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| I'm
happy, Lord, happy. |
| Pictures
of Padre Hurtado's life |
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Ana
Cruchaga Tocornal,
his mother. |
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| With
his brother Miguel Angel |
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| His Life and Achievements |
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Alberto
Hurtado was born in Viña del Mar,
Chile, on January 22, 1901, into a Christian family.
When he was barely 4 years old, his father died, leaving
his mother, Anita Cruchaga, on her own and in charge
of Alberto and his brother Miguel.
In 1909, he was admitted into the San Ignacio School,
where he proved to be a good scholar, as well as a cheerful,
sociable, and very pious person. His kindly nature led
him to devote his free time to visiting and helping
the needy.
After completing High School, he studied Law at the
Universidad Católica de Chile, while working
to help his mother. However, his vocation lay elsewhere:
He wanted to become a priest. His long hours spent in
prayer, begging for this goal to materialize, did not
go unheeded: in settlement of a debt, his mother was
paid an amount that would enable her to live comfortably
for the rest of her life.
When Alberto told his mother of his decision to become
a Jesuit, she greeted the news gladly. He became a novice
and, after many years of study and hard work, he was
ordained a priest, in Belgium, in 1933. Father Hurtado
returned to Chile, where he devoted himself to teaching
and to providing spiritual guidance to his school pupils.
He became a great teacher and educator of the young. |
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One night, Father Hurtado
came upon a man, poor, sick, and miserable, who had
nowhere to spend the night; on another occasion, he
found a group of abandoned children sleeping under the
bridges of the Mapocho River. The urge to help these
people arose within him. He rallied a group of generous
people who contributed their possessions: their money,
jewels, land, etc. … And that was how he founded
what was to become his major achievement: the Hogar
de Cristo.
With untiring love, he would go out in his little green
pick-up and bring in the poor off the streets, to the
Hogar, for a cup of hot milk and a night's sleep in
a proper bed… In each of these poor people, he
saw the suffering Christ.
He later founded workshops to provide these people
with education and training in some kind of dignified
work. His many activities also included publications
and lectures on the priesthood, teenagers' difficulties,
Catholicism, education and social organization. Additionally,
he founded the magazine "Mensaje" and was
the leading spirit of Chilean trade-unionism. |
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Father
Hurtado developed cancer. In hospital, and while enduring
serious pain, he never complained. He accepted God's
will, and was often heard to repeat: "I'm
happy, Lord, happy", which was to become
his personal motto.
Father Hurtado died on August 18, 1952. He is buried
in the sanctuary built in his memory, on Av. General
Velázquez 1090, Santiago, Chile. The Chilean
Parliament instituted August 18 as "Solidarity
Day", in honor of the beatified priest.
The process towards Father
Hurtado's beatification was undertaken in Rome and completed
in The Vatican City on October 16, 1994, under John
Paul II. |
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