Msgr. Rafael Higueras Álamo is Prelate of Honor to His Holiness, Magisterial Canon of the Jesuit Cathedral, and Diocesan Judge for the Diocese of Jaén (Spain). He is the postulator for the cause of Manuel Lozano Garrido, “Lolo”, a physically handicapped journalist and member of Catholic Action that has recently been declared Venerable. Monsignor Álamo tells us about Lolo, having lived with him for the last 7 years of his life and having accompanied him in prayer in his final moments.

Msgr. Higueras, tell us about Lolo. Who was Lolo?

Manuel Lozano Garrido, known by all as “Lolo,” was born in Linares, Jaén in 1920. And there he died on November 3, 1971. His life, although relatively short, was full, extremely full.

This past December 17, 2007, the Holy Father bestowed on him the title of “Venerable,” which implies that following the study of his Process for Canonization in the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints that was begun in Jaén in 1994, it has been seen that his life and virtues were heroic. This is one step before that of his beatification.

Who is Lolo? As a child, he entered Catholic Action (in Spanish, A.C.), and you could say that it was during these years as adolescent and young adult that his ideals and spirit were formed with such intensity, that these ideals (“Piety, study, and action”) received in his first years in A.C., made his life truly heroic.

His life can be divided into 2 parts: first, his adolescence and life as a young man, and secondly, his 25 years of complete paralysis and later on, blindness. 

How would you describe Lolo?

I would write on his “business card”: young man, member of A.C., handicapped and blind, journalist and writer, apostle filled with joy.

To try and describe each one of these characteristics would take a lifetime, but I can recall a brief anecdote from the first half of his life, something that would mark his life forever. When he was 16 years old, a religious persecution began in Spain. Lolo continued his spiritual and human formation in hiding. Also in hiding, Lolo decided to “re-live the work of St. Tarcisius” (as he himself explains in his writings), distributing the Eucharist to the Christians who were living under persecution and in hiding. The times of the catacombs had returned. As a result of his work, he was also sent to prison, where he never lost his joy and was never afraid to share his faith.

Between 1939 and 1943, Lolo’s apostolic work produced many fruits: he founded centers for A.C., gave catechism classes, organized radio emissions in order to evangelize, spent hours and hours visiting the imprisoned, and even accompanied those on death-row the night before their execution. He was an active member and group leader in the youth group of A.C.

When did his illness begin?

At 24 years of age, he began to suffer from a degenerative paralysis that, within a brief time period, would leave him completely immobile. His illness, “spondylitis,” was described by his doctor in this way: “like having a needle inserted in each pore of his skin.” However, I must insist, Lolo never lost his joy. This is proof of his love for life. In fact, the years when he was “least useful,” were the most fruitful of his life.

He lived his illness, “as a natural part of life, just as if I had been born with red hair or if I worked as a carpenter,” as he described it. 

Where did he find the strength to live in the midst of so much suffering?

He found his strength to be able to live his apostolate and to live everything with joy in the midst of pain in the formation that he had received in his adolescence and as a young adult, which he then put into practice with his fervent love for Jesus Christ, especially in the Eucharist, and in his tender devotion to Mary. So many of his writings are of the Virgin Mary and the Eucharist!
I’d like to add another brief anecdote. Lolo received the Eucharist every day. When he was given permission to have Mass celebrated in his house (following his encounter with the “Disciples of St. John,” founded by Blessed Manuel Gonzalez), he asked that his typewriter (at this time, he could still press the keys using one of his fingers) be placed under the table that would serve as the altar in the Mass. He said that it was so that, “the roots of the Cross penetrate the keys, giving strength to all the work that is done with this machine.”     

How did his vocation as a journalist come about?

There’s no doubt that Lolo’s vocation was always as a journalist. Before his illness, he had already mentioned it and later, during his years in a wheelchair, he wrote over 200 published articles, not to mention religious books, handbooks for teachers, and novels. In his final years, when he had already been left completely blind (in the most fruitful years of his life), he would dictate his works into a tape recorder. His wheelchair became a “magnet,” as the people described it, from which he continued his apostolic work. His house became a center for apostolate, where young people and adults would go to receive guidance, counsel, and advice...

What would you say was Lolo’s main character trait?

I would say, using the words of Martin Descalzo, when he went to celebrate Mass in his house; “In that Mass there were two victims: Christ giving Himself in the bread and the wine; and Lolo offering himself in his intense pain and suffering.”

I think that this sentence expresses what is characteristic of Lolo. Just like a double-sided coin, Lolo has two principal traits: his piety and contemplative prayer (as is evident in his writings) and then also, the pain that he lived with great joy, offering himself to God. Because he suffered his pain with a vision of faith, he could write of it as he did.

How did you meet Lolo?

In 1965, I was sent to Linares as a priest, in charge of the youth of the city. Youth and Lolo, I would say, are one in the same. That is how I met him. From the moment of our first meeting, there was a strong bond between us. And from then on, I spent hours and hours at his side each week, until the very moment of his death. The night of his death was “a night of anguish”, as it is described by Lucy, his sister, friend, secretary and his nurse.

As Lolo’s health condition was “always” grave, we never really expected him to die from it. His breathing problems were such that even the slightest chill became a serious threat to his health.  His doctor said, “Lolo, you must be the healthiest sick person.” [Undoubtedly, for his joyful spirit.] The most intense part of his illness, his final agony, lasted less than 24 hours. He remained conscious until the very last instant. By his side were his siblings and his doctor. I prayed the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and placed the Crucifix before him, so he could kiss it. He was the same in death as he was in life: in God’s hands, with peace and serenity.

In what stage is his process for beatification?

As I said earlier, now that he has been declared Venerable, the miracle that has been atributed to his intercession, and that is required for the completion of the process for beatification is currently under study. We are hoping that the results of the study will be made known soon. If the results of the study are favorable, the Beatification will soon follow, if the Holy Father so wishes.

What message can Lolo offer to today’s generation, especially to journalists?

Love for life, profound joy, joyful acceptance of God’s will, even in the face of an illness that lasts years and years, apostolic zeal that is shown through the press, especially (That is why he founded a religious group called “SINAI, Groups of Prayer for the Press.”), and the value of one-on-one apostolate. Above all, what he most offers are his Marian devotion, his unique love for the Eucharist, and his constant identification with his role as a son of the Church. 

To the journalist in today’s world, he left a clear message, contained in his “10 Commandments for Journalists.”

A JOURNALIST’S 10 COMMANDMENTS

1.Give thanks to the angel that put the candlelight of truth in your mind and keeps its fire burning.

2.Every day you shall illumine your message with suffering, because truth is like ashes that fall from Heaven and set all aglow with their fire, but you are the one entrusted with gently placing it in the hearts of your brothers.

3.When you write, you shall do so on your knees, to love; seated, to judge; standing upright, to fight and to sow.

4.Open your eyes with wonder to what you see, and let it fill the palms of your hands with wisdom and freshness, so that others can touch this vibrant miracle of life when they read you.

5.The good pilgrim of the word, with the gold of his honesty, pays the entrance cost into the human heart.

6. You shall make the bread of your wholesome writing with the salt of style and the yeast of the eternal, dividing it into portions with interest, but without robbing men of the joy of tasting, judging, and assimilating.   

7.Tree of God, ask that He make you an oak, firm and impenetrable to the axes of flattery and bribery and when you are successful, like the tree branch that at harvest time is weighed down by its fruits, bow your head with true humility.

8.If your silence is seen as failure because you are not inspired, accept it and be quiet. What a pity it is to see the man who, like the idol with his feet of clay, has clay feet weighed down by the lie…But careful, as well, with making yourself the victim when your silence is pure cowardice.

9.Consider cutting off your hand before writing anything unclean, because once the damage is done, it is impossible to undo.

10.Remember that you were not born to write about the fleeting, superficial, and base realities of the world’s spotlight. The hungry person needs something to eat, a serving of what life really is: clean and hopeful, not fine china plates and sterling silver cutlery.   

©HM Magazine No. 140 January/February 2008