FATHER JOHN BUJ 1

FATHER JOHN BUJ

His father was a miller in Orrios, a village of Teruel, and there, John was born, in the Mill of Orrios, one evening of January. It was the year 1863, the 27th of January. It should not be an easy delivery because the midwife baptizes him "in extremis" that was confirmed, the next day by the Parish Priest.

His parents, Fermin and Quiteria, bring up their children in the peace, joy and good sense of humour. And, in their humbleness, they know that God is the best richness that their children can inherit.

The family transfers to the Mill of Allepuz, that John leaves at the age of fourteen to sit for the public competition to study Arts, Philosophy and Theology in the Seminary of Teruel. He passes it in October of 1877 and he is granted half scholarship. All the years he gets the top mark of "Meritisimus" and in behaviour, the qualifier of "Exemplary".

The music is one of his hobbies. He had studied during the summer times in Villarroya de los Pinares, where he went from Allepuz. There, D. Jose Aguilar taught him singing lesson and organ.

In the Seminary, while his companions were in the recreation time, he practiced in the harmonium. And, during the morning Eucharist, John plays the best musical compositions.

Besides teaching music to the seminarists, in 1884, the Bishop appoints him, at the age of 21, as teacher of Physics, Chemistry and Sciences, and prefect of the community. He shares this post, till 1891, with D. Manuel Agustin, who remembers his love for the school children, his steadiness in accompanying the community and his companionship.

In 1886, at the age of 23, he is ordained as a priest before the 12 years of ecclesiastical career and with the highest mark given. The time had been long for him. To Manuel Agustin, one evening of November of the previous year, walking in the cloister, he confessed it.

I am longing to be ordained to preach the doctrine of God and the time until that day is endless for me!

Since the day of his ordination, he promotes and intensifies the devotion to the Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Conception, the preaching, the spiritual direction, the dedication to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the daily communion. The pastoral care does not take him away from the study, and in June of 1891 gets in Valencia the Degree in Philosophy. That same year, he moves to Zaragoza where, the 20th of October, the Archbishop D. Francisco de Paula, has appointed him as Director of the Seminary of St. Charles.

At the end of October of 1896, he was 33 years old, other Archbishop, D. Vicente Alda, appoints him as Confessor of the Novitiate of the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne and beneficiary of the Church of St. Gil Abbot. (Since 1894, M. Pabla is the Mother General of the Congregation).

In Zaragoza he will display a considerable social and spiritual activity: the Catholic Social Action, the Apostolate of the Cross, the Circle of Owners and Workers, the Social Youth, the Trade Union of the Needle, the Work of the Blouse, the White Hall, the Workshop of photogravure "The Light", the School of Women Workers, the Savings Bank of the Immaculate…

And publications like The Echo of the Cross, the weekly magazine Lights and Shadows, and books whose titles are The White Witch, Memoirs of a socialist, From my Carthusian Monastery and from my Tebaida, The Kingdom of God, The Eucharist and the daily Communion…

All this apostolic care is undeniable. However, in words of one of his friends, the work of Fr. John is not the Social Action, neither The Echo, nor his others works… It is the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne.

And he was right in some way. Fr. John Buj expressed it in a vivid statement:

Since I was appointed as Spiritual Director of the Sisters, I pasted myself to them as the stamp to the letter.

It was like that… In the Congregation, Fr. John Buj found a letter made to his measure.

As Spiritual Director and Confessor of the Novitiate, Fr. John Buj is in charge of the formation of the Novices. The means were not abundant in 1896, and Fr. John speaks to the novices in the small room of Mayor Street, without furniture. Even without chairs. Only Fr. John and the Sr. Felisa Burruaga, the Novice Mistress, are sat down on chairs. On the ground, in a semicircle, the novices form a group.

Let us imagine now one of his sharings with the Novices.

It is Thursday, and Fr. John comments about the Word of God. His preaching is always simple but deeply doctrinal, intelligible for everybody. His word brings the stamp of a conquered heart and the efficacy of a life in perfect harmony with what he teaches.

There is no more source of holiness that God. Hold on yourselves strongly to Him; go continually in the Holy Presence that works life the Sun, giving life to the whole being at a time. Under the influence of God, you will not grow up in a virtue; you will grow up in all of them, as it happens to the Nature. The Sun of spring comes, and all the trees of any species that they may be, start to bloom, and do not have to wait one to other to dress with flowers successively, no.

To all of them the kiss of their Father arrives, and that kiss brings germs of life. Do not want then, to listen to men's words, but the living Word of God, who is fruitful; go out soon from the nursery school and move into the Great Faculty where you will live the lessons of the Supreme Teacher.

The conversation ends.

Now, my daughters, sing to our Lady.

He wants the last remembrance of the evening to be the praise to Mary. And he himself begins the song.

Fr. John Buj completes and supports the formation of the young girls through the spiritual direction. In the guidance and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he is brief. His motto is: A bit of confessionary and plenty of Tabernacle. As Fr. John Bonal, he spends so much time in the Confessionary. His favorite penance is five minutes of Presence of God.

Fr. John Buj does not need of great conversations to instil peace. Man of simple ways, somebody defined him as a man of wings of dove and heart of child.

After a general confession, Fr. John Buj told: All this remains already in the hands of Jesus; now, you have to love him without giving into the temptation of doubting Him never again.

Fr. John Buj used to tell the Novices to ask the Lord for two things: plenty of vocations and a new Novitiate.

In 1902 the construction of the new Novitiate started in the place where the General House is at present.

In 1904 the Novices were transferred there, and the construction of the Novitiate finished without anydebt, something no normal if we take in mind that in that time the Congregation was really poor. It is told that the General House is a House kneaded with miracles. A part of these miracles is the money saved up by the Sisters when they deprived themselves from the drinking chocolate for breakfast.

In a celebration, after the peace, the joy is like that gift of the Holy Spirit. On one occasion in which he noticed how a novice was being scolded because of an excess of joy, he stated: The man's heart is too small to keep back the torrents of joy that the visit of the Lord produces.

Fr. John Buj, in accordance with M. Pabla, promotes the spiritual life of the Novitiate, not only through the formation, but also through the living of the Eucharist and the love to the Virgin Mary.

On January 1897, it is established in the Novitiate the Exposition of the Holy Sacrament, the First Fridays of each month. And during the month of June, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, four turns of Retreat are celebrated, given by Fr. John Buj, and he never repeated the same. The working days, he spoke in a private way for the Sisters of the House, and the holidays a lot of faithful attended his preaching in the small church. The songs, leaded by the music director D. Francisco Agueras contributed to the solemnity of these events.

Since this month, the daily communion is established in the Novitiate, with the purpose to be extended to the whole Congregation. This deep love of Fr. John Buj to the Eucharist will give him more than one problem, in a historical moment in which the Church did not acknowledge the practice of the daily communion. The Archbishop sent to call him to find out, in a prudent way, about the case of the Novitiate.

Sir, I receive communion everyday and they are better than I am.

After the Decree of Pious X in 1905 allowing to receive communion everyday, a Holy Hour was celebrated in Zaragoza. Fr. John Buj is in charge of the inspirational talk. Everybody waited for him to say: I told you already. But what he said was: Everybody was waiting for it.

Fr. John is deeply convinced about the action of the Sacrament.

I do not know of anybody who had been converted by my words, even though sometimes I tried it; however, I have been witness of great and beautiful resurrections verified with the daily touch of Jesus.

And in this deeply love for the Eucharist, in the celebration of the Sacrament as well as in its worship outside of the celebration, M. Pabla accompanies him.

She wishes that every community could enjoy the Presence of Jesus Eucharist. Therefore, on April 1896, she writes to the Holy Father asking so that the Oratory and the reservation of the Holy Sacrament be extended to all the houses of the Congregation, without necessity of the daily celebration of the Eucharist.

The Saturday Congratulation, devotion to Mary Immaculate, is celebrated publicly all the Saturdays since May 3, 1899. The love to Mary is traditional in the Institute: This Congregation of Charity chooses as main Patroness the Queen of the Angels, Mary the Most Holy, with the title of the Most Pure Conception.

Fr. John Buj was a gift for the Congregation. M. Pabla reminded it in the moment of her death: Do not forget. Never forget what Fr. John, that holy man has done for the sake of the Congregation and the unselfishness with which he has done it.

The Congregation has always rewarded very well the priests, but Fr. John Buj wanted nothing at all. His self-giving and his service were completely free. He accompanied for 39 years the Sisters, being a man of simple and transparent soul, great intelligence and greater heart, from whom the Charity went out unceasingly until that, the 26 of September of 1935, the Lord called him to His side, to home.

The creatures say stop, stop; but the Lord calls me: John, let us home.

There he went. It is told that with a sweet voice, as that of a child deeply loved, he repeated: I am here, Lord.

His great devotion to the real presence of God made that, when Fr. John Buj was very sick, he wanted to receive the viaticum with full faculties. He received communion everyday.

He bequeathed to the Congregation his house called Villa Cruz, to educate the poor children of the workers of his quarter, a worker quarter, but especially the girls. There were no schools in that area.

But the Congregation at that time was very poor, and it was necessary to wait until 1953. Little by little Fr. John's house became bigger and bigger.

In 1968 the Chapel was inaugurated and the mortal remains of Fr. John Buj were transferred there from the cemetery of the city of Zaragoza. There we can visit them at present. The school keeps the name of Villa Cruz.

Some outstanding aspects of Fr. John Buj are the following:

He was a PIONEER in his time as Mother Maria Rafols and Fr. John Bonal were in theirs. He opened new ways for the Church in Zaragoza (Eucharist) and the society (social commitment and presence of the church besides the workers). Therefore, he was very criticized and not so much understood. He suffered so much, but he knew how to suffer. Fr. John received the humiliations with HUMBLENESS and PATIENCE.

EQUANIMITY, that produced in him an unalterable peace.

CALMNESS, SWEETNESS and KINDNESS in all moment.

If his intelligence was great, his heart was greater.

If his words convinced the people, his example led them.

If his knowledge and culture were huge, his goodness surpassed them.

In formation, his big concern was the whole person and to help the novices and seminarists to discover God as a Father, to discover the Filiation with Him, to be children of God.

His life was guided by the love to the Eucharist and the Cross. His favorite devotion was the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the pilot of the Congregation, according Mother Pabla.

In his preaching his favorite topic was JESUS who was the key of his life as a priest.

Another of his passions was the Nature. He liked to celebrate the Eucharist at daybreak, and in his preaching there were always references to the Nature.

He prayed rosary before the Grotto of Lourdes that he had in his house.

I would like to finish reminding the words of M. Pabla about him:

Do not forget, never forget what Fr. John, that holy man, has done for the sake of the Congregation and the unselfishness with which he has done it.