Abbot Michael celebrates Mass on February 12, 2023

Ignacio Eguiguren Cosmelli (1985-2023), son of Luz Cosmelli and José Manuel Eguiguren, founder of the Manquehue Apostolic Movement of Chile, died on February 11, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Ignacio was, and remains, at the heart of the Movement, an inspiration to all he encountered. Abbot Michael Brunner offered the Mass of February 13 for Ignacio in his homily, included here.

This morning I am offering my Mass for the repose of the soul of someone whom you have never met, most of you anyway: Ignacio Eguiguren, who is the son of the founder of the Manquehue Apostolic Movement in Chile. He will be buried today. He is a most unusual human being. Disabled from his childhood, he could not speak. He could not move. But he could think. He could communicate with his eyes and some sounds. And he could pray. He is an incredible example of what one can do while bearing their cross.

Abbot Michael offers his homily and the Mass for Ignacio Eguiguren

None of us gets to choose our crosses. And somehow our crosses are fit for our backs. They are opportunities as well as pains for us. Ignacio bore his with incredible courage and incredible patience. He was an engine of love for his family and for the movement that his father founded. And I am sure that their life will be very different without him. But, I am sure, pretty sure, there is a saint in heaven, who will be looking out for that movement, which is consociated with the English Benedictine Congregation, so they are a Benedictine movement and part of our family. And Ignacio is part of this family, was a brother to all of us, even those he had never met. May he rest in peace.

Image from the Manquehue website of Ignacio as a young child