Festivity of San José de Anchieta in Residencial Anaga

Santa Cruz de Tenerife celebrates today the festival of San José de Anchieta in the Anaga Residential Center, where the only parish in the Diocese of Tenerife erected under its dedication is located.

The religious and popular events, which take place for the first time on the 427th anniversary of his death, will take place in the Plaza de Anaga, where the image of the saint will be taken and the holy mass will be celebrated at 1:00 p.m. hours, officiated by the parish priest Manuel Joaquín Herba Meizoso.

The temple

The temple and parish complex was built on a 1,500 square meter plot of the Anaga Residential Center, intended for religious activities by urban planning regulations, and was acquired by the Diocese of Tenerife.

The works, carried out according to the project and technical direction of the architect José Francisco Arnau Díaz-Llanos, were carried out thanks to the neighborhood commission, which raised the necessary financing for its construction, as well as the sale of the parking spaces, existing in the basement of the building.

The blessing of the first stone of the temple and parish complex of Blessed José de Anchieta took place on November 12, 2000, by the Bishop of the Diocese, Felipe Fernández García, with the assistance of numerous neighbors and diocesan and municipal authorities. Once the works were completed, the temple was blessed by the aforementioned bishop on Sunday, December 21, 2003.

The parish would be renamed San José de Anchieta on April 3, 2014, the date on which he was canonized in Rome by Pope Francis.

Biography

José de Anchieta was born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna in 1534. At the age of 14 he was sent to study at the Royal College of Arts, at the University of Coimbra, in Portugal, standing out as a good student and a great poet.

At the age of 18 he would enter the Society of Jesus and two years later he would receive scholastic vows, traveling to Brazil as a missionary to evangelize the indigenous people, arriving at the small town of Piratininga, on December 24, 1553, where he would found a school. in which he taught classes to indigenous children, for whom he made a primer in the Tupi language.

In 1565 he was sent to San Vicente de Rio de Janeiro, where he collaborated in the construction of a school and the first hospital in the city. This same year he was ordained a priest.

Joseph composed songs to be sung by the Indians in Christian ceremonies, making him so famous that many tribes fought to welcome him; he would baptize the Indians, after having converted them to Christianity; he would learn the secrets of medicine from him with the sorcerers of the tribes, etc.

He would also stand out as a poet, linguist, playwright, humanist, naturalist and for defending the rights of indigenous people from the treatment they received from the Portuguese conquerors.

As a poet and playwright, he wrote books of poetry in Latin, Portuguese, Spanish and Tupi, as well as plays. As a linguist, he wrote the first grammar in the Tupi language, which was used in manuscript form until it was printed in Coimbra in 1595.

José de Anchieta would die on June 9, 1597, in the village of Reritiba, current Anchieta. More than 3,000 Indians would accompany him along the 90 kilometers until reaching the town of Espíritu Santo (current Ciudad de Victoria), where he is buried.

José de Anchieta was declared Venerable by Pope Clement by Pope Francis, on April 3, 2014, for being a person venerated since ancient times and continuously.

The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil would declare him, in 2015, co-patron of Brazil, along with the patron saint Our Lady of the Conception Aparecida.

Your mark in Brazil

Father Anchieta is especially known and venerated in this country, where his memory has remained present during these five centuries.

Named an apostle of Brazil, for his missionary and evangelical dedication, National Anchieta Day is celebrated every June 9.

His figure is considered a symbol of the Brazilian people, since in the states of Sao Paulo, Espiritu Santo, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, etc. It is remembered by giving names to its streets, highways, hospitals, schools, charitable and cultural institutions.

The City Council of Sao Paulo would grant him, in 1765, the title of founder of the city, although he also founded the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Also, the Magé fountain, in Rio de Janeiro, is known as the miraculous well of Anchieta, because healing is attributed to its waters through its intercession.

His figure in Tenerife

The presence of Father Anchieta in his hometown, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, is significant and perceptible, since his family house – a future museum – is preserved and, in addition, an institute, a school, a university campus, a polygon are named after him. housing, charitable institutions, associations, brotherhoods, foundations, companies, businesses, etc. In the same way that the Father Anchieta Cultural Chair has promoted his figure with the Anchietanas Conference.

Of note is the slender bronze statue, five meters high, which represents him with his staff as an apostle and pilgrim, placed in the Brazil roundabout in 1960, known as the Padre Anchieta roundabout. It is currently located in a plaza of the Faculty of Biology of the University of La Laguna (ULL).

In Santa Cruz de Tenerife, apart from the parish already mentioned, there is a street with its name, which runs from La Salle Avenue to San Sebastián Avenue.