Saint José Gabriel Brochero

Saint Joseph Gabriel of the Rosary (sometimes José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero; 16 March 1840 – 26 January 1914), also referred to as Priest Brochero (in Spanish:Cura Brochero), was a Catholic priest who suffered leprosy throughout his life. He is known for his extensive work with the poor and the sick. He became affectionately known as "the Gaucho priest" and the "cowboy priest". He was beatified on 14 September 2013 after a healing was recognized as a miracle attributed to him. Cardinal Angelo Amato – on the behalf of Pope Francis – presided over the beatification. Another miracle under investigation was approved in 2016 and a date for canonization was approved in a gathering of cardinals on 15 March 2016; Brochero was canonized on 16 October 2016. Brochero was born on 16 March 1840 in Argentina as the fourth of ten children to Ignacio Brochero and Petrona Davila; he had two sisters and the others were brothers. Two sisters became nuns. He was baptized on 17 March along with the registration of his birth. He commenced his studies to become a priest at the College Seminary of Our Lady of Loreto on 5 March 1856 at the age of sixteen and during his studies he met the future president Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman. Brochero received the tonsure on 16 July 1862; he was received into the subdiaconate on 26 May 1866 and then into the diaconate on 21 September 1866. He had joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic on 26 August 1866. He was ordained to the priesthood in the diocese of Córdoba on 4 November 1866 at the age of 26 under Bishop José Vicente Ramírez de Arellano and celebrated his first Mass the following 10 December. Brochero was later appointed as a prefect of studies of the seminary and was awarded the title of Master of Philosophy on 12 November 1869. Brochero founded a home in 1875 for people known as the Houses of Exercises (inaugurated in 1877) and later established a school for girls in 1880.