Miguel Febres Cordero

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Saint (Brother) Miguel Febres Cordero FSC (1854-1910) was a member of the Order of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He was born Francisco Febres Cordero Muñoz on November 7, 1854 at Cuenca, Ecuador and died at Premia del Mar, Spain on February 9, 1910.

[edit] Background

Francisco was born crippled to an influential Ecuadorian family and was unable to stand until the age of 5. In 1864, he entered a Lasallian school and subsequently entered the Novitiate on March 24, 1868; he was the first Ecuadorian to be received into the Institute.

Francisco Miguel, a name which he assumed after becoming a De La Salle Brother, decided to pursue teaching as a career. He also did research and authored books on literature and linguistics, which earned him membership in the Ecuadorian Academy of Letters in 1892, followed by the Academies of Spain, France, and Venezuela.

In 1907, Brother Miguel was sent to Europe to translate texts into Spanish, which were to be used by the Christian Brothers who were exiled from France. In 1909, he was transferred to the junior novitiate at Premia del Mar, where he oversaw an evacuation of his charges to Barcelona. Shortly thereafter, he contracted pneumonia and died at Premia.

On October 30, 1977, he was beatified by Pope Paul VI and on October 21, 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized Br. Miguel Febres Cordero.