Col Guitart, Francisco

Born May 18, 1812 in Gombrena ( Catalonia ). He was the tenth child in the deeply religious family of Pedro Kohl and Magdlen Guitart. At the age of 10, he began his studies at the seminary of the Catalan city of Vic . In his youth, he became friends with St. Antonio Maria Claret .

In 1822, Francisco entered the seminary. This was not an easy choice, given the sharply increased anti-clericalism in Spain, including in power circles. At the seminary, Francisco became interested in Dominican ideas and began to dream of joining the order of preachers . Until 1830, he continued his studies at the seminary, but in the autumn of 1830, not accepting the ordination, he entered the novice of the Dominican monastery in Gerona . After taking vows a year later, he remained in the monastery, where he soon gained respect for his education, piety and firmness in faith.

April 4, 1835 he was ordained to the rank of deacon . The Carlist civil wars that began at that time led to the fact that the opposing Carlists, who saw the Karlists' support in the clergy and monasticism, closed almost all the monasteries and expelled the monks from there. The Dominican monastery in Girona was closed a couple of months after the deacon’s ordination of Francisco. Repression did not force him to abandon the chosen path. March 28, 1836 he was ordained a priest in Solson .

Between 1839 and 1850, Francisco Kohl Guitart devoted himself to preaching and catechesis, as well as caring for the poor and the sick. In 1850, he was appointed head of the Third Dominican Order in Catalonia . In the same year, Francisco Col Guitart achieved the reopening of the monastery in Girona, which became the center of his activities. In 1854, he and his associates made a great contribution to the fight against the cholera epidemic . In 1856, he founded the female monastic congregation of Dominican sisters of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. At the time of the death of the saint in 1875, the congregation had grown to 50 communities throughout Spain, despite the hostility of the authorities to religion and monasticism.

In 1869, he became blind, but did not stop preaching in various cities of Catalonia. He died on April 2, 1875 .

Francisco Kol Guitart was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 27, 1979 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009 .

• Biography on es.catholic.net (Spanish)
• The canonization of St. Francis Coll y Guitart OP (link not available)
• Vatican Radio (Spanish) (link not available)
• Calendar of Saints