Ven. José Gregorio Hernández

ARTIST: Br. Mickey McGrath, OSFS

ARTWORK NARRATIVE:

Oh, merciful God,
You have deigned to choose the Venerable Dr. José Gregorio Hernández
that, moved by your grace,
he could practice since childhood the most heroic virtues,
especially a burning faith, an angelic purity and an enlightened Charity.
This being the steps by which his soul flew to your divine encounter
when you received the holocaust of his life.
Grant soon that the aura of saints may shine on above forehead,
if it is for your greater glory and that of the Holy Church.
Amen.

His feast day is June 29.

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In 1888 Hernández graduated as a medical doctor at Universidad Central de Venezuela, in Caracas. The Venezuelan government awarded him a grant to continue his studies in Europe. Hernández traveled to Paris, France, where he studied other fields of medicine such as: bacteriology, pathology, microbiology, histology, and physiology. Following his return to Venezuela, he became a leading doctor at the Hospital José María Vargas.

 

Between 1891 and 1916, Hernández dedicated himself to teaching, medicine, and religious practice. He sought priesthood in two occasions, but his fragile physical conditions would ultimately prevent him from achieving that status. He studied at the Monastery of Lucca in Italy for ten months in 1908. In 1913, he enrolled at the Latin American Pío School of Rome to continue the priestly career, but had to return to Venezuela for health reasons. Among the scientific publications of this famous Venezuelan are The Elements of Bacteriology (1906), About the Angina Pectoris of Malaric Origin (1909) and The Elements of Philosophy (1912).

 

Dr. Hernández treated the poor for free and even bought them medicines with his own money. One day in 1919, while bringing medicine to the home of one of his patients in Caracas, Hernández was struck by a car and killed.

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