242 / 665
214 • Part II. The Sacraments: The Faith Celebrated
spiritual wealth of the liturgy. He started a magazine,
Liturgy and Christian
Culture
, in which he published articles on liturgy that he translated into
Spanish from English and French journals.
He gradually gathered a number of students and professors together
in a Liturgy Circle that met at the University Center. He taught them how
to live out the liturgy and the Easter mystery of Christ’s dying and rising,
especially at the Easter Vigil.
He organized Christian Life days for the students to renew their spiritu-
ality through the liturgy. He promoted the active participation of the laity
in the Mass and the use of the vernacular. Carlos anticipated a number
of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, especially those found in
the
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
(
Sacrosanctum Concilium
).
Carlos did not let his deteriorating physical condition get in the way
of his calling. He knew he was rising with Christ even as his body was
dying. He kept reminding his disciples at the university that they should be
joyful because they are called to live the joy and hope that Jesus brings
with his Resurrection. He frequently said, “
Vivimos para esa noche de la
Resurreción
” (We live for the night of the Resurrection). He entered eternal
life on July 13, 1963, at age forty-four.
A crowd that traveled to Rome from Puerto Rico cheered and waved
their island’s flag in St. Peter’s Square on April 29, 2001, when Pope John
Paul II beatified Carlos Manuel Rodriguez. The pope pointed out that this
lay activist witnessed the fact that all Christians are called to pursue holi-
ness “in a conscious and responsible way.”
Blessed Carlos loved the Eucharist, which is the center of the liturgy.
Remarkably, in the twenty years before the Second Vatican Council
when the voices for liturgical renewal were being heard from Benedictine
monks, scholarly theologians, and visionary priests, this alert Puerto Rican
layman showed university students how to base their faith life on the lit-
urgy, especially the Eucharist.
•