On Feb. 26, 2010, the Minister General Br. Jose Rodriguez Carballo, ofm, accompanied by his personal secretary Br. Francisco Javier Arellano, went on a pilgrimage to the house of St. Francis Solano in Montilla in the Province of Cordoba, Spain. There they celebrated the Eucharist on the occasion of the IV centenary of death of the saint in 1610. Many of the Franciscan brothers as well as numerous faithful were in attendance. St. Francis Solano was born in 1549 and later on in life became a member of the Franciscan Order in the Betic Franciscan Province of Spain. After an intense apostolic activity in his native land, he left for South America in 1589, where he covered 3000 km (1,864 miles) by foot in Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. He died in the convent of St. Francis of Lima, Peru. Fifteen days later, the process of his beatification was set in motion and was finally realized in 1675 by Pope Clement X. Then, in 1726, he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII. Besides his passion for preaching the Gospel, St. Francis Solano loved caring for the sick.

Because he was already in the area (Seville and Cordoba), the Minister General took the opportunity to visit the new Archbishop of Seville, the Brothers of the Betic Province, the Poor Clares, and the Conceptionist Sisters of the region. In the Franciscan convent of Loreto, the Minister General blessed the renovated “Chapel” built in the room occupied by the saint during his formation years of both Philosophy and Theology.

Here is the homily delivered by the Minister General in Montilla (in spanish)

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]