On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree of martyrdom, among other servants of God, for the monks of Montserrat who died for the faith of Christ.
G. Bernat Vendrell i Olivella
D. Francesc de P. Sánchez i Soler
G. Ildefons M. Civil i Castellví
(July 25, 1936)
G. Josep M. Jordà i Jordà
(July 26, 1936)
P. Àngel M. Rodamilans i Canals
(July 27, 1936)
P. Odiló M. Costa i Canal
D. Narcís M. Vilar i Espona
D. Hildebrand M. Casanovas i Vila
(July 28, 1936)
P. Josep M. Fontserè i Masdéu
P. Domènec González i Millán
(August 19, 1936)
P. Joan Roca i Bosch
P. Ambròs M. Busquets i Creixell
P. Plàcid M. Feliu i Soler
G. Eugeni M. Erausquin i Aramburu
G. Emilià M. Guilà i Ximenes
(August 19, 1936)
P. Lleó Alesanco i Maestro
P. Lluís Palacios i Lozano
(November 30, 1936)
P. Fulgenci Albareda i Ramoneda
(December 19, 1936)
P. Robert Grau i Bullich
(January 5, 1937)
P. Pere Vallmitjana i Abarca
(?? March 1937)
On June 4, 2013, Pope Francis did the same for Fr. Raimon Lladós i Salud, who died for the faith of Christ together with the monks of El Pueyo, Barbastro.
All of them were beatified in Tarragona on October 13, 2013.
G. Bernat (Jaume) Vendrell i Olivella
Born: Sant Esteve d’Ordal 06/29/1878 | Professed: 07/14/1900 | Died: Gelida 07/25/1936
He entered Montserrat at twenty years of age and was distinguished for his discretion and faithfulness in his assigned tasks. From 1924 onwards, he worked in the sacristy.
Dom Francesc de P. Sánchez i Soler
Born: Barcelona 08/25/1880 | Professed: 01/22/1905 | Died: Molins de Rei 07/25/1936
From a young age, like his father, he showed an aptitude for music and became a teacher of it. Once he entered the monastery, symptoms of a serious illness were detected, which did not prevent his temporary profession or the beginning of his ecclesiastical studies. He made his solemn profession and contented himself with not receiving holy orders. He worked as the community's mailman.
G. Ildefons M. (Aleix) Civil i Castellví
Born: Molins de Rei 01/11/1889 | Professed: 05/03/1916 | Died: Molins de Rei 07/25/1936
At eight years old, he enthusiastically joined the Escolania, where he demonstrated great aptitudes for humanities and music, serving as an "ancià" (senior boy). Later, he perfected his music studies in Barcelona and Paris. While always maintaining his desire to become a monk, he carried out his military service in Africa. He entered the monastery but was called up to the ranks once again. Upon rejoining Montserrat, he was advised to do so as a lay brother. Despite his musical talents, he showed no pretension of any kind and also worked as a personal assistant to Abbot Marcet.
G. Josep M. Jordà i Jordà
Born: Tarragona 11/17/1884 | Professed: 12/30/1906 | Died: Tarragona 07/26/1936
As a young man, he worked in several commercial houses, and at twenty years old, he embraced monastic life. From 1908, he worked in the tailor's shop, though he had previously rendered services in the carpentry workshop, sacristy, and guesthouse. He was demanding with himself and expected the same from others.
P. Àngel M. Rodamilans i Canals
Born: Sabadell 05/01/1874 | Ordained: 10/13/1901 | Professed: 11/01/1924 | Died: Sabadell 07/27/1936
He was a choirboy at Montserrat from 1883 to 1890 and later served as an organist at the monastery of El Pueyo for nine years, while beginning his ecclesiastical studies, which he completed at the seminary of Barcelona. Once ordained a priest, he returned to his hometown to work as a music teacher and, later, as organist and chapelmaster at the parish of the Puríssima Concepció. In 1915, he won civil service exams for the same positions at the parish of Sant Esperit in Terrassa. During these years, he established himself as a composer. After his parents passed away, he was free to enter the monastery in 1923. He remained ever connected to the Escolania as prefect and teacher, composing well over a hundred works, some of great scale. However, he placed his vocation as a priest and monk above that of a musician.
P. Odiló M. (Joan) Costa i Canal
Born: Vic 12/13/1905 | Professed: 10/05/1923 | Ordained: 07/13/1930 | Died: ? 07/28/1936
He was part of the Escolania for six years, and one year after leaving it, he entered the monastery. Once ordained a priest, he directed the printing press and served as a substitute organist.
D. Narcís M. (Pere) Vilar i Espona
Born: Hostalets de Balenyà 08/07/1916 | Professed: 08/06/1934 | Died: ? 07/28/1936
He entered as a student at twelve years old and completed his humanities before beginning the novitiate. He had a lively and fiery temperament.
D. Hildebrand M. (Lluís) Casanovas i Vila
Born: Hostalets de Balenyà 01/21/1918 | Professed: 08/04/1935 | Died: ? 07/28/1936
He followed the same path as his fellow townsman, but with a temperament that made him go unnoticed.
P. Josep M. Fontserè i Masdéu
Born: Vinyoles d’Orís 10/30/1854 | Professed: 08/31/1889 | Ordained: 04/04/1885 | Died: Pedralbes 08/19/1936
He spent his childhood in Manlleu and could not fulfill his wishes to enter Montserrat. In 1883, he was incardinated in the Italian diocese of Norcia, where he received Holy Orders, living in the Celestine monastery of Our Lady of the Cross. He served the parish of Monteleone until December 1885, when he returned to his homeland due to threats from Italian anti-clerics. There are indications that he served as a chaplain on one of the ships of the Transatlantic Company, where his former companion, Fr. Jacint Verdaguer, also exercised ministry.
In 1888, he was admitted as a novice at Montserrat. He made his solemn profession on October 8, 1892. He was a good spiritual counselor. Until 1904, he advised M. Teresa Gallifa Palmarola in the foundation of the Institute of the Servants of the Passion, and in 1925, he testified in the beatification process of Saint Enrique d'Ossó due to his interactions with him at the monastery's porter's lodge. He was also in charge of providing stationery and cleaning items to the community. When the war broke out, he was the oldest member of the community.
P. Domènec (Cebrià) González i Millán
Born: La Losilla, Logroño 09/16/1880 | Professed: 10/10/1897 | Ordained: 03/10/1906 | Died: Pedralbes 08/19/1936
As a student at Valvanera, he went to Montserrat in 1895, where he studied humanities, entered the novitiate, made his temporary profession, and pursued ecclesiastical studies. In 1900, he returned to his home monastery of Valvanera, where he made his solemn profession on March 21 of the following year. Despite delicate health, he was observant. He had a practical talent and was a good Latin teacher. Without losing stability in his monastery of origin, he moved to reside at Montserrat in 1920.
P. Joan Roca i Bosch
Born: Guissona 07/11/1884 | Professed: 11/09/1901 | Ordained: 12/18/1909 | Died: Pedralbes 08/19/1936
At thirteen years old, he entered Montserrat, and once ordained a priest, he was assigned to El Miracle. From 1913 to 1916, he was prefect of the choirboys, and afterward, he served as majordomo for a year. In 1917, Foment de Pietat Catalana published his translation of The Pearl of Virtues: An Exhortation to the Young Catholic, by the Jesuit Adolf de Doss. That same year, he was sent to Montserrat's dependent house in Naples, where he served as superior for ten years. Later, he requested to transfer to the Brazilian Benedictine Congregation, but not finding what he expected there, he requested readmission to Montserrat in 1930. With humility, he accepted taking the last place among the priests for a year.
P. Ambròs M. (Agustí) Busquets i Creixell
Born: Torroella de Montgrí 06/07/1903 | Professed: 08/20/1919 | Ordained: 05/29/1926 | Died: Pedralbes 08/19/1936
After initial instruction at the school of the Gabrielist brothers, he entered the Aspirants' School of Montserrat on September 11, 1914. Assigned by superiors to the monastery of Manila, he completed almost all his studies at Sant'Anselmo in Rome. However, at the time of his solemn profession on March 21, 1925, he asked to make it for the monastery of Montserrat. He fulfilled the formality of military service living in Palestine. Upon returning to the monastery, he dedicated himself to classical languages—Greek and Latin—which he knew thoroughly. He translated into Catalan and published Saint Bernard's De Consideratione (1934).
P. Plàcid M. (Càndid) Feliu i Soler
Born: Sant Mori 11/01/1904 | Professed: 08/10/1921 | Ordained: 09/25/1927 | Died: Pedralbes 08/19/1936
He entered the seminary of Girona and from there moved to the School of Montserrat at fourteen years old. His exemplary conduct during juniorate earned him a special dispensation to be ordained a priest fourteen months before the prescribed age. He was entrusted with the direction of the printing press and was also prefect of the lay brothers. He oversaw the Catalan editions of Card. Gasquet's Religio Religiosi: Object and End of the Religious Life of a Benedictine (1927) and the Ascetic Treatises of Ven. Louis de Blois (1928). In 1932, he was appointed prefect of the choirboys and earned the boys' trust.
G. Eugeni M. (Josep) Erausquin i Aramburu
Born: Lazkao 10/21/1902 | Professed: 06/10/1920 | Died: Pedralbes 08/19/1936
Since the monastery of Lazkao did not accept vocations from local boys, a monk accompanied him to Montserrat, where he began his novitiate in 1918 as a choir monk, but preferred to transfer to a lay brother. He worked mainly at the monastery's printing press. Not long before the war started, he visited his family and paid no heed to those who tried to dissuade him from returning to Catalonia.
G. Emilià M. (Ignasi) Guilà i Ximenes
Born: Mataró 04/04/1914 | Professed: 04/20/1930 | Died: Pedralbes 08/19/1936
He attended school in Figueres, where his parents had relocated, but was never outstanding in his studies. He also studied for a year at the Girona seminary. He always showed great religious devotion. Upon entering Montserrat, he moved from the choir novices to the lay brothers. He worked in the bookbinding workshop. He carried out military service in Manresa from early 1936 until July 13.
P. Lleó (Lluís Gonzaga) Alesanco i Maestro
Born: San Millán de la Cogolla 06/22/1882 | Professed: 10/18/1898 | Ordained: 10/30/1912 | Died: 11/30/1936
He entered Valvanera as a student, and in 1895, he moved to Montserrat, where he studied humanities, completed his novitiate, temporary, and solemn professions, while pursuing ecclesiastical studies. He returned to his original monastery in 1904. He had a special gift for caring for the sick and was distinguished for the devotion with which he celebrated Mass and gave thanks. At the same time, he was betrayed by a difficult temperament, which explains why he resided in several Spanish monasteries. He translated into Spanish the Rule of Saint Benedict and other short works on monastic spirituality.
From 1935, he lived at Montserrat's property of Can Castells, from where he had to flee with the other resident monks due to threats from revolutionaries in Esparreguera.
P. Lluís Palacios i Lozano
Born: Agés, Burgos 08/25/1893 | Professed: 05/11/1911 | Ordained: 09/22/1917 | Died: 11/30/1936
In childhood, he already stood out for his piety and ease with studies. His early desire to be a priest materialized into a vocation as a monk of Montserrat, where he had three relatives, entering at thirteen years old. He obtained a licentiate in philosophy at Sant'Anselmo in Rome, and after his ordination, spent a few years in Jerusalem perfecting biblical studies and Semitic languages. At Sant'Anselmo, he taught Hebrew and was also a substitute for the chair of Sacred Scripture. On July 30, 1923, he was elected consultant to the Abbot General, serving in the position for four years. He was also prefect of discipline at Sant'Anselmo for several years. The war caught him, along with ten other monks, at the Can Castells estate, where he had gone to rest after the academic year.
He is the author of Grammatica syriaca vol. I: Phonologia et Morphologia (1931; reprinted 1954) and Grammatica aramaico-biblica (1933; reprinted 1953, 1970, 1980).
P. Fulgenci (Josep) Albareda i Ramoneda
Born: Barcelona 06/13/1888 | Professed: 12/19/1907 | Ordained: 07/08/1915 | Died: Montcada 12/19/1936
Born four years before his monk and cardinal brother, Anselm M., he asked to be a choirboy at Montserrat, where he spent eight years. Afterward, he studied for a year at the Barcelona seminary, and on the day of his father's death, he asked to become a monk. Two years after his priestly ordination, he was entrusted with the responsibility of majordomo, which he carried out triumphantly and exemplarily until his death.
P. Robert (Joan) Grau i Bullich
Born: Coll de Nargó 04/14/1895 | Professed: 08/09/1914 | Ordained: 07/26/1920 | Died: Barcelona(?) 01/05/1937
Due to poverty, he could not enter the seminary of La Seu d'Urgell and studied Latin in Organyà from eleven years of age. At fifteen, he entered Montserrat, and on August 3, 1913, he received the habit. He took solemn vows on October 21, 1917, and was ordained a priest by Archbishop Francesc d'A. Vidal i Barraquer on July 20, 1920.
Shortly after, he went to Palestine to fulfill military service in mission lands; he resided at the monastery of the Syriac Seminary, where he became interested in the liturgy of various Eastern Churches and studied the most significant Syriac Father, Saint Ephrem. In 1922, he was appointed prefect of students, and for about four years, he was at the service of these boys, sharing with them—beyond the Benedictine Rule—the doctrine of García de Cisneros and Columba Marmion. For them, he wrote Manual del col·legial aspirant a monjo de Montserrat (1928). In this climate of apostolate among children, he became interested in the Parisian child Guy de Fontgalland (1913–1923), and after meeting his mother directly, researching his environment, and collecting pamphlets on the subject, he published his biography El «sí» d'un infant (1933).
He wrote Notes biogràfiques de Fra Josep de Sant Benet, religiós llec de Montserrat (1654-1723) (1923). He translated into Catalan Marmion's three-volume work Christ, the Ideal of the Monk (1924–1925), and into Spanish, by the same author, Sponsa Verbi: The Virgin Consecrated to the Lord (3rd ed. 1953).
Due to his qualities, he was on the verge of going to Bulgaria in 1926 for a difficult ecumenical and monastic mission in which Apostolic Delegate Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was interested. He also spiritually directed laypeople and was an appreciated confessor.
On December 1, 1928, he succeeded Father Gregori Sunyol as prior. Aside from collaborating in the intellectual and spiritual momentum of those years, he was responsible for leading the Monastery during much of 1929—due to Abbot Marcet's trip to South America and the Holy Land while accused of Catalan nationalism during the Dictatorship—and for presiding over the organization of the 1931 jubilee celebrations.
P. Pere Vallmitjana i Abarca
Born: Barcelona 05/19/1875 | Professed: 08/18/1894 | Ordained: 03/02/1901 | Died: Cerdanyola ? March 1937
From his entry into Montserrat, he made every effort to overcome academic difficulties, and once ordained a priest, he was sent to the Benedictine missions in Australia. He returned to Montserrat, and in 1924, he went to the house in Naples to assist Father Joan Roca. He spent several years at the Can Castells farm and also taught classes to students and choirboys.
Prayer of petition to request the canonization of the Blessed Martyrs of Montserrat
THE BEATIFIED MARTYRS OF MONTSERRAT
Lord,
the crown of Your martyrs of Montserrat
gives us joy
Let their martyrdom console us
and this host of intercessors
obtain for us the grace
of being stronger in the faith
In the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son
Who lives and reigns with you
In the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever Amen
