Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz

Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz, OAR was a Spanish Catholic friar in the Order of Augustinian Recollects and now venerated as a saint. He served as a missionary to the Philippines. He also became the Bishop of Pinara and later of Pasto, in Colombia.

Moreno is popularly invoked as the patron of cancer patients.

Early life and entry to the Order of Augustinian Recollects
Born April 9, 1848 in the city of Alfaro, La Rioja, Spain to Félix Moreno and María Josefa Díaz, he was the third of six children. His father was a tailor. His nephew Julián Moreno is venerated as a Blessed because of his martyrdom in Motril. Ezequiel served as an altar boy for the Dominican nuns and developed a devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Following the example of his older brother, Moreno entered the Recoletos in Monteagudo, Navarra, Spain on September 21, 1864 taking the name Fray Ezequiel Moreno de la Virgen del Rosario. Later, he made his solemn vow in Marcialla (also in Navarra) on September 22, 1865.

Arrival and ordination in Manila
The monastery in Monteagudo was known for dispatching missionaries to both the Americas and the Philippines. On October 14, 1869 he embarked from Cádiz arriving in Manila on February 10, 1870.

In the middle that year, Moreno sailed on to the Visayan town of Jaro, Iloilo where he received and finished his minor orders. A year later, he returned to Manila to receive his sacerdotal orders from the Archbishop of Manila, Gregorio Melitón Martínez (The same prelate who defended the martyred priests Gomburza by siding with them over the Spanish Governor-General). He was ordained a priest on June 3, 1871. Today, the letter of the archbishop informing him of his sacerdotal ordination is one of the best-preserved manuscripts from the period. After ordination, he was immediately sent to his first mission in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. There, he became proficient in Tagalog that at his canonisation, Filipino Catholics remarked that the language is now "a language of the saints."

Provincial assignments
About two years after his arrival in the colony, he was sent, along with his brother Eustaquio, to the island of Palawan, where he undertook the task of being Military Chaplain to a penal colony, now Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, in Puerto Princesa City. He was among the founders of the town of Aborlan, Palawan and Barangay Inagawan in Puerto Princesa. Moreno was struck by malaria, which forced him to return to Manila.

When he recovered from the disease, he was put in charge of a mission in Calapan. Though only 28 years old, both the Archbishop of Manila and his Recollect Prior assigned him as Vicar Forane of Mindoro.

Return to Manila and surrounding areas
In May 1876, he was transferred to what is now Las Piñas and worked zealously for the development of the lives of the people in the area. During the three years that Ezequiel Moreno remained in this mission, he went through an epidemic, a drought and a fire, to which he responded with care to the sick and helping those left in extreme poverty with money, rice and clothing. This saintly way of life that he exemplified caused the people of Las Piñas to oppose his transfer to Santo Tomás, Batangas.

The appeal, as strong as it was, was not successful and Moreno was transferred to Santo Tomás. However, he was recalled to Manila because he was appointed General Preacher of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. The people of Santo Tomas also made an appeal to suspend the order but just as in Las Piñas, their request was not granted. He assumed the post in October 1880 and as Preacher General, was assigned parish priest of Santa Cruz Church, assuming the post in February 1881.

A year later, he was assigned to take charge of the Recollect hacienda in the towns of Imus and Bacoor in Cavite. During his stay, the towns were struck by cholera and the priest worked hard to administer the Last Rites to as many of the faithful as possible that of the 3,200 victims, only three died without receiving the Last Rites.

Election as superior of Monteagudo
He was elected Superior of the Seminary in Monteagudo, Navarra, Spain, in 1885. Through this post, Moreno imparted his missionary zeal to many missionaries to the Americas and the Philippines.

Colombian missions
It was in 1888 that he once more crossed the Atlantic Ocean and became the head of the Recollect mission in Colombia. He served as Vicar apostolic of Casanare and was named bishop of Pinara, Colombia on October 23, 1893. He became Bishop of Pasto, Colombia on December 2, 1893. He was noted for his generous charity to the faithful of his diocese and encouraged the practice of the Rosary of the Dawn.

Involvement in Colombian politics
As most of the Colombian Church hierarchy, Ezequiel Moreno aligned himself with the Colombian Conservative Party. During the Thousand Days War, he used his writings and preaching sermons to attack the Colombian Liberal Party. He expressed in his pastoral letters, the defense of what he believed in, with the purpose of making clear the commitments of a Catholic, above political affiliations. His statement, “liberalism is a sin,” may have been the most controversial.