He did not hide his faith in the midst of controversy
Saint Pedro Poveda is a model of sainthood for the present times. He lived his faith in daily life and did not hide it in the midst of controversy.
“My belief, my faith is not wavering. It is firm and unshakeable”.
These are words he lived since childhood and in the difficult times he had to endure.
Poveda’s presence was active, yet always calm and open to dialogue and collaboration. Those who knew him at the time have written of his attitude: ready to support any good educational initiative that might advance the work of believers. He saw that it was important to offer alternatives to those who wanted to practice their profession without having to abandon their faith.
Poveda advised his collaborators to keep to their convictions but, with gentleness and without provocations. He wrote:” gentleness and meekness are the virtues that win the world”.
In 1935, few days before his death he wrote:
“Now more than ever we must study the lives of the first Christians so as to learn form them how to behave in times of persecution. See how they obeyed the Church, how they confessed Christ, how they prepared for martyrdom, how they prayed for their persecutors and forgave them. How they loved and blessed the Lord and encouraged their brothers”.
At dawn, on July 28th, 1936 a group of paramilitaries came to search his house in Madrid. He had chosen to be close to his own, to the people he had gathered around a ‘good idea’ as he would call the lay association he initiated in 1911. When his captors arrived, he identified himself with determination: “I am a priest of Christ”.
The Teresian Association (T.A.) began by Poveda is present in the United States, in Canada and Cuba and in 27 other countries of four continents: men and women who carry out an evangelizing mission through their witness in the family and their professional work in the field of education and culture.
Canonically T.A. it is an International Association of Pontifical Right.
Read more about Poveda
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