Francisco Palau

Who was Francisco Palau?

Blessed Francis Palau y Quer is a beatified Discalced Carmelite Spanish priest. He founded "The School of the Virtue"—which was a model of catechetical teaching for adult persons—at Barcelona. In 1860-61, he also founded a mixed Congregation of Third Order of Discalced Carmelites, both Brothers and Sisters, in Balearic Islands. He preached popular missions and spread veneration of Our Lady wherever he went. Francisco Palau's life got unified when he understood the beauty of the Church. What had been a confusing oscillation from solitude to service and back to solitude again made sense for him when he recognised that the real Church is the congregation of humans in the whole Christ. God and neighbours together, is his Beloved.

He died in Tarragona, Spain on March 20, 1872, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1988.