José Maria de Yermo y Parres

Who was José Maria de Yermo y Parres?

Saint José María de Yermo y Parres was a Mexican priest and founder of the Religious Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Poor. He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of León, Guanajuato, on August 24, 1879. Moved to pity by the plight of the poor in his local community, he opened "The Shelter of the Sacred Heart" on December 13, 1885, thus beginning a new religious order dedicated to serving the poor. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 6, 1990 in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and was canonized in Rome on May 21, 2000 along with 26 other Mexican saints - Cristóbal Magallanes Jara and his 24 companion martyrs, priests and laymen; and María de Jesús Sacramentado Venegas, foundress of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.