Saint Who?
Saints Who Studied Law
Blessed Marcelo Spínola y Maestre
Bishop and founder († 1906) Feast: January 19
Marcelo was born into a noble family on an island of Spain, and he obtained his law degree at the age of twenty-one. When he opened his law office in the city of Huelva, he offered free legal services to the poor. After working several years as a lawyer, he decided that God was calling him to become a priest and began to study theology on his own.
Following ordination, Marcelo served as a school chaplain, parish priest, spiritual advisor to community organizations, and canon in the archdiocesan cathedral. He and a Spanish marchesa founded a religious order of sisters called the Handmaids of the Divine Heart with the goal of spreading the love of the Sacred Heart through education. The order spread all over the world. Marcelo was ordained auxiliary bishop of Seville at the age of forty-five, and he served as bishop of Coria and Málaga before being made Archbishop of Seville.
Even as a busy archbishop, Marcelo was devoted to the needs of the poor. He visited hospitals and prisons, begged to support the needy, and preached widely to form his people to respond to the problems of the day. Saint Pope Pius X named Marcelo a cardinal one month before his death at the age of seventy-one.
Father of All, may we never forget the needs of the poor.
