Historical and biographical review of some of the main figures of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Order of Augustinian Recollects from its foundation to the present day.
He was a great missionary, as Martín Legarra described him in the Boletín de la Provincia [Bulletin of the Province]. Born in Puebla de Arganzón, Burgos, Spain, in 1875, he professed his vows in Monteagudo in 1894. In 1897, he arrived in Manila in the last mission of the century. A few weeks after his ordination, he was assigned to Lubang in Mindoro Occidental, where he endured nineteen months of captivity during the Revolution.
In May 1902, at the age of 27 and brimming with health and apostolic zeal, he arrived in Palawan. For the first nine years, he served as an itinerant missionary, a role for which he was well-suited, being a man of few demands, relentlessly indefatigable, and affectionate towards the people.
From Taytay, Bacuit, and Araceli, he reached the most remote corners; at key locations, he would stay for weeks, utilizing his time to erect chapels, teach Christian doctrine, and organize catechesis.
In April 1911, he was appointed prefect of the newly created Prefecture. His spirit remained unchanged until 1924 when a malarial attack severely afflicted him, bringing him to the brink of death for several weeks.
He exerted great effort in promoting the participation of the laity and in education, convinced of their pivotal role in the future. However, a shortage of personnel diminished the effectiveness of his efforts. Nonetheless, he succeeded in constructing churches in Bacuit and Coron and advanced the construction of the church in Araceli. In January 1914, he established the Apostleship of Prayer in Cuyo, which immediately had a significant impact on Christian life and later spread throughout the entire Prefecture.
The previous year, he had undertaken the mission of Brooke’s Point and added Aborlan in 1933. These two developments marked the beginning of the evangelization of southern Palawan, a process he spearheaded for nine months between 1923 and 1924.
At that time, the inhabitants were either non-believers or Muslims, with Catholics numbering only a few dozen. In 1926, he convened the missionaries to seek solutions, and the conclusions drawn were hopeful. However, when it came time to implement them, considerable opposition rendered them ineffective. In his later years, he faced misunderstandings with his missionaries, who perceived him as authoritarian or individualistic.
In 1938, he returned to Spain shortly after the Holy See accepted his resignation. On December 27, 1946, he passed away in Tulebras, Navarra, close to the convent of Monteagudo where he had resided.
