Saint José Maria de Yermo y Parres

José María de Yermo y Parres (10 November 1851 – 20 September 1904) was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Poor. He dedicated his life to catering to the needs of the abandoned and used his order to take care of the poor's spiritual and material needs. He also was once a vowed member of the Congregation of the Mission due to his devotion to Saint Vincent de Paul but left it after experiencing a sudden vocational crisis. Pope John Paul II canonised the late priest as a saint in 2000 after he had beatified him in Mexico in 1990. José Maria de Yermo y Parres was born on 10 November 1851 to Manuel de Yermo y Soviñas and María Josefa Parres (d. 30 December 1851); the Yermos came from a line of nobles in Spain before going to Mexico. The death of his mother saw his father return to the capital and ask his sister Carmen to take care of him. The child spent his time under the care of his paternal aunt and grandmother who instilled religious values in him. In 1864 he received from Maximilian I of Mexico a medal of honor for his distinctions as a student. He had received his education from private teachers before going to private schools. It was in 1863 that he met and forged a lifelong friendship with the distinguished poet Juan de Dios Peza. In 1867 he left home in order to enter the Congregation of the Mission and he made his vows into the order in Toluca on 10 November 1868. His superiors sent him to the order's motherhouse in Paris for studies and he later returned in 1870 around the time he experienced a sudden vocational crisis. He departed the order around this time due to this crisis and returned home. But his friend, the priest Miguel Arizmendi, continued to guide him and advised him to continue his studies for the priesthood while his uncle José Maria Diez de Sollano y Dávalos approved the decision for him to do so.