Casa Museo Padre Saturnino López Novoa 
Father Saturnino López Novoa
Biography
In this house lived and died Saturnino López Novoa, and it was here that he found the inspiration to found the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly.
Saturnino was born on November 29, 1830, in Sigüenza (Guadalajara) and died on March 5, 1905, in this house at the age of 74. He was an adopted son of Huesca, as he lived there for 43 years.
At the age of five, he was orphaned by his mother. His education was entrusted to a great-aunt named Manuela, the mother of Don Basilio Gil Bueno, the future bishop of Huesca.
At the age of 12, he entered the seminary in Sigüenza. After completing his seventh year of Theology and finishing his ecclesiastical studies at 21, he had to wait until he was 24, the minimum age required for ordination. While waiting to reach the required age, he was appointed assistant director of the seminary.
On May 22, 1853, his uncle Don Basilio was appointed Dean of the cathedral of Barbastro, whose diocesan seminary, deteriorated in its material part, had suspended its activities since 1836. On October 1, 1854, the seminary of Saint Thomas Aquinas reopened its doors.
As it was not easy to find a team of superiors and professors, Don Basilio suggested to Bishop Fort y Puig to call his nephew, who was beginning to stand out in the diocese of Sigüenza. Thus, Saturnino moved to Barbastro to become vice-rector of the seminary and professor of philosophy.
Living in the seminary, he devoted himself to the formation of seminarians and began his studies in Canon Law, which he continued the following academic year. But the most important thing for him was that during this course he was ordained a priest.
On September 22, 1854, he was ordained a priest. In early October, he celebrated his first Mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of El Pueyo, near Barbastro.
Alongside his uncle Don Basilio, he served as his private secretary during the time when he was the capitular vicar and ecclesiastical governor of Barbastro; when Don Basilio occupied the see of the bishopric of Huesca, Saturnino continued to serve as his chaplain, private secretary, and also as the Chamber Secretary of the Bishopric. In June 1864, he was appointed Chantre Canon of the cathedral of Huesca.
He was a parish priest of the cathedral of Huesca, secretary of the Bishopric, professor of the Seminary, and canon. He wrote the "History of the Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Barbastro and Geographical-Historical Description of its Diocese," which earned him the well-deserved appointment as a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of History.
The revolutionary Junta of Huesca in 1868 exiled both of them, and they took refuge in the parish of Santa Engracia in Zaragoza, which was under the diocese of Huesca. Upon their return from exile, the people of Huesca received them with cheers and songs.
With his uncle, he traveled to Rome to attend the First Vatican Council as secretary and consulting theologian, and in Rome, Don Basilio gave his soul to God. Now, free from the administrative affairs of the diocese, Saturnino devoted himself more to confession and preaching.
A humble, pious, industrious, and charitable priest, he did not content himself with lamenting the ills of the time, among which poverty stood out, but acted in an organized manner.
He was a pioneer of many social and apostolic works: He founded the House for Poor Students for seminarians with few resources, promoted the Shelter House for poor girls, founded the Confraternity of Our Lady of Agony in the parish church of San Pedro el Viejo, and the female branch of the Conferences of Saint Vincent de Paul, drafting its regulations. He also facilitated the installation of the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Servants of Mary in Huesca in 1871.
But his best-known work, into which he poured all his generosity, is the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly, his golden dream, in whose foundation he had the valuable collaboration of Saint Teresa Jornet, who knew how to value it as the richest gift the Lord had given to his work. Saint Teresa Jornet was the Superior General of the Congregation and responsible for governing the houses and the religious sisters.
This foundation took place in Barbastro on January 27, 1873, and was later moved to Valencia, where it has its mother house.
Currently, they have 210 centers that accommodate 26,000 elderly people, mostly in Spain, but also in 16 other countries on three continents.
In Christmas 1882, he adopted an orphaned child, Francisco Oliván Palacín, a sign of his constant and extraordinary generosity. His behavior during the cholera epidemic that struck Huesca in 1885 was also outstanding and heroic. He refused the Cross of Charity that was offered to him for his actions, assuring that he wanted no other cross than that of Christ.
As a result of a pulmonary crisis, he died on March 12, 1905, in Huesca. The next day, a multitude of people accompanied his remains to the Huesca cemetery, where he was buried and remained until May 1912, when he was transferred to the crypt of the church of the mother house of the Little Sisters in Valencia, as was his wish. He remains there today, receiving numerous devotees who seek his intercession.
For more detailed information about his life and work, you can read the excellent biography written by Monsignor Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Seville.
Saturnino was born on November 29, 1830, in Sigüenza (Guadalajara) and died on March 5, 1905, in this house at the age of 74. He was an adopted son of Huesca, as he lived there for 43 years.
At the age of five, he was orphaned by his mother. His education was entrusted to a great-aunt named Manuela, the mother of Don Basilio Gil Bueno, the future bishop of Huesca.
At the age of 12, he entered the seminary in Sigüenza. After completing his seventh year of Theology and finishing his ecclesiastical studies at 21, he had to wait until he was 24, the minimum age required for ordination. While waiting to reach the required age, he was appointed assistant director of the seminary.
On May 22, 1853, his uncle Don Basilio was appointed Dean of the cathedral of Barbastro, whose diocesan seminary, deteriorated in its material part, had suspended its activities since 1836. On October 1, 1854, the seminary of Saint Thomas Aquinas reopened its doors.
As it was not easy to find a team of superiors and professors, Don Basilio suggested to Bishop Fort y Puig to call his nephew, who was beginning to stand out in the diocese of Sigüenza. Thus, Saturnino moved to Barbastro to become vice-rector of the seminary and professor of philosophy.
Living in the seminary, he devoted himself to the formation of seminarians and began his studies in Canon Law, which he continued the following academic year. But the most important thing for him was that during this course he was ordained a priest.
On September 22, 1854, he was ordained a priest. In early October, he celebrated his first Mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of El Pueyo, near Barbastro.
Alongside his uncle Don Basilio, he served as his private secretary during the time when he was the capitular vicar and ecclesiastical governor of Barbastro; when Don Basilio occupied the see of the bishopric of Huesca, Saturnino continued to serve as his chaplain, private secretary, and also as the Chamber Secretary of the Bishopric. In June 1864, he was appointed Chantre Canon of the cathedral of Huesca.
He was a parish priest of the cathedral of Huesca, secretary of the Bishopric, professor of the Seminary, and canon. He wrote the "History of the Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Barbastro and Geographical-Historical Description of its Diocese," which earned him the well-deserved appointment as a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of History.
The revolutionary Junta of Huesca in 1868 exiled both of them, and they took refuge in the parish of Santa Engracia in Zaragoza, which was under the diocese of Huesca. Upon their return from exile, the people of Huesca received them with cheers and songs.
With his uncle, he traveled to Rome to attend the First Vatican Council as secretary and consulting theologian, and in Rome, Don Basilio gave his soul to God. Now, free from the administrative affairs of the diocese, Saturnino devoted himself more to confession and preaching.
A humble, pious, industrious, and charitable priest, he did not content himself with lamenting the ills of the time, among which poverty stood out, but acted in an organized manner.
He was a pioneer of many social and apostolic works: He founded the House for Poor Students for seminarians with few resources, promoted the Shelter House for poor girls, founded the Confraternity of Our Lady of Agony in the parish church of San Pedro el Viejo, and the female branch of the Conferences of Saint Vincent de Paul, drafting its regulations. He also facilitated the installation of the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Servants of Mary in Huesca in 1871.
But his best-known work, into which he poured all his generosity, is the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly, his golden dream, in whose foundation he had the valuable collaboration of Saint Teresa Jornet, who knew how to value it as the richest gift the Lord had given to his work. Saint Teresa Jornet was the Superior General of the Congregation and responsible for governing the houses and the religious sisters.
This foundation took place in Barbastro on January 27, 1873, and was later moved to Valencia, where it has its mother house.
Currently, they have 210 centers that accommodate 26,000 elderly people, mostly in Spain, but also in 16 other countries on three continents.
In Christmas 1882, he adopted an orphaned child, Francisco Oliván Palacín, a sign of his constant and extraordinary generosity. His behavior during the cholera epidemic that struck Huesca in 1885 was also outstanding and heroic. He refused the Cross of Charity that was offered to him for his actions, assuring that he wanted no other cross than that of Christ.
As a result of a pulmonary crisis, he died on March 12, 1905, in Huesca. The next day, a multitude of people accompanied his remains to the Huesca cemetery, where he was buried and remained until May 1912, when he was transferred to the crypt of the church of the mother house of the Little Sisters in Valencia, as was his wish. He remains there today, receiving numerous devotees who seek his intercession.
For more detailed information about his life and work, you can read the excellent biography written by Monsignor Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Seville.
Biography
Photo Gallery
