A Youthful Model of Faith
Venerable Faustino Pérez-Manglano (1946-1963) proved that sanctity does not require a long life, only a heart totally given to God. Born in Valencia, Spain, Faustino was a typical, joyful teenager who loved soccer, swimming, and reading novels. Yet, beneath this ordinary exterior lay a soul marked for extraordinary holiness. We honor Venerable Faustino as a courageous example of fidelity and joy in the face of suffering.
A student at the Marianist Colegio Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Faustino developed a deep, personal relationship with Mary early on. At the age of thirteen, during a school retreat, he made a sincere promise to pray the Rosary every day—a commitment he viewed as a “debt” of love to his Mother. It was during this same retreat that he wrote the simple but profound words that would guide his vocation: “Maybe God will speak to me.” God did indeed speak, and Faustino responded with a generous “Yes” to the call to be a Marianist religious, a call that would not be fully realized in this life.
His path would not lead to the mission fields of South America as he had dreamed, but to the difficult road of the Cross. Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, a form of cancer, Faustino accepted his illness with a smile that baffled those around him. He never complained, offering his pain for the salvation of souls and the needs of the Church. Even as his health declined, his spirit soared; he famously noted in his diary, “I am very happy. I want to suffer for Christ who suffered so much for me.”
Although he died just short of his seventeenth birthday, Faustino’s witness continues to echo through the Church. His life of heroic virtue even inspired St. Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint. Carlo, who shared Faustino’s deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Rosary, featured a biography and photos of the young Spanish Venerable on his own website, recognizing in Faustino a kindred spirit of modern youth holiness.
He also inspired the lives of other young people, such as the young French woman, Héloïse, a student at our Marianist school in Bordeaux, who died of the same disease as Faustino and who said of him: “STRIVING FOR HOLINESS IS WHAT FAUSTINO HAS MADE US UNDERSTAND WAS POSSIBLE.” Or the young Colombian Michel, whose beatification process is open in his diocese in Colombia and who had “FAUSTINO AS A ROLE MODEL IN HIS LIFE.”
On his deathbed, Faustino was unable to formally profess his vows as a religious, but he died a Marianist in desire, his heart fully consecrated to the Society of Mary. Pope Benedict XVI declared him Venerable in 2011, confirming that this young “fisherman of souls” had practiced heroic virtue.
Venerable Faustino Pérez-Manglano…pray for us!