to study in France and Germany, from where he brought the greatest scientific advances to his country and modernized local medicine. In fact, upon his return, he became a university professor, “Even from their own teachers”, for being the only one who knew how to handle new medical instruments.
As a doctor, he cared for everyone, with a charity that the Archdiocese of Caracas describes as “inexhaustible”: “He received those who could not pay, he cared for free and he even gave them money to buy medicine. He counseled all the patients and spoke to them about God. ANDhe did it very close to the sick”.
He offered his life to God in exchange for peace and an end to war. One day after the signing of the peace treaty in Versailles, on June 29, 1919, at approximately 2:00 pm, he was run over by a car in the La Pastora area of Caracas. Shortly thereafter, he was killed by an impact to the head on the edge of a sidewalk, after staggering from the impact and falling.
He was declared Venerable in 1986, by then Pope John Paul II.
(You may be interested: Leopoldo López fled Venezuela by ‘clandestine route’ to Colombia)
The first miracle
At the exhumation ceremony held this Monday in Caracas, Yaxuri Solórzano, known as “The miracle girl” that prompted his beatification.
“It was also a source of joy to see the innocence of that girl, the affection of the girl thanking the Lord with her mother Carmencita, that their eyes watered when they were next to the remains of our venerable beloved,” said the monsignor Tulio Ramírez.
On March 10, 2017, Solórzano, then 10 years old, was shot by a shotgun with multiple pellets behind his right ear. He was traveling on a motorcycle with his father and some criminals tried to steal them. The incident occurred near where they lived, in the Guárico state, in the Venezuelan plains.
From the beginning it was striking that, despite the fact that, according to the medical report, she had had a “marked loss of brain mass, blood and bones”, the girl entered the first health center where she was – of several she had to visit for surgery, for lack of neurosurgeons – with a stable consciousness scale.
While undergoing a skull operation, a day after the accident, her mother implored José Gregorio Hernández for his intercession before God for the health of her daughter. She says she felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice telling her: “Everything will be fine!”
His recovery was satisfactory. 20 days after the intervention, he was discharged. In the opinion of the neurosurgeon who operated on her, the miracle began to be evident when a week after her discharge, the girl walked “Smiling and carefree.” It was expected that, if he survived, he would be left with motor and language disabilities, memory loss and vision. None of that happened.
Monsignor Ramírez confirmed on January 9 of this year that the alleged miracle attributed to the Venerable’s intercession had passed the Vatican medical test. A few months later, on April 27, the theological consultation at the Congregation for the Cause of Saints ratified the extraordinary nature of the event and the correct invocation by Yaxury Solorzano’s mother. Finally, on June 19, Pope Francis made public the decision to approve and decree the elevation of the venerable to the Blessed of the Church.
ANDREÍNA ITRIAGO
CORRESPONDENT OF THE TIME
CARACAS
