9 saints and Gaudí inspire faithful as pope’s visit to Spain gets underway

The national organizing committee of Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey to Spain has proposed, through videos created with artificial intelligence, the lives of nine saints and one venerable, Antonio Gaudí, as examples of Christian life to inspire the faithful as this ecclesial event gets underway.

The choice of these holy men and women is related to the venues of the pontifical visit and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, given that the Holy Father will celebrate the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) on Sunday, June 7, in Madrid.

The project presents 10 people who “searched for God in the world” and “found the extraordinary in the ordinary.”

Representing Madrid, St. Isidore the Laborer (or Farmer) and St. Mary of the Head have been selected as “examples of holiness in marriage, at work, and in ordinary life,” as well as St. Soledad Torres Acosta, founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Mary Ministers of the Sick.

Representing Barcelona are Venerable Antonio Gaudí, architect of Sagrada Família Basilica, and St. Eulalia, a martyr and co-patroness of the city.

The saints selected from the Canary Islands are St. Peter of St. Joseph Betancourt, the first native of the islands to be canonized, and St. Joseph of Anchieta, a Jesuit missionary born in Tenerife who is known as the “Apostle of Brazil.”

Three other saints are highlighted for their Eucharistic devotion: St. Teresa of Ávila, reformer of the Carmelite order; St. Paschal Baylon, patron of Eucharistic congresses; and St. Manuel González, bishop of Palencia and founder of the Eucharistic Reparation Union, an apostolate that includes both lay and consecrated persons.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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