Saint Ezequial Moreno

Catholic Saint

st.Ezequial Moreno-Augustine missionary renowned throughout the Americas

Feast Day : August 19

Patronage: cancer victims

Ezequial Moreno was born on April 9, 1848, in Alfaro, Rioja, Spain, the child of Félix Moreno and Josefa Díaz. He was drawn to the religious life as a child, and in September 1864, when he was 18, he entered the Augustine monastery in Montegudo, Navarra. Ezequial spent much of the early part of his career as a missionary in the Philippines, where he was sent in 1870. He was ordained a priest the following year, and later was named to head the Montegudo monastery and so returned to Spain. In 1888, Ezequial traveled once again, this time to Colombia in command of a group of Augustinian missionaries. His success as an administrator led to his being named bishop of Pinar in 1893 and bishop of Pasto in 1895. In 1905, Ezequial was diagnosed with cancer. The following year he returned to Spain for an operation, which turned out unsuccessfully, and he died in the monastery at Montegudo on August 19, 1906. After his death, his fame grew rapidly, especially in Colombia. He is considered to have been one of the greatest evangelists of the Americas.