July 31, 2024 // Diocese

‘Do Not Abandon Our Lord … in the Tabernacle!’

Christopher Lushis

Freelance Writer

Fort Wayne Cathedral Hosts Mass, Veneration of Relics in Honor of St. Manuel González García

Throughout the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival, several saints have been highlighted as special patrons who showed exceptional love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. One of these heroic figures is St. Manuel González García, known as the Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle. To foster increased knowledge of and devotion to St. Manuel, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne hosted a special presentation, exhibition of relics, and votive Mass celebrated by Bishop Rhoades to honor St. Manuel on Tuesday, July 23.

As a young priest in 1902, Father Manuel was assigned to a church in Palomares del Rio, Spain, and was eager to address the sacramental needs of his flock. However, he soon discovered that very few came to church, as the local community was splintered by political factions, manual labor was prioritized over Sunday Mass, and the sanctuary was dirty and in disrepair. Kneeling before this forgotten tabernacle, wondering how he could ever hope to have an effective ministry there, he felt the Lord speak to his heart in a way that changed his life. Reflecting upon the agony, abandonment, and rejection that Jesus experienced in His earthly life, the saint said: “All of this sadness was there in that tabernacle, oppressing and crushing the sweet Heart of Jesus and drawing bitter tears from His eyes. Blessed tears from those eyes! The gaze of Jesus in that tabernacle was a gaze that pierced the soul, and one can never forget it. I was trying not to cry, so as not to make Jesus even more sad. His gaze expressed the sorrow of One who loves, but who does not find anybody who wants to receive that love. For me, this turned out to be the starting point – to see, understand, and feel what would consume the whole of my priestly ministry.”

He continued: “What did that tabernacle teach me? I do not think that our religion could ever have a more powerful stimulus for gratitude, or a more efficient principle of love, or a stronger motivation for action than that abandoned tabernacle. Perhaps a weak faith would be scandalized by it, but a faith that meditates and a heart that searches deeply will discover in that tabernacle the Heart of Jesus, who remains there accompanied by only the cobwebs. He stays there day and night, year after year, without ever leaving that tabernacle. He continues to send His sun in the morning, His water to quench our thirst, and bread to feed us, as well as strength and life to all those people who treat Him so badly.”

St. Manuel, who was eventually named bishop of Palencia, Spain, not only offered his own prayers of reparation before the Blessed Sacrament but also established communities aimed at rekindling Eucharistic devotion in the hearts of Catholics. He founded lay movements, including the Three Marys for the Tabernacles (in reference to the women who stood with Our Lord at Calvary), the Little [St.] Johns of the Tabernacle (in reference to St. John the Apostle), and the Reparation of Eucharistic Children. On May 3, 1921, he also founded a religious community, the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth.

Two of these Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth, Sister María Cecilia Appendino and Sister Mónica M. Cordiviola, traveled to Fort Wayne to provide detailed explanations about the life of St. Manuel and offer opportunities to venerate his relics. Sister María Cecilia led a presentation on St. Manuel in Spanish, while Sister Mónica presented in English. They also explained their own personal calling to adore Jesus in the tabernacles in the example of those who faithfully stayed by the Lord in His suffering and loneliness on the cross.

Those in attendance for the events were invited to take holy cards and to touch them or other personal devotional items to the relics of St. Manuel. First-class relics included hair, blood, and a piece of his bone, while second-class relics – wood from his coffin, as well the saturno (hat) and zucchetto he wore as a priest and bishop – were also available to venerate. 

For the celebration of Mass, Bishop Rhoades was privileged to wear St. Manuel’s own vestments, including his episcopal miter and chasuble. In his homily, Bishop Rhoades shared that only in recent years had he learned about the life and legacy of St. Manuel, thanks in part to the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth Sisters who shared the saint’s writings with him. They also gave him a relic that is now venerated at St. Adalbert’s Church in South Bend, where many of the faithful are devoted to St. Manuel.

Bishop Rhoades asked the congregation, “What does St. Manuel, a bishop of the late 19th and early 20th century in Spain, teach us here in the United States in the 21st century?” He responded, “Of course, he teaches us to visit the Blessed Sacrament often. He teaches us not to abandon Our Lord present in the tabernacle. He teaches us to encounter Our Lord and His love in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus present in the Eucharist at Mass, in the monstrance, and in the tabernacle, is here with us. He waits for us to visit Him, to be with Him, to speak to Him, and, more importantly, to listen to Him speaking to us. Being with Him present in the tabernacle, we experience His consolation during difficult times. We grow closer to Him in friendship. When we spend time with Him in adoration, we learn from His Sacred Heart to love one another and to spread His love in our lives as His disciples.”

Bishop Rhoades also shared that he is often asked what to do in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. His answer was simple: “Bring the Gospels with you.” He explained: “Read a passage slowly and listen to the words of Jesus personally addressed to you. Meditate on those words or on Jesus’ actions, then just remain quiet with Jesus and let Him speak to your heart. I think this is what St. Manuel did. He used the sacred Gospels in order to enter into dialogue with Jesus. Jesus is there in the tabernacle, the same Jesus we read about in the Gospels. Jesus our Teacher is there. We can rest with Him and learn from Him before us in the stillness and silence of the tabernacle. We can rest in His love, like St. John did at the Last Supper, resting His head on the breast of His beloved Lord.”

After Mass, Alicia Guzman, a parishioner at St. Patrick Parish in Fort Wayne, who also attended the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, said that she “was inspired by these experiences to learn more about the Eucharist, what it means to us and our faith, and by what Bishop Manuel said: to not leave Jesus alone in the tabernacle. It is very important – I want to not leave Him alone!”

Before he died, St. Manuel said: “I ask to be buried next to a tabernacle, so that my bones, after death, as my tongue and my pen during life, can say to those who pass by: Jesus is there! There He is! Do not leave Him abandoned! Immaculate Mother, St. John, St. Mary Magdalene, take my soul to eternity with the Heart of Jesus in Heaven.” St. Manuel died in 1940 and received his wish, as he was buried beside the tabernacle at the main altar of the Cathedral of Palencia in Spain. His feast day is January 4.