The Founder Called Him "Revolutionary of Mary"

Puerto Rico Schoenstatt Apostle Deacon Jesús Maria Pagán Died on January 17

(P. Sidney Fones) In the afternoon of January 17, 2001, Deacon Jesus María Pagán, Puerto Rico, died of the consequences of a heart attack. Deacon Pagán was buried next to the Shrine of Solidarity in Puerto Rico. His life's mission is summarized in the inscription on his tomb: "Sicut P. Kentenich dilexit ecclesiam" (Like Father Kentenich, he loved the church). The cross says: "pro patre consumor" – I give all for the Father.

News about Deacon Pagán's death on January 17, 2001, quickly spread far beyond Puerto Rico, especially to the Schoenstatt families of the Americas. Married and a father of four, Jesús Pagán got to know Fr. Kentenich on September 8, 1961, in Milwaukee. The Pagán family moved from New York to Milwaukee in order to live close to the Founder of Schoenstatt and deeply take in his Schoenstatt mission. In 1967, they returned to Puerto Rico Jesús Pagán's life was a constant and enthusiastic testimony of his experience with the Founder, Father Joseph Kentenich. In the homily of the funeral Mass, Father Dieter Haas, assistant of the Families' Federation in Puerto Rico, spoke of the times Jesús spent with Father Kentenich; of the trust that Father Kentenich had in him; of his deeds and decisions out of love, as the one of offering to work as a porter in the house of the Pallottines to be closer to Father Kentenich; of the blessing of the first Home Shrine in their house next to the Exile Shrine in Milwaukee; of the missionary's cross that Father Kentenich gave to him; of the Pagán family's wide perspective on Latin America, rooted in their home town of Borinquen; and of the enormous capital of grace given by Jesús Pagan. The Founder called hum a revolutionary of Mary, Father Haas said.

Funeral Mass with Three Bishops

Father Guillermo Esters, director of the Schoenstatt Movement in Puerto Rico, at the beginning of the Eucharist spoke about the meaning of Deacon Pagán's name: Jesús María. Three bishops - the Archbishop of San Juan, the Bishop of Mayagüez as main celebrant, and the Bishop of Arecibo concelebrated the Funeral Mass together with over 20 priests and deacons. The Metropolitan Archbishop of San Juan at the end of Mass expressed thanks, in the name of the whole Puerto Rican Church, for Jesus' extraordinary work as an Apostle of Schoenstatt.

English edition: Joan Biemert, New Franken, Wisconsin, USA