Blessed Carlos Rodriguez: ¡Vivimos Para Esa Noche!

American Catholic History

Noelle & Tom Crowe

Religion & Spirituality, History, Christianity, Education

4.8 • 969 Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez came from a humble but devout family in Puerto Rico. He suffered from a terrible illness for most of his life. He barely graduated high school and couldn't complete college. But he had a deep love of Christ and of the Liturgy, particularly the Easter Vigil. He would say of that liturgy, "¡Vivimos para esa noche!", "We live for that night!" He engaged in great catechetical works and organized groups at the University of Puerto Rico and in many parishes to discuss the liturgy. He believed that the faithful needed to be helped to learn about the liturgy, so they might know their faith better. He also advocated for small changes to the liturgy, including including the vernacular in places, and making it easier for the faithful to engage in full active participation. His health deteriorated in early 1963, when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died in July 1963. Students who had learned from him carried on his legacy and eventually organized to promote his cause of canonization. A miracle was approved in 1999 which led to Pope John Paul II declaring him Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez in 2001. He is the first Caribbean layman to be beatified, and only the second layman in the western hemisphere

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to American Catholic History.
0:07.6	If you like our podcast, be sure to rate us and give us a review wherever you get your podcasts.
0:13.5	I'm Newell Houston Crowe.
0:14.6	And I'm Tom Crow.
0:15.8	Today we're talking about Blessed Carlos Rodriguez.
0:20.1	He was a catechist, and he deeply loved the liturgy,
0:23.6	especially the Easter Vigil. He is now on track to become the first saint from Puerto Rico
0:29.6	and only the second layperson canonized in the Western Hemisphere.
0:33.6	Yeah, and there are loads of men and women who have a cause for canonization open
0:38.1	in the Western Hemisphere, but most of them were priests or religious. Not a whole lot
0:42.5	relity. And so far, the only layperson to be canonized in the Western Hemisphere is Katiri
0:49.3	Tikalwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks. And I really love that the first layperson to be canonized
0:54.1	in the so-called new world was from a tribe of people mohawks. And I really love that the first layperson to be canonized in the so-called new world
0:55.8	was from a tribe of people that was already here,
0:58.3	and not from one of the European powers that came over.
1:01.5	They brought Christ to these shores so that the natives might know him,
1:05.0	but the first layperson to become completely enamored of Christ was a native,
1:10.0	not one of the colonizing settlers.
1:11.6	There's, I don't know, there's just something beautiful about that.
1:14.6	Yeah, sort of showing that the people who were here were no less eager to know and love the God who is.
1:21.6	They had spent so many years seeking him through their own native religions, but not finding him. Once the true religion
1:29.3	was brought to them, at least some recognized Christ quickly and followed him wholeheartedly.
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