History reminds us that Joseph Calasanz was able to live in Seville in order to become a canon in the cathedral. Not because he had no desire to do so, but because he had discovered other loves that had stolen his heart: “I have found the way to serve God and do good to the little ones. I will not give that up for anything in the world,” he replied to the Secretary of the Spanish Ambassador to the Vatican when he informed him of the concession made by the canon of Seville.
Things of the Spirit are like that, but he made himself present in later history. In a way, he maintained a certain complicity with the city in which he was able to live.
A picture of him is kept in the Biblioteca Colombina of the Cathedral, on which is written: “Cardenal Arzobispo electo de Sevilla. Year 1599”. And on 27 July 1773, when he was canonised, the Archdiocese published an Edicto “ordering the recitation of the Office and Mass of Saint Joseph of Calasanz, canon-elect of Seville Cathedral”.
In 1888, the Pious Schools began their activity in the General School of Ponce de León, which has contributed so much to making their spirit present in the city of the Giralda. Outstanding Piarists helped to unite Calasanz with the people of Seville. The aim of the foundation was to send Piarists to the American communities.
The circumstances of the time and the deterioration of the educational premises in the Palacio del Duque de Osuna, where it had been located since its foundation, forced it to move to Montequinto, a new neighbourhood of Dos Hermanas, in 1974. But Calasanz did not want to give up its canonical seat completely. To mark the 125th anniversary of the school’s foundation, his image returned to the Cathedral, in a procession from the church of the old school. Archbishop José Méndez presided over the Eucharist. With festive joy, the school community and numerous former students showed that history is not only a memory of the past, but also a living actualisation of it.
Ponce de León and Montequinto are still linked by the Piarist presence, in the origins and in the present. There are affective and fraternal links between those who were educated there and now do so in the belt of Seville. On the occasion of the centenary of the pious schools in 2017, there were joint activities on both shores.
This historical journey in the footsteps of Calasanz in Seville is updated every year when his image is carried in procession through the streets of Montequinto in November, accompanied by the school community. The school, community and neighbourhood gather around him.
The image of the child that accompanied the sculpture was lost when the school was moved, but every year it is surrounded by children from the kindergarten and primary school, who publicly proclaim that “if the child is diligently imbued with piety and letters from childhood, one can predict with good reason a happy course of his whole life”. The day before, the procession is spiritually prepared with a family gathering and the celebration of the Eucharist.
Seville, Montequinto, continues to be nourished by the piety and letters that he prophetically promoted, “for the greater glory of God and the benefit of others”.
Montequinto, November 2023.
F. Daniel Mª González, Sch.P.
