Sebastian’s roads and bridges connected many distant places. His final bridge-building was to help men and women recognize their God-given dignity and destiny... a bridge to Heaven

    Sebastian’s parents were Spanish peasants. At the age of 31 he sailed to Mexico, where he began working in the fields. Eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce. His 466-mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas took 10 years to build and required careful negotiations with the indigenous peoples along the way.

    In time Sebastian was a wealthy farmer and rancher. At the age of 60 he entered a virginal marriage. His wife’s motivation may have been a large inheritance; his was to provide a respectable life for a girl without even a modest marriage dowry. When his first wife died, he entered another virginal marriage for the same reason; his second wife also died young.

    At the age of 72 Sebastian distributed his goods among the poor and entered the Franciscans as a brother. Assigned to the large (100-member) friary at Puebla de los Angeles south of Mexico City, Sebastian went out collecting alms for the friars for the next 25 years.

    His charity to all earned him the nickname "Angel of Mexico." Witnesses attest to over 300 miracles he performed in life.   

Born 1502 at Galicia, Spain
Died 1600; lies in the Chapel of the Virgin of the Conquest, Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Puebla, Mexico; body incorrupt
Beatified 1787
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- http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1302
- http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saints50.htm