On May 5, 2020, Pope Francis moved forward a number of causes of canonization, including a dad and his daughter from Spain.
The dad, Francisco Barrecheguren Montagut, worked in a textile company as a manager and was married on October 2, 1904 to Concha García Calvo.
They had one child together, Maria Concepción, known as “Conchita.”
Francisco was a model father and husband, preparing his daughter to receive the sacraments and leading by the example of his devout prayer life.
Both his wife and daughter had precarious health, falling ill around the same time. This left Francisco with the duty of tending to them during their sicknesses.
His wife's struggles were primarily with mental imbalances, while his daughter's health was due to intestinal inflammation.
Throughout her short life, Conchita desired to enter the religious life and become a Carmelite. She made a short pilgrimage to Lisieux in 1926, to the tomb of St. Thérèse. Shortly thereafter she contracted tuberculosis.
Despite efforts to treat the disease, she died on May 13, 1927, at the age of 22.
Conchita possessed a simple and pure faith, one that was nurtured by the example of her father.
Some of her writings are preserved, despite her life being so short. For example:
Can there be a greater love than the one he shows us in instituting the Eucharist? Being a God who is so powerful, so immense, so rich, he cannot give us anything better. He has emptied his infinite treasures to place them at the disposal of man. Yes, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is all ours; he gives himself to us entirely. He has not wanted to remain in a limited number of churches or cities, but in every place that there are Christians. There he wants to be, so as to be their life and strength.
People said that Conchita was a saint because she had had a holy father, but he responded that it was his daughter who, with her holiness, inspired him in his Christian life.
After the 2020 joint recognition of the pair as Venerable, a miracle was later attributed to the daughter's intercession. Thus she was beatified on May 6, 2023, in Spain.
The miracle attributed to Conchita's intercession was the healing of a two-year-old Spanish girl in 2014.
A Father-Father
Francisco's wife died about 10 years after Conchita, on June 13, 1937. This left Francisco without a family, but during this trial, he felt a call to the religious life.
He entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1945 and was ordained a priest at the age of 68 years old.
His priestly ministry only lasted for 8 years, as he died on October 7, 1957.
Nevertheless, he was a holy and pious priest and dedicated much of his time tending to the needs of the sick.
His possible cause for beatification continues.
