09 September 2016
Bilbao Campus
The University of Deusto has moved forward the celebration of Blessed Francisco Garate Feast Day from 10 September to 9 September. This red letter date marks the 87th anniversary of Garate's death. He worked as a doorman at Deusto for over 40 years. The students nicknamed him Brother Courtesy for his serenity, discretion and patience. Deusto will be holding a mass at 1:05 pm at the Gothic Chapel to mark this date.
Blessed Garate was born on 3 February 1857 in Azpeitia (Guipuzcoa) and died on 9 September 1929 in Bilbao. He entered the community as a novice on 2 February 1874 in Poyanne (Landes), France and took his final vows on 15 August 1887 in La Guardia (Pontevedra), Spain. He was a fellow countryman of St. Ignatius. He was born 105 meters from the Loyola family’s home. He went to primary school in his hometown. At the age of 14, he worked as servant in the recently opened Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Antigua in Orduña (Biscay). His vocation developed there through his contact with the Jesuits. After spending Christmas of 1873 at his home, he left to enter the novitiate as an exile in Poyanne due to the Revolution of 1868. The third Carlist War was then taking place in the Basque Country and Garate and two mates who also wanted to join the Jesuit order made the trip on foot. The end of his novitiate coincided with the restoration of peace in Spain and the Jesuits’ gradual return. Garate was sent to the La Guardia school as a nurse.
Shortly before he left Poyanne, his brother Ignacio also entered the novitiate (1877) as did his third brother, Andrés somewhat later (1883). The students at La Guardia, where Garate remained from 1877 to 1888, had clear memories of his patience, charity and commitment. His superiors noticed his poor health and sent him to Bilbao to work as doorman at the University of Deusto, where he spent the forty one years prior to his death (1888-1929).
His work went far beyond a doorman's tasks. He was actually a receptionist. He handled public relations in a building that was still under construction where there was no telephone until 1916. Many Jesuits who were outstanding for their knowledge were at Deusto at the time. However, the one most remembered by the students was the humble brother who greeted them every day when they arrived. He also encouraged them, gave them advice and comforted them at difficult times. He even helped them copy class notes and came to the aid of the most underprivileged by providing them with food and clothing.
His many years at a doorman at Deusto were not marked by any major events. He made his time at Deusto an example of service and prayer, imitating his patron Saint Alonso Rodríguez. Garate became seriously ill on 8 September 1929 and died the following day.
He was known for his extraordinarily saintliness; the cause for his beatification was introduced in 1950 and was approved by John Paul II on 6 October 1985. His remains are buried in the Brother Garate Chapel at the University of Deusto and his room beside the entrance has been preserved exactly as it was during his years of exemplary service, simplicity and poverty.
