DOCTOR TO THE POOR

April 30 Venezuela was given a new saint. DR. JOSE GREGORIO HERNANDEZ CISNEROS was described by Pope Francis  as “a model of personal goodness and civic and religious virtues.”

Dr. Hernández was known as "the doctor of the poor," and through his studies in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, and New York, he became a renowned bacteriologist. He died in 1919 in Caracas  at the age of 54, run over by a car at a time when only a few hundred automobiles traveled the streets of Caracas          

In his message, Pope Francis said the Church was only confirming something that the people of Venezuelaalready believed: “that the people's doctor stands by God and that together with Our Lady of Coromoto he intercedes for his compatriots and for all of us.”  

Pope Francis described Dr. José Gregorio as an example of a believing disciple of Christ, who made the Gospel the criterion of his life, and was a model of modesty and humility.

“He is a model of holiness committed to the defense of life, to the challenges of history and, in particular, as a paradigm of service to others, like a Good Samaritan, excluding no one,” said the Pope. “He is a man of universal service.”  

One of the most relevant and fascinating aspects of his personality, remarked Pope Francis, was his “service to citizens.” It was a service, he said, “understood from the example Christ left us during the Last Supper, when he set out to wash the feet of his disciples... because he loved everyone.”

He highlighted the suffering aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and said he was especially mindful of the many dead who have paid with their lives, to perform their duties in precarious conditions.

In the midst of all these current difficulties, Pope Francis invited the people of Venezuela to follow this physician’s “admirable example of selfless service to others.”  

The beatification of Dr. Hernández is a special blessing from God for Venezuela,” the Pope underlined, “and it invites us to conversion toward greater solidarity with one another, to produce all together the response of common good so necessary for the country to recover, to be reborn after the pandemic in a spirit of reconciliation.”  

“I sincerely believe that this moment of national unity, around the figure of the people's doctor, constitutes a special moment for Venezuela and demands of you that you go further, that you take concrete steps in favor of unity, without letting yourselves be overcome by discouragement,” he said.  

José Gregorio Hernández was born in the mountains of the Venezuelan Andes in 1864, in Inotú, a small town in the state of Trujillo. His father was Colombian and his mother a native of the Canary Islands, a very devout and deeply religious woman who died when José Gregorio was only 8 years old. 

Dr. Hernández spent much of his life in Caracas, the capital, where he studied and practiced medicine and became known as “the doctor of the poor” because he routinely treated needy patients for free.

Having received a scholarship from the president of the republic, he had studied at the University of Paris, where he specialized in microscopy, normal histology, pathology and experimental physiology. He later continued his histology studies in Berlin and expanded his knowledge of bacteriology. On his return to Venezuelafrom Paris, he brings new medical equipment to establish a physiological department at Central University of Venezuela. He is the one who introduces the use and knowledge of the microscope into Venezuelan scientific circles.  

He also taught at the University of Caracas, as professor of practical pathology and was the founder of the department of bacteriology. 

As an exemplary layperson, he participated in Franciscan spirituality and was devoted to the charism of St. Francis. His teaching and professional activity were the best way to recognize in the sick the suffering Christ, whom he served with self-denial in his patients, without caring about the hours devoted to serving, healing and comforting them. Each day, as was his custom, Bl. José Gregorio woke up before five in the morning and after praying the Angelus  went to the nearby church of the Divine Shepherdess for the Mass, where he received daily Communion.

One day. rushing to care for a sick patient, he did not see a speeding car  which hit him. The impact threw him into the air and his head hit the edge of the sidewalk. Before dying, he was only able to cry out, “Most Blessed Virgin!”

He was so beloved that newspaper accounts at the time reported that the city was left practically denuded of flowers to make the floral wreaths and bouquets for his funeral.

Tens of thousands of people filled the streets outside the cathedral where the ceremony was conducted, the accounts said, and when the coffin was about to be placed in a hearse a cry went up: “Dr. Hernández is ours!” In a spontaneous display of popular mourning, the coffin was carried to the cemetery on the shoulders of the capital’s citizens.

Over the years, his legend grew. The sick or the injured prayed to him to be cured, and many believed he was responsible for miracles.

His life very much paralleled that of St. Giuseppe Moscati,  the Italian doctor who also gave his life for  the poor and was a scientific researcher, noted for his pioneering work in biochemistry.

His feast will be June 29.