Blessed José Olallo Valdés
Cuban hospital brother who nursed the sick of Camagüey for over fifty years
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Religious
- Life
- 1820 – 1889
- Era
- 19th century
- Feast
- 7 March
- Countries
- Cuba
Life story
José Olallo Valdés was born on 12 February 1820 in Havana, Cuba. Sources say he was raised in a charitable institution, then went to Camagüey (then called Puerto Príncipe) and joined the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, where he spent his working life as a lay brother. He was never ordained a priest.
He worked as a nurse in the order's hospital in Camagüey. He became head nurse in 1845 and prior of the community in 1856. According to the accounts, during the Ten Years' War (1868 to 1878) he cared for wounded soldiers of both sides, and he stayed with the sick through several epidemics. The people affectionately called him the “poor people's priest”, though he was not a priest.
He died on 7 March 1889 in Camagüey, aged 69. Pope Benedict XVI authorised the decree on his heroic virtue, and he was beatified on 29 November 2008 in Camagüey, with Cardinal José Saraiva Martins presiding on behalf of the pope. His feast day is 7 March.
Works and witness
- Nursed in the Hospitaller Order's hospital at Camagüey
- Head nurse from 1845, prior of the community from 1856
- Cared for wounded of both sides in the Ten Years' War
- Remained a lay brother and was never ordained
- Beatified on 29 November 2008
Saints from the same country
References
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints: biography and beatification records, 29 November 2008
- Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, biographical sources on José Olallo Valdés
- Martyrologium Romanum (7 March)
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.