Saint Manuel González García

Manuel González García (25 February 1877 – 4 January 1940) was a Spanish bishop of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Bishop of Palencia from 1935 until his death. He was also the founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth and also established both the Disciples of Saint John and the Children of Reparation. He was known for his strong devotion to the Eucharist and became known as the "Bishop of the Tabernacle" due to this devotion; he made it an objective of his to spread devotion to the Eucharist and encouraged frequent reception of it. The sainthood cause for the late bishop opened in 1981 and he became titled as a Servant of God while Pope John Paul II named him as Venerable on 6 April 1998 upon the confirmation that he exercised heroic virtue in his life. John Paul II also beatified the late bishop on 29 April 2001. Pope Francis canonized him as a saint on 16 October 2016. He is the patron of all his religious orders and of the Diocese of Palencia where he served as a bishop. Manuel González García was born to Martín González Lara and Antonia García on 25 February 1877 in Seville and had four brothers. He was the fourth of five children born to his parents. His parents were originally from Antequera, province of Málaga. They married in the Church of San Pedro in that city and moved to Seville around 1875. His father, Martín González Lara, established a carpentry and cabinet-making workshop in 1877, and his mother, Antonia García, took care of the family and home. Manuel González had two older brothers, Francisco and Martín, and a younger sister, Antonia. Manuel Siurot was a friend of the family. In his childhood he joined a church choir and, prior to the age of ten, served as part of the choir in the Cathedral of Seville. Following the realization of his religious vocation during his late childhood, he enlisted in the seminary of Seville at the age of twelve in September 1889 for studies for the priesthood.