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STJ Bulletin # 215
An intense feeling . . . a search for . . . a powerful encounter . . .
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How is it possible that we have never heard about Villa Ramallo?
Henry de Osso gifted this remote village of Villa Ramallo deep in the
heart of Argentina with an experience of his presence that changed the
life of Victor Tiberi. As Victor, a retired teacher, watched TV that
June 16, 1993, he found himself listening intently to the news of the
canonization of Henry de Osso, a priest in the seminary of Tortosa,
Spain. Here was the life of a priest and catechist deeply involved
with youth and with a passion for changing the
world by means of Catholic education.
Henry de Osso was so dedicated to this ideal; he wanted to
insure it would continue throughout time. He founded a religious
institute: Society of St. Teresa of Jesus totally dedicated to education.
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Victor was so impressed with the life of this holy priest that his whole
person experienced a deep conversion to the love of Jesus. Victor
tells us: To hear about the canonization of Fr. Henry, to see his
picture lifted high, to experience the depth of that gaze on me, a gaze with
such fortitude, firmness and clarity that the depth of my spirit was touched
beyond words. I never had known Father Henry, never had heard anything
about him, never had met one of his daughters, a Teresian Sister, but I
vowed to myself never to stop until I would find out all about him. I
live 200 miles from Buenos Aries and it took me seven years to meet a
Teresian. The phase I heard from Father Henry, “I will make a saint of
you, stayed so imbedded in me that somehow I answered and promised him, I
will be faithful to Jesus and follow the example of your life”. |
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Time passed and I asked Father Henry to intercede with Jesus and help
me do what he was asking of me. Again on TV, I saw part of my
answer, a news report of an accident showed an ambulance at the scene
with the inscription “Hospital St. Henry de Osso”. My search
eventually led me to the Sisters in Paraguay. They gave me a
book on the life of St. Henry written by Cardinal Marcelo Gonzales. I
visited Tortosa, Barcelona, and other Teresian places. I am now a
catechist, and have a group of catechists teaching, and helping me
spread the love of Jesus and the devotion to St. Henry de Osso.
This new saint touched my life and changed me forever.
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June 16, 2004, the Society presented the
Bishop with a picture of St. Henry, which was dedicated in the parish
Church in this remote village of Villa Ramallo. Now Victor proudly
exclaims, “When we gather in our Church, Father Henry looks on us...
and we understand everything about Jesus and what he is asking of us.
Víctor Tiberi
(Interview by Sr.
Ana M. Torra, stj) |
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