In one of my previous blogs
I have told you about the beauty of Sagrada Família, which has become an
unmistakable landmark of the Spanish city of Barcelona and which formed the
formidable backdrop of the diving events of the 1992 Summer Olympics. Architect
Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece project was promoted by the people for the people
and has always been funded through the donations and contributions of thousands
of anonymous individuals over the years. Today, more than 135 years after the
laying of the cornerstone, construction continues on the Basilica and is
expected to be completed in 2026. I invite you to read about it by clicking: https://surajitbrainwaves.blogspot.com/2019/09/sagrada-familia-and-antoni-gaudi-gods.html
Today I will tell you about another Spanish masterpiece. About 40 minutes’ drive from the center of Madrid you reach the small town of Mejorada del Campo. It is not a highly recommended tourist place but if you come here you will feel blessed. You will meet a 90 years old man who has become an embodiment of great devotion, diligence, care and faith. He is, since 1961, building a superb Spanish ‘cathedral’ all by himself! The cathedral is utterly unique in ecclesiastical history since it has been built entirely out of discarded trash. Such an architectural feat could only have been the brainchild of a true eccentric, and the nonagenarian Spanish ex-monk, Justo Gallego Martínez is just that.
Born in 1925, Don Justo was
raised by a pious Catholic mother and grew up to be a lowly peasant farmer. In
his early years, Don Justo suffered many setbacks that helped make him
stronger. His schooling was interrupted by the devastating Spanish Civil War,
therefore he missed out on the kind of education most of us take for granted. He
actually witnessed the communists shooting priests and desecrating his local
church. These atrocities turned him off politics, and the world of violence he
saw around him.
His ambition was to be a
holy monk, set apart from the ways of man to learn the will of God. So he
joined the Trappists. Yet, alas, he contracted tuberculosis after eight
years and was forced to leave the monastery, ending his dream. However, this
man of faith was not perturbed by the turn of fate. Instead, he pondered
how best he could dedicate himself and serve the Lord. So he decided, without
any training or experience, to build his own cathedral.
Don Justo started work in
1961 on the feast day, Our Lady of the Pillar, with only a vision and no plans.
So for the next 55 years right up to the present day, Don, with only his unique
personality and certain faith driving him, would begin to work from 6 am,
always doing 10 hours of labor per day (except on the Lord's day). For
most of the time, unbelievably, Justo worked solo, without any crane, only
using whatever trash or donations he could get his hands on for building
material. Yet lately he has had help from a local man and also some of his
nephews. Occasionally volunteers from far afield (as far as Germany) come to
help out and learn at the feet of this untrained master, so taken are they by
the wonderful virtue of the great but humble man.
In 2014, Don Justo predicted
that the church, christened by him Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Our Lady of the
Pillar), would be completed soon. Hopefully, this will be the case, as it would
be so beautiful for Gallego to be able to sit back and enjoy his finished work.
The church has no official status of any kind, neither does he have planning
for permission in near future, nor does the Catholic Church recognize his
‘cathedral’. The building has become a major tourist attraction in the small
town of Mejorada del Campo, situated near the capital, Madrid.
I think the cathedral is so
beautiful, and a wonderful tribute to God from a lovely, simple and honest man with
a great passion. However, sad to say, some people do carp at Don Justo, calling
him crazy. So, when an interviewer recently asked him: "How do you respond
to people who call you loco?" He simply replied with a glint in his eye
and a smile on his face: "Loco por Cristo." Mad for Christ.
You can also watch him in
this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQGAsikORI4
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