BLESSED SEBASTIAN OF APARICIO

Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio, born 1502 in Spain, emigrated as a young man of thirty-one to Mexico. There he contributed much to the public welfare by manufacturing plows, wagons, building roads through the forests and mountains, and transporting grain and other produce to the cities. After death had robbed him of his second wife, and at the age of 71, he gave all his possessions to the poor to become a became a Franciscan brother at Puebla. There he died in his 98th year on February 25, 1600; and there, in a large chapel adjoining the Franciscan church, lies his incorrupt body in a glass tomb. The main highway that to this day connects Zacatecas with Mexico City was first built by Blessed Sebastian.

February 25

The Franciscan Book of Saints, Marion A. Habig, OFM