Aloysius Schwartz

Infobox Saint
name=Sg Aloysius Schwartz
birth_date=18 September 1930
death_date=16 March 1992
feast_day=16 March
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church


imagesize=150px
birth_place=Wahington D.C., U.S.A. flagicon|USA
death_place=Manila, Philippines flagicon|Philippines
titles=priest of the archdiocese of Manila; founder, Sisters of Mary of Banneux and Brothers of Christ
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Aloysius Schwartz was born on September 18, 1930, in Washington, DC, USA. He grew up with the idea of becoming a secular priest. He heard his calling to serve the Lord at a very young age and at 13, he entered the seminary. In 1944, at age 14, he entered St. Charles Seminary in Maryland, finished his B.A. Degree at Maryknoll College and studied his Theology at Louvain Catholic University in Belgium. He used to spend his vacation helping at the rag-pickers’ camps for the derelicts of the French society. Visiting Banneux, where the Virgin of the Poor appeared, he was more inspired to dedicate his priesthood to the service of the poor in fulfillment of her message.

In 1957, he started his charity programs for the poor orphans in Korea. In 1983, due to great success, he extended his programs to the Philippines and in 1990 to Mexico. This would not have been possible without the congregation of the Sisters of Mary (also founded by him in 1964).

In 1983 Schwartz was awarded the [http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationSchwartzAlo.htm Ramon Magsaysay Award] .

Biography

Aloysius Schwartz was born in Washington D.C. on September 18, 1930 to Louis Schwartz and Cedelia Bourassa. He grew up with the idea of becoming a priest. As time passed, this idea become more intense and specific. He would become a secular priest, he would work as a missionary, and his apostolate would be to the poor and the needy.

In 1944, he entered St. Charles Seminary in Maryland. He finished his B.A. Degree at Maryknoll College and then he joined with Societe des Auxiliaries des Missions (S.A.M.). He studied his Theology at Louvain Catholic University in Belgium. He used to spend his vacation helping at the rag-pickers’ camps for the derelicts of the French society. His first visit to the Shrine of the Virgin of the Poor inspired him more to dedicate his priesthood to the service of the poor in fulfillment of the message of our Lady.

He was ordained as a diocesan priest on June 29, 1957 ar St. Martin's Church, Washington D.C. He chose Korea to be his first assignment although he was told that he might not be able to endure because of his somewhat delicate health condition. On December 8, 1957, he arrived in Korea. As a consequence of the Korean War, there were many widows, orphans, beggars and street children. Almost one-half of the adult population were not employed productively, so they resorted to selling rags and waste paper, begging, and worst, stealing. He thanked God that after 13 years of preparation, finally he arrived at the place where he could serve Him through the poorest of the poor.

He was full of zeal and worked so hard, but one day he collapsed while saying Mass and was diagnosed to have hepatitis. His recovery was slow so he was advised to go back to the United States. Without money for his plane fare, he had to beg for transportation from an American ship. While in the U.S., he decided to raise funds for the poor in Korea. He made mission appeals at parish Masses on Sundays.

He didn't mind being a beggar just to be able to help the poor.

In December 1961, he returned to Korea and was assigned as a pastor of St. Joseph's Parish. He lived like the poor people around the parish and continued helping the needy. He organized the Legion of Mary ladies to assist him in helping the poor. Later he thought that in order to serve the poor in the mind and heart of Jesus, they must be consecrated.

He founded the Religious Congregation of the Sisters of Mary on August 15, 1964 in Amnamdong, Busan and on May 10, 1981, the Brothers of Christ. As a founder, he was an model of service to the poor, which emanates from his unwavering faith and love of God present in the Eucharist, in the Scriptures, and in the poor. His zeal for God and for the poor also incarnated in the sisters' and brother's heart.

Together with the Sisters and Brothers, Schwartz established Boystowns and Girlstowns to take care, educate and give a bright future to the orphans, street children, and children coming from very poor families from day-one to their late teens. They also built hospitals and sanatoriums for very indigent patients as well as hospices for the homeless and handicapped elderly men, retarded children, and for unwed mothers. They were also involved in the pro-life activities. His idea of helping the poor was not mainly material but above all spiritual. He wanted to offer many souls to God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 1983 he was a recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, an award given annually in the Philippines in honor of the late President Ramon Magsaysay. Jaime Cardinal Sin was then the Archbishop of Manila, had the honor to present this award. Thus, the Cardinal grabbed the opportunity to invite Schwartz to set up his Religious Community in the Archdiocese of Manila.

In 1985, seeing the urgent need of the poor and with total confidence in God's providence, he founded the Sisters of Mary at Sta. Mesa, Manila, thus expanding his charity programs in the Philippines. Construction of buildings and rounding up of children from the slum and very poor areas were done and in a few months, they launched the work.

In 1989, he was diagnosed to have a terminal illness. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He accepted with it with joy, serenity and courage, and regarded it as a gift from God. In spite of his deteriorating health, he established Boystown and Girlstown in Mexico, which he called his "unfinished symphony".

With humility, courage, and unwavering faith, he suffered and accepted a lot of humiliations, criticisms, pains, incredible trials, and difficulties. He did his best to relieve the suffering of the poor. His illness made him immobile, still even on a wheelchair, he continued to fulfill his duties with joy. He spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament, praying the rosary, hearing confessions, and preaching in words and examples the virtues of truth, justice, chastity, charity and humility, penance and fortitude. His love for God and the poor consumed him. He did not only help the poor but also he lived poorly.

On March 16, 1992, he died at the Girlstown in Manila, Philippines and he was buried at the Boystown in Cavite, Philippines.

The Sisters of Mary and the Brothers of Christ, continue to live his charism of serving gratuitously tens of thousands of the poorest of the poor in Korea, Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil.

The official opening of the Causes of Beatification and Canonization of Aloysius Schwartz took place at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Metropolitan Cathedral, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines on December 10, 2003.

On May 29, 2004 at The Sisters of Mary Girlstown Complex, Bo. Biga, Silang Cavite, Philippines, Socrates B. Villegas, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila and Episcopal Delegate in behalf of Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, solemnly declared the Archdiocesan Process of the Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God, Aloysius Schwartz, founder of the Sisters of Mary and Brothers of Christ closed.

References

* [http://gravini.com.mx Boystown Mexico]
* [http://www.worldvillages.org World Villages for Children]
* [http://www.asmsi.org.ph/more.php?tag=biography&id=2&header=fral Alumni of the Sisters of Mary School, Inc. (ASMSI)]