José Merino Andrés

After his ordination, Father José Merino Andrés began an itinerant and devoted ministry. His first assignment brought him to the convent of La Felguera, in Asturias, where he worked within the San Pedro college and the Santo Tomás de Aquino convent. On September 18, 1943, he was appointed superior of this community. Three years later, in 1946, he was transferred to Madrid to assume the position of superior of the convent of Nuestra Señora de Atocha, where he dedicated himself with fervor to preaching and the administration of the sacraments.

At the beginning of 1949, his superiors sent him to Mexico to participate in the Order's popular missions. He displayed remarkable missionary zeal there until May 1950, when he was recalled to Spain to assume the position of novice master of the Province of Spain, established at the convent of San Pablo in Palencia.

It was in Palencia that Father Merino carried out the most fruitful and longest work of his priestly life. Between 1950 and 1966, he accompanied and trained more than 700 young future Dominican friars, leaving an indelible spiritual mark on several generations of religious. In 1966, due to health that had become extremely fragile and precarious, he had to renounce his position as novice master. He spent the last two years of his life in Palencia, offering his final strength to popular preaching, before passing away holily on December 6, 1968.

The reputation for holiness of Father José Merino Andrés spread rapidly after his death, both among the members of the Dominican Order and among the faithful who had known him. His humility, evangelical poverty, obedience, and intense life of prayer left a lasting impression.\n\nThe diocesan process for his beatification was opened and successfully conducted in the Diocese of Palencia. As part of this cause, on December 6, 2011, his mortal remains were exhumed from the Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles cemetery and solemnly transferred to the Santo Domingo chapel of the conventual church of San Pablo in Palencia. This place is highly symbolic, as it is where Father Merino spent long hours in prayer and prepared his teachings.

The Roman process reached a decisive stage on October 24, 2025. During an audience granted to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God José Merino Andrés. By this official act, the Church recognizes that he lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree, henceforth attributing to him the title of Venerable. For his beatification to be pronounced, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession will be necessary.

The spirituality of the Venerable José Merino Andrés was deeply rooted in the Dominican charism, which he summarized for his novices with the Spanish acronym "ESO": Estudio (Study), Servicio (Service), and Oración (Prayer). His former students remember him as a true "former of consciences," combining a deep contemplative life with vigorous pastoral action.

Another pillar of his inner life was his filial devotion to the Virgin Mary, whom he venerated particularly in the form of a small statue of Our Lady of Fatima present at the novitiate, which he affectionately called his "Madre Maestra" (Mother Teacher). He spent long hours in silent prayer before the tabernacle, transmitting through his daily example the joy and simplicity of the consecrated life. His legacy endures through the hundreds of priests and religious he formed, who continue to keep alive his spirit of service and absolute trust in divine mercy.