Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz was born in Washington, DC on September 18, 1930 to Louis Schwartz and Cedelia Bourasa. He grew up with the idea of becoming a secular priest, work as a missionary and his apostolate would be to the poor.
In 1944, he entered St. Charles Seminary in Maryland, finished B.A. Degree at Maryknoll College and studied Theology at Louvain Catholic University in Belgium. He used to spend his vacation helping at the rag pickers’ camps for derelicts of the French society. Visiting Banneux, where the Virgin of the Poor appeared, he was more inspired to dedicate his priesthood to the service of the poor in fulfillment of her message.
He was ordained as a diocesan priest on June 29, 1957. He founded the Religious Congregation of the Sisters of Mary to serve the poorest of the poor on August 15, 1964 and the Brothers of Christ on May 10, 1981.
He established Boystowns and Girlstowns to take care, educate and give a bright future to the orphans, abandoned and children coming from the very poor families. He also built sanatoriums for very indigent patients; hospices for the homeless, handicapped elderly men, retarded children and for unwed mothers.He did not mind being considered a beggar in order to give the best to the needy, totally free of charge. With humility, courage, and unwavering faith, he suffered and accepted a lot of humiliations, criticisms, trials, pains, and difficulties, just to be able to serve and love God through the poor.
In 1989, he was afflicted with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which he accepted with joy and serenity as a gift from God. His illness made him immobile but still even on a wheelchair, he continued to fulfill his duties with joy. He spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament, praying the rosary, hearing confessions, and heroically preaching in words and examples the virtues of truth, justice, chastity, charity and humility. His love for God and the poor consumed him. He did not only help the poor but also he lived poorly.
On March 16, 1992, he breathed his last at the Girlstown in Manila. He was buried in Silang, Cavite, Philippines.
The Sisters of Mary and the Brothers of Christ, continue to live his charism of serving gratuitously tens of thousands of the poorest of the poor in Korea, Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil.
The Cause for his Beatification and Canonization has already been submitted to the Congregation of Saints in Rome.
For more information about Fr. Al and his works, visit:
* I'm one of the thousands of poor children privileged to enjoy the free food, clothing, shelter, medical/dental services and secondary education with technical/vocational training at The Sisters of Mary School Boystown in Cavite, Philippines, one of the children's village founded by this great and holy Servant of God.
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