10/06/2026
Today is the Ven. Antoni Gaudí's feast. Born June 25, 1852 and initially an anticlerical radical during his studies, Antoni held an innate love for nature, believing "no better structure than a tree trunk or human skeleton." His commission for the Sagrada Família Basilica in 1883 became the crucible of his spiritual conversion. By 1893, completing the Nativity façade's crypt, he declared, "I saw that all worldly honours were vanity and the only glory was in Him who is the beginning and end of all things," having realised that "Man without religion is mutilated!"
Living as a celibate vegetarian, isolated from distractions, he spent nothing on himself, dedicating vast sums to his buildings, personally nursing the sick and funding schools for workers' children. In 1914, Gaudí moved into the Sagrada Família's workshop, adopting a monastic routine of prayer, work, confession and begging for funds. His profound relationship with Jesus was expressed in the awe-inspiring scale and intricate details of the Sagrada Família.
On June 7, 1926, Gaudí, refusing to move for traffic as a protest for pedestrian rights, was struck by a tram. Mistaken for a beggar, he was initially refused by taxis. His last words, "Glory to God for this pain which purifies – soon Iʼll see Him face to face. Amen, amen, amen." His funeral, attended by 100,000, was the largest in Barcelona's post-medieval history.
ℭ𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔠𝔱
Almighty God, Architect of Creation, whose servant, Antoni Gaudí, dedicated his extraordinary genius to your glory through profound art and austere life: grant us grace to see you through Creation, use our talents for your glory and find purification in suffering until we see you face-to-face that our works and lives may ever point to you, the beginning and end of all things; through Jesus Christ our Lord, the living Cornerstone, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. ᴀᴍᴇɴ.
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