December 17
José Manyanet y Vives (1833–1901)
religious
He was born in Tremp, Lleida, Spain, to a large family with very few resources and had to work to pay for his studies.
Biography
He received priestly ordination and after working twelve years in the diocese he founded two religious institutes to honor the Holy Family of Nazareth and provide for the Christian formation of families. He opened schools, workshop schools and other apostolate centers in various towns in Spain. With constant prayer and work, with the exemplary exercise of all the virtues, with loving dedication and tireless concern for souls, he guided and promoted over almost forty years the expansion of the institutes, today spread in several countries in Europe, the two Americas and Africa. Father Manyanet's institutes and works grew amid many difficulties, internal and external; nor did he lack several bodily illnesses that tormented him throughout his life. But his indomitable strength and perseverance, nourished with deep adhesion and obedience to the will of God, overcame all kinds of impediments. On December 17, 1901, enlightened in his virtues, he gave his soul to God at the Jesús, María y José school in Barcelona, surrounded by children and with the same simplicity of his entire existence. He was beatified on November 25, 1984.
Practical advice
When collecting your heart in silence, repeat an ejaculation while doing simple work with external order and internal recollection.