Saint Miguel Febres Cordero (Hermano Miguel)

Francisco Febres Cordero was born in Cuenca, Ecuador, on November 7, 1854, into a prominent family. He was born with deformed feet and could not walk as a small child; according to his own account, after seeing a beautiful lady among some roses, he began to walk. As a boy he studied with the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers), and despite his family's strong opposition he entered their novitiate in 1868, becoming the first Ecuadorian to join the Institute and taking the name Brother Miguel.

He taught for decades in Quito and, while still a young man, published a Spanish grammar that became a standard textbook; he went on to write many more books and was admitted to the Ecuadorian Academy of Language. Still, his greatest joy was teaching the catechism and preparing children for their First Communion. In 1907 he was sent to Europe to help his congregation, and he died of pneumonia in Premià de Mar, near Barcelona, on February 9, 1910. His remains were brought back to Ecuador in 1937. He was beatified in 1977 and canonized by Saint John Paul II on October 21, 1984.

In Ecuador he is simply "el Santo Hermano Miguel," and his name is on schools, parishes and streets across the country. De La Salle schools in Ecuador and around the world celebrate his day with Masses and student activities, and his relics have traveled in pilgrimage to cities throughout Ecuador.

Teachers, students and families ask his help before exams, at the start of the school year, and when a child is preparing for First Communion.