On Saturday 30 September, the Mass of Thanksgiving for the Venerability of Fr Pedro Díez Gil Sch.P. was celebrated in Zaragoza (Spain).
At 11.00 a.m., a long line of concelebrants passed through the Holy Chapel of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pilar in Zaragoza (Spain). Piarists from all parts of the Emmaus Province, together with representatives from the Provinces of Catalonia, Bethany and Hungary, presided over by Father General Pedro Aguado Cuesta, expressed their gratitude for the gift of the life and vocation of Venerable Pedro Díez Gil. The members of the “Father Pedro” Association welcomed all those present with words of greeting.
Accompanied by Father Carles Gil, Assistant General for Europe, and by D. Raúl Ruiz, Vicar General of the Diocese of Zaragoza, Father General emphasised in his homily the depth of the experience of Mary of Nazareth, Mother, Teacher, Disciple and Witness of Jesus. “Under the protection of Mary, Venerable Father Pedro lived his Piarist vocation in an extraordinary way, in the daily life of his work as a teacher and priest among the youngest children”, Father Aguado, stressed.
The prayer of the faithful, led by members of the Fraternity, the Calasanz Movement, educators, Alumni Associations and Piarist Sisters, represented the gathered assembly in which several hundred people filled the Holy Chapel, bringing together the Calasanctian Family.
At the end of the celebration, Father Ángel Ayala Guijarro, Postulator General of the Order, read the Decree on the Heroicity of Virtues, promulgated on 20 May. The Marian antiphon “Under your protection”, intoned by the whole assembly, concluded the celebration, while Father General, in the name of the whole Order and the Calasanctian Family, venerated the holy Pillar on which the image of Mary is placed.
Joy was evident in the faces of all present, who spontaneously evoked their memories of Venerable Peter and expressed their gratitude for the Calasanctian feast lived in Zaragoza.
