Mariano Nicomedes Usera y Alarcón and his twin sister María Nicomedes were born in Madrid on September 15, 1810. María Nicomedes died in infancy, and later in his priestly life Mariano took the name Jerónimo. His father, Marcelo Fulgencio Usera y Pérez was the Director of the Greco-Latin Academy and Professor of Latin in Madrid. Jerónimo Mariano was one of fourteen children.
He was born into turbulent times following the French Revolution and he saw the dawn of the so-called modern era. His family was deeply religious and socially prominent. His brother Gabriel was the royal surgeon, his sister Eugenia married Tomás de Corral y Oña, the Queen's doctor who delivered Alfonso XII and who received the title Marquis of San Gregorio, and Pedro was the inspector of the Royal Gardens.
Very early in his life, Jerónimo Mariano felt that God was calling. His motto was verum dicere et bene facere. When he informed his parents that he wanted to be a priest, his father wanted to make sure that it was a true calling and took young Jerónimo on a trip to Italy. Upon his return to Spain, his vocation remained unaltered. "I want to be a priest," he said.
In 1824 he joined a Cistercian convent at only 14 years of age. There he lived the words ora et labora. He donned the white habit of St. Bernard at age 15. It was at that time that he changed his name to Jerónimo, in honor of St. Jerome, translator and interpreter of the Bible which he loved to read. In those days the Dei Verbum was quite distant and biblical interpretation was not readily accessible.
Jerónimo studied philosophy in the Monastery of Meira in the province of Lugo (Spain); theology in Alcalá de Henares, and in San Martín de Castañeda, Sanabria (Spain). His grades were outstanding. From those days, he acquired a special devotion to the love of God (Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor).
In December of 1833 he became a deacon in the Convent of the Hyeronimites in Madrid, and celebrated his first Mass in the parish of St. Ginés in Madrid in 1834. It had taken 10 years from the time he entered the convent until his ordination. His initial commission was as a preacher and rural missionary in Sanabria,Spain. He felt incredible peace and serenity next to the shores of Lake Sanabria, where he honed his oratorical skills.
Spain underwent a wave of anticlericalism in the third decade of the 19th. century, which included suppression of the Inquisition, expulsion of the Jesuits, the closing and confiscation of religious property, banishment of several bishops and killing of many priests and religious. Around 900 convents were closed and goods confiscated. In 1837, the anticlericalism interrupted Jerónimo's rural mission in Sanabria. The monks were violently ejected, their goods were confiscated, and they were forced to live in the open outside of the convent walls. Jerónimo took everything in stride, doing his best in light of very difficult circumstances. He ministered to remote communities, traveling often by donkey to reach far away villages.
In 1840, when his order was suppressed in Spain, he returned to Madrid. He took that opportunity to teach Latin and Greek at the Universidad Central de Madrid. In those days he used to say "[religious] commitment and fervor are neither tired nor pessimistic." He dedicated time to the youth, preaching with a special devotion. He became chaplain to the royal Casa de Campo.
In 1778 Portugal had ceded to Spain several African colonies: Fernando Poo, Annobón and Corisco in the Gulf of Guinea. In 1843 a returning expedition brought to Spain two Africans, Quir and Yegüe, and Queen Isabella II directed Father Usera, then her chaplain, to instruct them in the Catholic faith. With great pedagogical devotion, Father Usera taught the two Spanish and learned from them their native tongue. An even swap. He also taught them religion and the two were baptized in 1844. By royal order, Quir and Yegüe were baptized in the Royal Chapel, with the Queen and her mother, María Cristina, being the godmothers, represented by the Count of Santa Coloma and the Duque de la Roca. The Patriarch of the Indies, Antonio de Posada poured the baptismal waters. For Jerónimo, that experience was a start, for he thirsted to bring those who were ignorant of our Lord into the light. The two were eventually returned to their native land and from that humble beginning Christianity was spread to the Spanish colonies in Africa.
In 1843, his book entitled Demonstration of the Truth of the Roman Catholic Christian Faith placed him among the top Spanish apologists of the 19th. Century. This was followed by his doctoral thesis in theology which was accepted cum laude (The Catholic Religion is called to bless the material union to which currently nations tend to [follow], if such union is to represent a benefit for them). In that thesis, Father Usera advocated a very contemporary theme, that of government's need to adhere to religious principles or disintegrate. Father Usera reasoned that if it is true that society needs laws, one cannot fathom a just law without Catholic moral.
On July 18, 1845, Jerónimo was on board the vessel Venus, enroute to [Equatorial] Guinea. They arrived in Fernando Poo on Christmas of that year. His facility with languages led Father Usera in a short period of time to write a catechism, vocabulary and grammar in the bubí language spoken locally. He also drew a map of the island. He devoted his time to educating and instructing the natives in the Catholic faith. Just when he was making headway, he became deathly ill and was ordered to return to Spain. He left for Spain on March 25, 1846. The trip home took 83 days and the doctors who examined him back in Madrid declared that had he not returned at that point, he would have died.
During his recovery period, he wrote Memory of Fernando Poo, and finished his thesis in theology. He was named preacher to Her Majesty, Isabella II. He never returned to Africa, although he would always hold a special place in his heart for the African race. He asked and received an ecclesiastical appointment in the Indies. After chartering his own vessel out of his personal funds, he took charge of the Cathedral in Santiago, Cuba in 1848. He immediately began to study the religious condition of the country, its culture, its needs and was appalled by the ignorance of the masses and even of the middle classes in terms of the faith.
He began designing a response to what he found. He would write: "Many had no news of the existence of God. They are born, live and die without having known the sweetness of family or the consolation of religion, of faith..." Father Usera was spread thin beyond measure. He was penitenciario, professor in the seminary and ecclesiastical governor until the arrival of the new Archbishop, [Saint] Antonio María Claret on February 15, 1851. His greatest challenge was to reform the seminary given the fact that the church in Cuba was in a deplorable state, a reality repeated over a century later.
The partnership he forged with Father Claret would last for many years. Both shared royal connections, yet both were totally devoted to the love of God and to spreading his word. Both received the Order of Isabella the Catholic and both were humbled by the honor but they put the medals away. Both would go on to found religious orders, Father Claret the sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretians) and Father Usera the sisters of the Love of God. Their thoughts ran parallel: active religious life, universal apostolate and evangelization throughout the world. Many years later, Father Claret, by then the Royal confessor, would accompany Queen Isabella II into exile. So would Father Usera's sister Eugenia and her husband Tomás de Corral, the Queen's doctor. Father Claret, as Archbishop of Santiago, fully agreed with Father Usera's assessment as to the need for rehabilitation of the church in Cuba, and named him head of the seminary in Santiago. As Father Usera would say, "without well formed priests, it is impossible to think about the [spiritual] regeneration of the island."
Both men had an incredible respect for papal infallibility. If Father Claret was the primary defender of the doctrine of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council, Father Usera dared to address a public letter to Napoleon III, severely criticizing his conduct toward the Holy See. In his writings, Father Usera reasoned in defense of papal authority: "Once a doctrine is established, which is the true Catholic doctrine, once the Pope, the Vicar of Christ, the great teacher of the evangelical sciences has spoken on matters of faith and custom, condemning a doctrine or an act as reprehensible and worthy of condemnation, there is no Catholic conscience which can resist the authorized and divine voice of the visible head of the Church, Shepherd of Shepherds and successor of Peter..."
He was named Vicar General and Governor of the Archdiocese, and by Royal Decree of December 29, 1849 was appointed Penitentiary of the Holy Metropolitan Church of Santiago, Cuba. As governor of the diocese, he founded the Works of Christian Doctrine, which was later consolidated by Archbishop Claret. The two devised a plan by which Father Usera would make a trip to Spain and press for funds for reforming the Church and the clergy. He succeeded, and Father Claret would say the following of his friend and colleague: "...He was truly commissioned by me and by my Council in order to obtain from Her Majesty the prompt and favorable disposition to fix the cult and clergy, and no doubt his effectiveness and his vast knowledge of the needs of the diocese which he had ruled with dignity prior to my arrival, contributed to such end."
He organized the catechism program, and personally taught catechism to the slaves. He, like Mother Teresa a century later, ministered to them physically as well, tending to their sores. He loved the confessional where he spent hours on end. He organized or revamped religious brotherhoods including one to St. Peter and another to the patroness of Cuba, the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. He visited prisoners, finding that only one in one hundred fulfilled the duty of receiving communion at least once a year. He managed to have half of them confess and receive communion in a few days following religious instruction. Father Usera spoke out against slavery, and it was among those in that unfortunate state that his heart was especially touched. He was concerned that some died even without benefit of baptism.
By Royal Decree of June 2, 1853, Queen Isabella II named Father Usera Dean of the Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he took his charge on December 3, 1853. He quickly traveled throughout the Island, organizing rural missions that became very popular among the slave population. In 1855 there was an epidemic of yellow fever and typhoid. Father Usera caught yellow fever and was ordered back to Spain to recover. There he enlisted six Jesuits for his seminary in Puerto Rico and to organize an elementary and secondary school.
Upon his return to Puerto Rico from Spain, Father Usera resigned his post as Dean, and devoted his time to ministering to his flock. He spent hours upon hours in the confessional and his colleagues urged him to come out and get some fresh air. In 1859, a pirate ship was apprehended by the Spanish authorities and found to contain hundreds of Congolese slaves. Many were feverish, had scurvy, or were lepers. Father Usera asked and received permission to establish a camp, one league from the city, where he could minister physically and spiritually to the human cargo. The local authorities feared an epidemic, and allowed Father Usera to personally tend to the Congolese. He learned their language and healed their body and soul. Many were baptized before dying.
In 1857 he founded the Casa de Caridad y Oficios de San Ildefonso, an institute in San Juan to provide religious instruction, reading, writing and arithmetic to poor children of both sexes, and vocational education to poor children. [In 1992 a plaque was unveiled on the walls of this building in Old San Juan. A bust of Father Usera had been suggested for San Juan bay, but the plan was discarded due to fears of vandalism, a reflection of the society we live in]. He also founded a Ladies' Association, composed of wealthy women who shared Father Usera's views toward ministering to the educational needs of the poor. These were lay endeavors under his spiritual direction.
In 1860 he met with Pope Pius IX who gave him his personal blessing for himself and for his projects. A royal decree of October 1861 authorized him to return to Spain, where he would remain until October 30, 1864. Given his experience in Puerto Rico and Cuba, he harbored a desire to found a religious order, one of nuns and another of priests, devoted to Catholic education. He envisioned blue and white clothed nuns, in honor of Our Immaculate Mother. Their motto would be: "Christ's love urges us... (Charitas Christi urget nos). Everything for the Love of God and for God." Their shield would be the Immaculate Heart, supported by flames, with the words: "The Love of God makes us Saints and Wise" (El Amor de Dios Hace Santos y Sabios).
While in Spain, he visited several Cistercian abbeys. When visiting the Monastery of San Miguel de las Dueñas, he donated a relic of Saint Bernard, consisting of cloth from his cincture. After much reflexion and contributions from various friends and religious colleagues, including those of the Viscountess of Jorbalán, in religion Mother Mary of the Blessed Sacrament and in the Universal Church, Saint Michaela Desmaisieres, foundress in 1856 of the Religiosas Adoratrices (Sisters of Perpetual Adoration), the constitution of his new order was drafted. Saint Michaela even provided Father Usera with candidates and trained them. She reviewed the Constitution of Father Usera's proposed Order and examined the postulants for their piety and devotion. On April 27, 1864, the first twelve novices of the religious of the Love of God were consecrated to teach in the Catholic manner.
But once the Order of the Religious of the Love of God was launched, Father Usera was called again into service in Cuba. This time, by Royal Decree he was made Dean of the Catholic Church in Havana. He would have preferred to remain in Spain with his spiritual daughters and breathe life into their work, but he obeyed and he was installed as Dean on Christmas, 1864.
His indefatigable work led to his being appointed head of the Hospital of Saints Philip and James in Havana. He founded the Sociedad Protectora de los Niños, which was aimed at protecting children of all races, class and social status against ignorance, abandonment, misery, disease and abuse via a solid religious formation. One of his last legacies was the founding of an academy to teach typography and book-binding, thereby providing a career for disadvantaged women. He started to design the foundations for a religious order for men, the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, which he did not see implemented in his lifetime.
There are many vignettes about Father Usera's daily life in Cuba. His scant ration of food was shared with whomever came to the door. Many days he would go hungry because he gave away all the food on his plate. One day at the plaza in front of his Cathedral in Havana he heard a man blaspheme as he pulled on a donkey. "My friend", he said, "what has my Father done to you for you to offend him in that manner?" "Sir", the mule driver replied, "I have not had anything to do with your father." To which Father Usera retorted: "Yes, you are blaspheming against God, and God is my Father." Moved, the mule driver promised Father Usera never to blaspheme again.
Meanwhile, the Order he had founded, prospered and expanded, first in Spain, then in Cuba and the Indies. His desire to conquer for the Love of God was spread through his daughters. Even on his deathbed, he planned works, wrote down projects, and gave advice to his spiritual daughters. He died on May 17, 1891 in Havana. The newspapers reported that "he died poor, very poor, because never was there a need which knocked at his door that was not immediately succored" (Diario de la Marina, Havana, May 18, 1891).
Today, Father Usera's work continues through his spiritual daughters who live in Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Germany), in Africa (Cape Verde, Angola and Mozambique), in North America (California and Mexico), in South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile) and in the Indies (Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic).
In 1942, the Decreto de Alabanza of the Congregation was approved by the Vatican, as was its Constitution in 1947. Talk of beatification progressed. The first bench mark reached in the saintly ladder was the recognition of Father Usera as Servant of God. The centennial of the Congregation was celebrated in Toro, Zamora in 1964, with the visit of Cardinal Arcadio Larraona of Navarra, Spain. On April 27, 1981, the cause for Father Usera's beatification was introduced by Bishop Eduardo Poveda Rodríguez of Zamora, Spain. In April of 1991 Father Usera's remains were interred under the main altar in the newly renovated church of his Order in Toro, Province of Zamora, Spain. On May 19, 1991, a centennial mass was held on Pentecost Sunday, offered by the Papal Nuncio to Spain, Monsignor Mario Tagliaferri and dozens of concelebrants. Present were dozens of Father Usera's relatives, including many from the United States. A telegram was read from Pope John Paul II urging Father Usera'_ order to continue with a renewed spirit and with enthusiasm the journey already begun, and he imparted his apostolic blessing on those celebrating the Centennial. At present, Father Usera's cause is before the proper authorities in the Vatican, who must review the record, including that of a Cuban miracle attributed to Father Usera's intercession.
The Committee of Historians of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has concluded the historical phase of the process of heroic virtues with a unanimous assent.
Those who know his work and his example, await the day when our Holy Father declares publicly what we already know in our hearts. He is truly a saint. With that recognition, he will join the ranks of his friends and colleagues, Antonio María Claret and Sor Micaela del Santísimo Sacramento whose declaration of sainthood has already materialized.
[Sources: A. Garmendía de Otaola, S.J., D. Jerónimo Mariano de Usera y Alarcón, Misionero y Fundador de las Religiosas del Amor de Dios, Zamora, Spain, 1970; González, Aurora, Jerónimo Usera, Profeta del Amor de Dios, Folletos Conel, Madrid, 1990; Congregación de Hermanas del Amor de Dios, El Amor Vivirá Siempre, El Padre Jerónimo Usera y la Congregación de Hermanas del Amor de Dios, Editions Fleurus, Paris, France, 1990; Bulletin of Father Usera's Cause, No. 94-95, Vivió Para Servir, May 1991].
The Religious Order of the Love of God in Madrid requested the founding of the Father Usera Association in the United States, a lay organization aimed at fostering the example and memory of Father Usera, and to spreading by example and apostolate the love of God. The Association has been established as a not-for-profit corporation in the state of Virginia, with offices at 8310-B Old Courthouse Road, Vienna, VA 22182. Tel. (703) 506-0985, Fax (703) 506-0989.
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