Blessed Francisco Palau

Life story

Francisco Palau was born on 29 December 1811 at Aitona, in the Lleida region of Catalonia. In October 1832 he entered the Discalced Carmelite priory of St Joseph in Barcelona and made solemn vows in November 1833. He was ordained a priest on 2 April 1836.

In July 1840 he crossed the Pyrenees into exile in France and returned to Spain in April 1851. In Barcelona, from 1851 to 1854, he ran the School of Virtue, a catechetical school for adults held at the church of St Augustine.

The authorities closed the school and arrested Palau, who was banished to Ibiza for about six years. There he preached to the islanders and, according to Carmelite accounts, often spent days and nights in prayer in a cave on the rock of La Vedra.

In 1860–1861 he started a Carmelite Third Order congregation for men and women in the Balearic Islands. Today two women's congregations, the Teresian Carmelite Missionaries and the Carmelite Missionaries, carry on his work. He died at Tarragona on 20 March 1872 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Basilica on 24 April 1988.

Works and witness

• Entered the Discalced Carmelites in Barcelona in 1832; ordained in 1836
• Ran the School of Virtue, an adult catechetical school in Barcelona (1851–1854)
• Banished to Ibiza for about six years
• Started Carmelite Third Order communities in 1860–1861; beatified in 1988

Saints from the same country

Saint Dominic, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint Francis Xavier

References

• Carmelite Seremban, Blessed Francisco Palau y Quer (carmelite-seremban.org)
• Lay Carmelites of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Bl. Francis Palau y Quer (olmlaycarmelites.org)
• ACI Prensa, Biografía del beato Francisco Palau (aciprensa.com)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.