Joseph of Anchieta

From Hispanopedia
Saint Joseph of Anchieta
Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary in Brazil.
Saint, Missionary, Presbyter[1] and Apostle of Brazil
BornMarch 19, 1534
San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
DiedJune 9, 1597 (aged 63)
Reritiba, Brazil
Venerated inCatholic Church
BeatifiedJune 22, 1980, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
CanonizedApril 3, 2014, Vatican City, by equipollent canonization by Pope Francis
Major shrineCathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (in the Canary Islands) and National Shrine of Saint Joseph of Anchieta (in Brazil).
FeastJune 9
AttributesGospel book, crucifix and staff
Patronage
  • Patron and model of catechists
  • Those who suffer from scoliosis
  • Brazil Brazil (co-patron)

José de Anchieta (San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, March 19, 1534 – Reritiba, Brazil, June 9, 1597), known as Father Anchieta, was a Spanish Jesuit missionary and saint in Brazil. He was also a distinguished linguist, man of letters, physician, architect, engineer, humanist and poet. He is the first playwright, the first grammarian and the first poet born in the Canary Islands, and the father of Brazilian literature.

Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the Spanish island of Tenerife, he was sent to the Portuguese University of Coimbra in 1548. At the time, Portugal was more tolerant than Spain toward "New Christians," and such was the mother of the future saint. His mother was the daughter of Sebastián de Llerena, a converted Jew from the Kingdom of Castile. Once in Coimbra, José entered the Society of Jesus and, after the due years of study, he would be sent as a missionary to Brazil, where he would die in 1597. He was one of the founders of the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Father José de Anchieta was also the standardizer of the Tupi language.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980, in a solemn ceremony held in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. Because of his missionary and evangelical dedication, he is called the "Apostle of Brazil," and he was declared by Pope Benedict XVI one of the thirteen Intercessors of World Youth Day 2013, which was held in Rio de Janeiro.[2]

Father Anchieta was canonized by means of an equipollent canonization on April 3, 2014 by Pope Francis.[3] He is therefore the second saint native to the Canary Islands after Pedro de San José Betancur[4] and is also considered the third saint of Brazil,[5] because he carried out his missionary work in what is now that American country. The Mass of Thanksgiving presided over by the Pope was celebrated on April 24 of the same year in the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Rome.

Biography

Early years

Birthplace of José de Anchieta in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife).

José de Anchieta was the son of Juan de Anchieta Zelayarán (a native of Urrestilla, a neighborhood of the town of Azpeitia, in the province of Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, and a cousin of Saint Ignatius of Loyola)[6] and of Mencía Díaz de Clavijo y Llerena, a descendant through her maternal line of the Canarian nobility, but at the same time the daughter of a converted Jew. His father was also Mayor of the City of San Cristóbal de La Laguna.[7]

José de Anchieta was born in the Tenerife city of La Laguna on March 19, 1534. He was baptized on April 7, 1534 in the Parish of Our Lady of Remedies (today the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna).[8] From childhood he had shown great aptitude for work in the fields and in daily life.

In 1548, at the age of 13, he set out for Coimbra, in Portugal, in order to pursue religious studies at the renowned university of that city. José gradually became a distinguished student, a great lover of poetry and of fine prose. He composed verses in Latin, Castilian and Portuguese with extreme ease, so much so that he was called the "Canary of Coimbra."

On May 1, 1551, he entered the Society of Jesus. His excesses in penance and the many hours of prayer on his knees caused him a permanent ailment of the spine. He asked to be sent to Brazil, since, "as in these parts his illness was incurable, they should let him go to die among the infidels, where he could at least be of use teaching the children."

Voyage to Brazil

He sailed from Lisbon for Brazil on April 17, 1553, in the third expedition of seven Jesuits, and arrived on July 13, 1553 at Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, and at the Captaincy of São Vicente on December 24. His superior, Father Manuel da Nóbrega, would receive him in the small settlement of Piratininga.

In accordance with the missionary practice of the time, José set about learning the local indigenous language, in this case the Tupi language, in which he would come to write verses and even plays. One day, having ventured into the jungle, he came upon some Indians who were torturing an enemy. Then, applying his knowledge of the Amerindian language, he began to evangelize the captors until he got them to release their captive. At the age of 21 he is said to have performed wonders that fascinated the other Jesuits, such as levitating while praying before the Virgin, or the hut in which he was praying before sacred images, which even answered him, becoming illuminated. Active and hardworking, despite his illness he personally contributed to the construction of new religious buildings. It is known that Anchieta baptized several Indians after converting them to Christianity, among them the cacique Tibiriçá.[9]

One anecdote says that, after the expulsion of the French from Guanabara, Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega urged Governor Mem de Sá to arrest, in 1559, a Huguenot refugee named Jacques Le Balleur. The governor did not hesitate to condemn the Huguenot to death, convicted of spreading his "heresies."[10] In 1567, Jacques Le Balleur was taken to Rio de Janeiro for that sentence to be carried out. When the executioner refused to carry out the execution, it is said that Anchieta strangled the Huguenot with his own hands.[10] This story, however, is considered a fabrication on the part of the Huguenots themselves, since the documents of the period contradict one another.[10][11]

Route of evangelization

Portrait of Father Anchieta (engraving from 1807).
Portrait of Father Anchieta (engraving from 1807).

He, Father Manuel da Nóbrega and a young Indian, evangelized and loyal to José, would set out in a small pirogue. Attacked by a group of Tamoios, they killed the young indigenous servant. José made them see reason and they took him to the chief, who received Anchieta and his companions as guests. In fact, José would always act as a peacemaker between the Portuguese and the tribes of the Amazon. One day, Anchieta and Nóbrega decided to celebrate the Eucharist before those Indians, who were amazed to hear the text of the Bible read to them in their own language and to hear the subsequent homily. After this, José would use his gifts as a poet to compose motets that the Indians themselves would sing in Christian ceremonies. He became so famous that many tribes vied to host him and even, on one occasion, to take him by force, but he was able to dissuade them.

It so happened that Father Nóbrega had to leave to formalize in the city a treaty that would seal concord and coexistence between the Tupis and the Portuguese. After his departure, José continued his mission. With the tribe's sorcerer, Anchieta learned not a few secrets of their medicine. Father Nóbrega returned a year later, having sealed his pact.

Return to Piratininga

After the arrival of Manuel da Nóbrega, José returned to the village of Piratininga to join the other Jesuits. He then contributed to the founding of the Portuguese cities of São Paulo de Piratininga and São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, and in this latter city he would be ordained a priest in 1566, at the hands of Bishop Pedro Leitão.

A year later, Nóbrega would die of an illness contracted in the jungle. José would become director of the college of São Vicente and two years later would leave for Europe. On his return he would stop in the Canary Islands, his birthplace, and then return to Bahia, in Brazil.

At the age of 49 he had gained a reputation for holiness in the Brazilian colony, where many came to him in search of spiritual help and healing. From 1588 onward he was already considered "the apostle of Brazil," as well as a celebrated writer: he wrote a book on medicine, on the fauna and flora of Brazil, and a book of poetry and canticles.

Death and commemorations

Monument to Father José de Anchieta, in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in Tenerife.

On June 9, 1597, he died in the village of Reritiba, later called "Anchieta" in his honor. He himself had predicted the day and hour of his death.

In 1960 a statue in his honor, the work of the Italian-Brazilian artist Bruno Giorgi, was installed in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, his native city. This statue was a gift from the Government of Brazil to the saint's native city. There is also another important statue of him beside the Metropolitan Cathedral of São Paulo. In the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna there is a wooden carving and a relic of the saint, which are carried in solemn procession every June 9, his feast day in the Catholic calendar of saints. The Brotherhood of the Knights of Anchieta has its seat in this city.

In the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria, the shrine of the patroness of the Canary Islands, there is a painting depicting Saint José de Anchieta founding the city of São Paulo while a Marian apparition takes place.

In 1965, the Spanish postal service issued a stamp with the image of Anchieta, as part of a series called "Forjadores de América" ("Builders of America").[12]

In 1997, in the City of La Laguna, a small book of about 40 pages in comic format was published, telling the story of this missionary, the most important of the Canary Islands together with the holy brother Pedro de San José Betancur.

Beatification

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 22, 1980, in a solemn ceremony held in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. At this event Pedro de San José Betancur was also beatified; he was canonized in 2002 and was the first saint of the Canary Islands. Father Anchieta and Brother Pedro, in turn, became the first Canarians to be beatified.

Canonization

On February 27, 2014, Pope Francis announced that Father Anchieta would be canonized in Rome in April of that year. The announcement was first communicated to three Canarian priests[13] who were attending the Pope's Mass at his residence of Santa Marta, and they communicated it to the Bishop of Tenerife, Bernardo Álvarez Afonso.[14] The date was initially set for April 2 but was later moved to the following day,[3] by means of an "equipollent canonization."

For its part, the Thanksgiving ceremony presided over by the Pope took place on April 24, celebrated in the Roman Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.[15] It coincided with the fact that April 24 is precisely the feast day of Pedro de San José Betancur. It was the sixth canonization performed by His Holiness Francis, and he was the second Jesuit to be canonized by the same pope, after the Frenchman Peter Faber. Likewise, it was the first canonization of 2014 and he was the first Spaniard to be canonized by Pope Francis.[16]

Patronages

Saint José de Anchieta is the patron and model of catechists. Anchieta was also declared by Pope Benedict XVI one of the thirteen intercessors of World Youth Day 2013, which was held in Rio de Janeiro.[2]

In April 2015 he was declared co-patron of that country by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil,[17] since the patroness of Brazil is Our Lady of the Conception Aparecida.

Shrines in his honor

The main shrines dedicated to Saint José de Anchieta in Brazil and in the Canary Islands are those directly connected with his life:

  • Brazil: The National Shrine of Saint José de Anchieta is located in the town of Reritiba (now called Anchieta) in the state of Espírito Santo. The Shrine has an important museum of sacred art, and is built on the site where he lived the last years of his life and died.[20] The national feast dedicated to the Saint is celebrated here, with pilgrimages of faithful who come from all over Brazil. Following the declaration of Anchieta as co-patron of Brazil in 2015, the church was declared a National Shrine.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ José de Anchieta, Santo
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Patrones e Intercesores de la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud 2013
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 El padre jesuita Anchieta ya es santo
  4. ↑ El Papa convierte hoy al Padre Anchieta en santo
  5. ↑ José de Anchieta será o terceiro santo do Brasil
  6. ↑ Enciclopedia vasca Auñamendi. "José de Anchieta" (in español). Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  7. ↑ "San José de Anchieta, 9 de junio" (in español). Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  8. ↑ La Catedral custodia una reliquia de Anchieta
  9. ↑ Go-betweens and the colonization of Brazil, 1500-1600 by Alida C. Metcalf, pgs 104-114, 138
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Conheça a vida do Beato José de Anchieta, fundador de cidades, missionário gramático, poeta, teatrólogo e historiador
  11. ↑ José de Anchieta
  12. ↑ 1683 - Forjadores de América. Padre José de Anchieta.
  13. ↑ El lagunero Padre Anchieta será canonizado en abril
  14. ↑ La canonización de Anchieta en primicia
  15. ↑ An. "El jueves 24 de abril el papa preside en Roma la misa de acción de gracias por la canonización de Anchieta". Nivariense digital (in español). Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Santos españoles canonizados por el papa Francisco | CEE". www.conferenciaepiscopal.es (in español). Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  17. ↑ "53ª Assembleia Geral da CNBB" (in português). Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  18. ↑ La Catedral custodia una reliquia de Anchieta
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Fiesta de San José de Anchieta
  20. ↑ Museo Nacional de São José de Anchieta em Santuário Nacional de São José de Anchieta
  21. ↑ São José de Anchieta é declarado padroeiro do Brasil
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