Lenten campaign 2026
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Fr. Valera founded no organization and wrote no book, yet he became the unifying link of his town, Huércal-Overa, Spain. Despite the difficulty of “being a prophet in his own land,” there are people there who speak of him as if he were still alive and who still carry his photograph in their wallets.
This Andalusian town where Salvador Valera Parra was born in 1816 has dedicated plaques, monuments, busts, and institutions to its beloved parish priest. On February 7 it hosts his beatification, presided over by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro.
“The Spanish Curé of Ars”
“He was a man who, apparently, did nothing extraordinary,” three bishops write in a pastoral letter they dedicated to this priest whom some call “the Spanish Curé of Ars.” This reference to St. Jean Vianney, a patron of priests, recalls how St. Vianney is known for the simple life of a priest -- hours in the confessional, fervent homilies -- but was a poor student and had few worldly qualities.
If Fr. Valera wrote nothing, founded nothing, and none of his sermons are remembered, how did he awaken such gratitude among the people and come to receive high institutional honors?
“He is not an intellectual saint, but one wholly given over [to others],” explains to Aleteia José Juan Alarcón, the delegate for the causes of saints in Almería. “What shines is the holiness of his life.”
“His presence, shown through stories preserved over time, presents him as a parish priest devoted to his people, faithful, humble, and caring for his flock with charity,” the bishops respond.
Stories include the pacification of the Cartagena prison during a rebellion, which Fr. Valera achieved by visiting it. He sometimes approached divided households and brought peace to his parishioners. He listened to them, knew them, shared in their needs and joys, and prayed and committed himself on their behalf.
Quiet self-giving
He provided spiritual and material help with discretion and simplicity. He did so in emergencies, such as an earthquake or a fire, and also in daily life — leaving a coin under a sick person’s pillow, donating clothing, food, and more.
Cura Valera succeeded in persuading St. Teresa Jornet, founder of the congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, to open a residence for the elderly in his town.
He even risked his life on at least two occasions to care for the sick during the cholera epidemic of the mid-19th century.
For this reason, Queen Isabella II awarded him the Order of Charles III, and the Huércal-Overa town council presented him with a chalice that is now kept in his parish.
Fr. Valera spent hours in the confessional and loved the Eucharist ardently. The bishops emphasize that “he celebrated Holy Mass with a devotion that moved those who took part,” and that he always made sure the lamp before the Blessed Sacrament burned brightly.
His memory and reputation for holiness remain alive. Paintings of his image still adorn the walls of homes in his town, and the simple house where he grew up is preserved, full of mementos.
More than a thousand testimonies to his holiness have been collected in his beatification process.
Many continue to entrust their needs to him and to ask for small favors and great miracles, such as the healing of a baby in the United States that made his beatification possible.
