I have recently concluded my visitation to the Provinces of India. I would like to share with you one of the encouraging events that is occurring in the Northern Province of India. This is regarding the life of Fr. Valerian Guemes CM, one of the first four Spanish Vincentians who went to India as a missionary in 1922. Today thousands consider him as a saint and they come to his tomb to pray. Many have shared their experiences of receiving favors through the intercession of Fr. Valerian Guemes. Popular devotion is developing and the number of people coming to pray at his tomb continues to increase. It was interesting to hear that it was not Northern Province of India or diocesan officials who began and promoted this popular devotion. It was started by the people who knew him. When people began to remove mud from his tomb (a sign of their devotion), the Northern Province of India erected a small structure over the tomb to protect it.
Fr. Valerian Guemes was born on September 12, 1890 in Quintanarruz in Spain. He was ordained a priest on August 29, 1915 as a member of the Madrid Province of the Congregation of the Mission. Along with three of his companions, he began his journey to India on November 20, 1921 and reached Cuttack, India on January 10, 1922. God blessed their evangelization efforts and strong, faithful Christian communities were formed in the area entrusted to them. Fifty-six years of evangelization on the part of Fr. Guemes and others in the Southern Parts of Orissa resulted in the formation of three dioceses. Once
in India Fr. Guemes never returned to Spain. The place called Mohana in Orissa, India was his favorite place because it was there that he built the first church. He spent his final days in Mohana. He died in Mohana in 1978 at the age of 88 and is buried in the cemetery at Mohana Parish in the diocese of Berhampur.
I had a talk with the Bishop of Berhampur about Fr. Valerian Guemes. The bishop himself is convinced that it is the holiness of Fr. Valerian Guemes that attracted many to the catholic faith in his diocese and in the other areas. It is the people who started this popular devotion and the bishop is ready to take his cause further.
Fr. Tomaž Mavrič, CM
Superior General
