PASSPORT TO ACHIEVEMENT
Waiting for the answer was both exciting and depressing for Roger. He would fantasize his new world as paradise on earth: no more hunger, no more kneeling on chick-peas, no more sighting of hungry wolves in wait of human prey, no more sleeping in the wheat fields or in the stable to mind the harvest or to protect the resting animals, no more assaults by starving “rojos” who still hide in the hills and come down to demand food or threaten life… From now on, only the peaceful and quiet life in a monastery, the daily comfortable feeling of being well fed and well protected, and the prospect of success through good education… From now on, only happiness and bliss…
And the price of such paradise? Roger would have to forego the warm popularity he was enjoying in Fuentesnuevas, leave behind friends and relatives, give up the freedom of roaming through vineyards and meadows, abandon the life of a cow shepherd in the pleasurable landscape of El Bierzo; but most of all, he would have to be away from his mother…
Roger was at once bothered and consoled by those thoughts. Was it worth the sacrifice of leaving the good aspects of his present life in exchange for a possible, though promising, future, just to flee hurting conditions that time would most likely correct? Staying in Fuentesnuevas would guarantee his life as a farmer. Joining Orencio in his studies would guarantee only the uncertainty of his future. If Brother Macario’s answer is positive, will Roger succumb and vegetate, or will he dare and risk?
When Brother Macario’s answer reached Fuentesnuevas in May of 1947, it was too late for Roger to join Orencio in his trip to far away Túy to study with the Marist Brothers. He would have to wait one more year before he could make such a trip and bid farewell to his endeared pictorial Bierzo.
PONFERRADA: A TEST IS PASSED
Meanwhile, arrangements were made for Roger to take an examination to prove his ability to study. He was to meet with Brother Urbano at the Ponferrada railroad station at the end of September when Orencio was taking the train to join other youngsters on their way to the Marist juniorate in Túy, an ancient Galician city bordering Portugal in northwestern Spain.
Roger took very seriously the challenge of the test. During the whole summer he studied history, geography, literature, mathematics, grammar…This was a time he spent voluntarily with his teacher or with the captain of the soldiers stationed in Fuentesnuevas who was an avid reader of literature. Roger spared no effort nor sacrifice to prepare himself for the test; after all, his pride was on the line. Wasn’t he the first in the class in practically everything? Now was the time to prove his worth.
The fear-inspiring day finally arrived. Roger and his mother joined Orencio and his family to ride to the station in an oxen-driven cart. Everybody showed happiness, including Roger who smiled more to hide his nervousness than to show joyful consent to the topic of conversation. Besides, he had to show manliness at such a decisive occasion, for riding with them was Lucía, one of Orencio’s sisters, quite attractive and of Roger’s age… He could ill afford to show weakness, he thought. While waiting for the arrival of the train, Orencio was all joy and Roger all worry. The coal-driven locomotive hauling ten long railway coaches appeared with hundreds of young smiling faces peeping out of the windows, finally grinding to a stop at the station. Then came the moment of truth. Brother Urbano got off the train, and after brief introductions he turned to Roger saying:
“So, you want to study with the Marist Brothers?”
“Yes”, Roger answered timidly while nodding his head in assent.
“Well, I have a few questions for you”, Brother Urbano continued.
Brother Urbano then proceeded to ask Roger, in front of everybody, something that went like this: “How much is it twenty by three, minus thirty, times two, plus ten, minus forty, divided by two?” Roger smiled. Don José Tahoces had made him practice this type of exercise dozens of times. Without any hesitation he immediately answered “fifteen”.
Somewhat surprised by the quickness and the accuracy of the answer, Brother Urbano turned to Roger’s mother and said loud and clear: “He can join us next September.” Roger’s mother could not control her emotions… One of her own children would be able to complete formal studies… She did not think of the sacrifices this would mean to her. She was overjoyed about the prospect of a promising future for her son, and that was the only thing that mattered. The train left the station to continue its long journey into Galicia, while Roger, his mother and their friends returned to Fuentesnuevas to spread the good news and to celebrate.
Roger’s future became the topic of conversation in town and people wished him well. But there were dark clouds in the skies. Though progress was made in the national scene, Spain remained an international outcast. Commercial restrictions imposed on her at the end of the Civil War in 1939 and after World War II in 1945, continued to cripple economic recovery and development. Spanish ships were forbidden to carry products from companies operating in the “allied” countries, and British consulates in Spain were issuing “navicerts” to make sure that Spanish ships carried only authorized merchandise. The Franco regime was trying to end the isolation by making some reforms more to the liking of western democracies, such as the 1947 promulgation of the Law of Succession which made Spain a kingdom with a temporary Regent. At the same time, Spain continued its state of “autarchy” whereby full sufficiency of national provisions was the institutionalized goal.
That year of waiting was a long and difficult year for the Fernández family, particularly for Roger’s mother, Doña Rosario. No stranger to sacrifice, she outdid herself this time to secure a sound education for Roger. Trying to minimize the suffering of her children, she denied herself even the essentials of life to prepare Roger’s clothes for his school year in Túy. When she finished handembroidering his initials RFR (Roger Fernández Rodríguez) in every piece of linen, she told Roger: “This represents work and sacrifice. Make sure that it was well worth it. Make good progress in your studies. That will be enough to repay us.”
More trouble besieged the Fernández family on another front that year. Someone uprooted the stump of the grape vines of the only vineyard left to their name in Salas de los Barrios, condemning the land to a worthless wilderness. To this day nobody knows the responsible agent of such wanton vandalism, but, knowing Roger’s father’s political leanings, the real motive can hardly escape on-target speculation. Unfortunately, the guilty party went unpunished, and the Fernández family was once more robbed of property and dignity, victim of a soulless social misfit.
There was still more misfortune in store for the Fernández family while Roger was waiting to embark in his new life as a student far away from home. Frustrating and pressing circumstances compelled Roger’s father to auction their house in Salas to a public that was only ready to hurt. The house was bought by Roger’s rich uncle Don Daniel Tahoces for an unbelievably ridiculous bid, a bid held hostage by persistent rumours that the house had been a haven for “rojos”. In Salas de los Barrios that was enough to make it as undesirable as a haunted house. So, the last property of the Fernández family was abandoned in stress while searching for a financial rescue that swirled into coma in the muddled political waters of a once proud and understanding village.
In the meantime, the Fernández family had a frightening encounter with a nearly fatal fire. Enrique, the youngest of the children, and his friend Luisito, both six years old, were playing with matches in the family’s barn behind the church. The straw-loft caught fire. Trying to get to safety, Enrique slid on the straws and fell. Had it not been for Luisito’s quick efforts to drag him out of the barn, Enrique would have lost his life. Without the patient and excellent care of the physician from the nearby town of Camponaraya, Enrique would have lost his right leg. Nevertheless, one cow fell into the well while escaping and drowned when all efforts to save it failed.
TÚY, SPAIN
As Roger’s day of departure for Túy approached, his two oldest brothers, Joaquín and Antonio, were also leaving the family nest, creating an emotional void in the family and inflicting a deep wound in their mother’s heart. Joaquín left for the Sanatorium in Zamora, about one hundred miles south east of Ponferrada. Antonio left for France to get the necessary papers to move on to Cuba, the land of his birth. Both of them made sure to give Roger some wise advice along this line: “You are very privileged to be able to get an education. Make it count and make us proud.”
After a long summer, the month of September finally arrived and with it Roger’s impending day of departure. The day before, he walked the town bidding farewell to friends and relatives. Many tears of joy and sadness were shed and many wishes of good luck and success were extended. Roger took particular care to visit his teacher and the village priest. Both men played key roles in his past and he wanted them to know that he was very appreciative and thankful of their assistance in his up-bringing.
Roger did not sleep well the night before departure. His mind wandered through his past and visited his imagined future. Several times his eyes filled with tears of fondness and hope, fondness for the things he would leave behind and hope for the bliss of a bright future ahead. Somehow, the night seemed never to end and the morning never to come, which, in a way proved timely with Roger’s emotional disposition. He feared to face the moment of saying goodby to his young brother, Enrique, goodby to his four sisters,goodby to his parents, particularly his endeared mother. His last night in Fuentesnuevas resembled less the restful night needed for a long journey than the restless journey undertaken through an endless labyrinth of anxious torture.
On the fateful day, after a special breakfast of cured ham and sausages with eggs, and some tears, family and some friends started out towards the railroad station in Ponferrada. Then came the goodbyes and more tears and the silent moment reserved for a mother and a son, before stepping up into the train which mercilessly steamed out of the station into the mountainous provinces of Galicia. There was no turning back, no matter the tears, no matter the pain. It was now up to Roger to face the future all by himself, under the guidance of the firm, but experienced hands of the Marist Brothers.
How would he fare in the new protected yet demanding environment of a school attended by hundreds of boys from all over Spain?
Although the scenery along the route through Galicia was very picturesque and much to his liking, Roger found the ten-hour trip to Túy long and lonesome. He was rather shy and knew nobody except Orencio who spent the time with his other acquaintances who, like him, were returning from their summer vacation. Roger loved the landscape: tall pine trees in the mountains, thick foliage along the rivers and green vegetation in the valleys. Except for the pine trees, it was almost a picture of El Bierzo, and his mind traveled through pictorial Bierzo while journeying through fertile Galicia.
After two transfers, the train entered the Túy station late at night. Brother Urbano led the more than two hundred students,in a short walk up the hill to the school complex and into the dormitories where he assigned each student to a bed. Then, he accompanied them to the dining room for supper. New realities began to set in. During the meal, no talking was allowed in order to listen to three students who took turns reading the life of Father Champagnat, founder of the Marists. Following the meal, which started and ended with Brother Urbano’s blessing, students had a free half hour of silence before going to the chapel for a short evening prayer, and then to bed. Just as they were falling asleep, voices rose in song in the chapel with the singing of the “Salve Regina” (Hail Queen) in Gregorian chant. The sounds came from the Brothers getting ready to retire for the day. It was eleven o’clock, and Roger felt as if he was in heaven… The long and tiresome human day had finished with a peaceful and soothing touch of the divine.
The next day began as the previous day had ended. The Brothers sang their Salve Regina and continued with their morning prayers and a half hour of silent meditation. Meanwhile, the students got up, cleaned themselves, proceeded to an auditorium for morning prayers and a short meditation, then joined the Brothers for Mass in the chapel before going to the dining-room for breakfast. Once again, students had to eat in silence to listen to the reading of the lives of saints. After breakfast, each boy was assigned a one hour daily chore that would have to be done for the next five weeks, up to the first of November. This was not what Roger wanted but became what he had to expect for the rest of the year. How he longed for his sisters to make his bed and to do the cleaning chores! Now, he appreciated, though too late, his sisters’ work and kindness… How he wished he could be near them again…!
While the normal routine would be to attend classes after the chores, the first day in Túy was one of rest and of settling down. The second day, however, was time for harvest in the Marist vineyards and fields in or around the city, a job Roger loved. Waiting for classes to start the week after, students spent the time working in the fields, going on picnics in the woods and mountains that surround Túy, interrupting their activities only for the main meal at two in the afternoon, and supper at nine. The days were full, but quite rewarding, for the students had the enviable opportunity to appreciate the landscape of the surroundings of Túy.
The ancient and historic city of Túy borders northern Portugal, near the Atlantic ocean. During the Vth and VIth centuries it was the capital of the Suevi kingdom. It has an archeological museum located in the cathedral, partly in its XIII-century visigothic cloister and partly in the adjacent XII-century romanesque capitular room. With its port on the partially navigable river Miño and its large contingent of soldiers, Túy is economically important and militarily strategic. Its old cathedral, used through history as a fortress (catedral-fortaleza), speaks of its religious influence as well, for this city of forty-thousand-or-so inhabitants is the seat of a very large diocese. Its sprawling river Miño (Minho in Portuguese) means “mine”, a reference to the legendary tug-of-war between Spaniards and Portuguese who, at one time in history counterclaimed the river as “mine”. With this river and its tributary Louro that produce an attractive landscape of green forest and thick vegetation, and with its temperate winter and pleasantly warm summer, Túy was the perfect place for youngsters to study. In addition, their school, perched on a hill, had a splendid panoramic vew of that charming city and its main river flowing out into the ocean. For Roger, this was really an ideal place, and for that he was pleased.
But what was that huge Marist enclosure which became Roger’s new abode? Surprisingly, there was a juniorate, a novitiate and a scholasticate, all within that building complex. During the juniorate, the Marists train young people academically to become future teachers. After five or six years of rigorous studies, these young men enter the novitiate for their intensive religious preparation as Marist Brothers. The first year, they are postulants. They concentrate their studies in religious subjects and wear no religious garb. The second year, they are novices. They limit their studies exclusively to religious matters, particularly the study of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, wear a black cassock with a Roman collar and a celluloid bib, and add the word Brother to the name they choose to assume. At the end of the year, they become scholastics. They add a black cord to their religious garb. The cord, which they wear around their waist, has three knots symbolizing the three vows they now make of poverty, chastity and obedience. These are temporary vows which scholastic Brothers have to renew yearly for four consecutive years. During the scholasticate, the Brothers continue their academic studies and religious training. In four years, they become professed Brothers after making their perpetual vows. They then receive a golden cross which is worn on the chest, but attached to a thin black cord hanging from the neck.
Brother Urbano, who has played such a key role in Roger’s life, was a professed Brother who had added to his regular vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, the vow of stability, meaning the vow never to quit the Marist Brothers. He was the Director of the juniorate. He was kind, but stern. His glasses gave him the appearance of a very learned man, and his serious face, that of an ascetic individual. He inspired both fear and trust. While very understanding of student problems and quite perceptive of students’ needs, he was merciless in punishing group misbehavior. On one particular occasion, during the Christmas vacation, everybody was in the chapel for Benediction during which a priest blesses the congregation with the Sacred Host in a glittering Monstrance. As the priest turned to the congregation to give the Benediction, his pants fell from under the chasuble, causing commotion and laughter among students at a time for solemnity and strict silence. After Benediction, Brother Urbano gave the boys a long lecture on religious decorum, and then canceled the remaining vacation days, including the first of the year and the Magi celebration on the sixth of January.
However, Brother Urbano was a superb educator. He was inspirational and innovative. He demanded and expected motivation and performance from all his teachers. To get the most from students, he established a series of incentives that every teacher had to observe. Once a month, students who were doing well in all the subjects would go with their teachers on special excursions. Students who were doing poorly on any one subject, stayed behind to study that subject, as happened to Roger in Latin during the first of such excursions. Teachers would alternate staying with punished students to make sure that they did the work assigned. Another trick used to maximize students’ potential was to engage in weekly wars within the class. The teacher would divide the class in four camps. He would designate a captain for each team, normally the four best students, who in turn would draft other students alternately to make the teams more balanced. On Monday, the teacher would chose a subject, say geography, and would pair two teams against the other two for war on Saturday morning. Each student had to prepare three questions to be asked of the other team. Naturally, the learning for this type of exercise was done while preparing for the competition. Learning was thus combined with gratifying fun.
During the school year, every Thursday afternoon was dedicated to rest from books, and weather permitting, students and teachers would go on excursions to the surrounding areas, with the intention of playing sports at the chosen place of destination. Two such locations Roger particularly loved: the river Louro, for swimming when the water was warm, or to play soccer in a field on its banks, and the Aloia, a historical mountain laden with pine trees, very strange stone formations such as Cama do Santo (Bed of the Saint), where according to tradition, San Julián suffered martyrdom. The easiest and most scenic access to the pictorial mountain Aloia is through Pazos de Rei, so called because, according to tradition, that was the residence of the Visigothic king Wittiza at the end of the seventh century and beginning of the eighth before the Moors invaded Spain from North Africa.
Those Thursday afternoon excursions were too short, but very relaxing. Classes were held on Saturday mornings to replace time lost. There were other excursions that would take a full day. For one such excursion students would cross the border into Portugal to visit the historical city of Braga and its ancient monastery. Another excursion that Roger would never forget was made by train to get to the well known “Rías gallegas”, the most original and beautiful geographical accident in all the landscape of Galicia. The “Rías” are, like the fjords of Norway, capricious penetrations of the sea into the land, or dazzling extensions of land into the sea. Created by earth convulsions, followed by inundations of marine water, they are simply magnificent to behold.
But life in Túy was not all excursions. Students took twelve subjects each year and had to repeat the entire grade if they failed one of the four major subjects, namely, mathematics, grammar, Latin and religion. Brother Urbano frequently visited the classes and would ask students questions. When he entered, everyone stood up until told to be seated. Besides classes, there was a two-hour period to do the homework according to a pre-determined plan, so that no teacher would give work on a subject on the wrong day. The organization was amazing and the learning going on exceptional. The final grade depended only on the grade obtained at the final exam. Therefore, consistent study and daily physical exercise were two necessary constants to keep the mind alert and rested at the same time.
Roger did not make too many friends in Túy. Most students came from big cities and few from small villages like Salas and Fuentesnuevas. The latter were less sophisticated and easy to identify. It was with this group that Roger felt comfortable, and it was among them that he made very special friends. This latter group felt closer together for another reason. Unlike the others, they had not received the Sacrament of Confirmation. So, they attended classes together to prepare themselves to be confirmed in spring by the bishop of Túy. For that reason also, they walked together to the cathedral when they had to practice for the ceremony. A very special bond of unity developed among them.
Also, in the main, this group of students were paying less for their education, for they came from less financially comfortable families. Roger’s monthly cost was nine pesetas, a very small amount considering that the normal cost was one hundred pesetas per month. Nonetheless, those nine pesetas demanded a greater sacrifice from Roger’s family than the one hundred pesetas from most of the other families, if one compares individual economic situations. Roger will never forget the enormous self-denial that those “nine pesetas” represented for his parents and his brothers and sisters.
Inadvertently, one of those students, Romualdo, became the unknowing instrument of Roger’s next move in his future career. Romualdo and Roger would normally play together during the recreation after the main two-o’clock meal. All of a sudden, Romualdo started arriving fifteen minutes late to play. Roger asked him the reason for his tardiness. He told Roger the truth. He and five other students were going to the chapel to pray that their parents give them permission to go to study with the Marist Brothers at their International Center in Grugliasco, northern Italy. Intrigued by this, Roger asked Brother Urbano if it was possible for him to join the group to go to Grugliasco. Brother Urbano answered in the affirmative, but warned Roger that he had to have his parents’ permission in writing within two weeks. Quickly, Roger wrote to his mother asking just that, and informing her that it would be entirely cost-free to the family. Then, he joined the group in their daily visits to the chapel.
Two and a half weeks after that, while everybody was taking the final exam in French during the month of June, Brother Urbano entered the place of final examinations and called four names, asking the named students to see him after the exams. Among those was Roger, who thought that since he had the French dictionary on his desk he was going to fail the test for cheating. Fearful and sad, Roger went to Brother Urbano’s office ready to deny any cheating. To his surprise, however, he found the director smiling and happy. Before Roger had a chance to say anything, he said: “Roger, your parents have given you permission to go to our international juniorate in Grugliasco. Congratulations.” Roger thanked Brother Urbano and went to the chapel to say a prayer of thanksgiving. Three other students were already there, but not Romualdo. He did not receive the permission needed and was not to go to Grugliasco. “How ironic and how sad for his friend”, Roger thought.
After the final exams, and after obtaining a passport for the trip to Italy, there was nothing left for Roger to do in Túy but wait for the day to return home for a two-month vacation. There had not been much change in Fuentesnuevas since Roger had left, but he felt good to be back with his family and friends. There were no more soldiers in town, but a guard had been hired to protect property. He was feared, mainly because he was unreasonable, as Roger was about to find out.
One day, Roger and a friend, Felipe, went to the “Cachapón” to swim. On their way back they stopped at Don Cayetano’s apple tree. Felipe decided to take some apples from the tree. Roger did not feel good about it. So, they took two or three apples each from the ground, and proceeded for home. About six hundred yards away, hiding behind bushes was the guard. He came out of the hiding place and accused Roger and Felipe of stealing apples. He did not care to listen to the boys’ pleas to forget about it because they were rotten apples from the ground, not from the tree. He went ahead and levied a “ten” pesetas fine, an exorbitant penalty which the parents had to pay within two days. Roger felt deep hurt for the stiff fine he brought home. His family had sacrificed for him and now he burdens them with a fine higher than his monthly boarding in Túy! How was he going to face his mother? It was very hard, but he did. His mother tried to talk some sense to the guard, but to no avail. She had to pay the fine.
Nonetheless, except for this incident, Roger’s summer vacation in Fuentesnuevas was very rewarding. He was back with his parents, back with his brother Enrique and his four sisters, back with his friends. And that was what he really wanted and what he really needed, after nine long months away from home. He walked to Salas de los Barrios to visit his favorite priest, Don Florencio, and some of his friends, and to relive part of his childhood. He walked to Ponferrada to play with his cousins around the church Nuestra Señora de la Encina (our Lady of the Green Oak) and the XIIth century castle.
GRUGLIASCO, ITALY
But the days were too short and went by fast. The day of departure for Grugliasco, Italy, arrived much too soon and Roger had to bid farewell, once again, but now to go farther and for a longer period of time. He felt sadness and joy, pain and anxiety, but left for Venta de Baños where the Marist Brothers had a house half-way between Ponferrada and Madrid. There, he joined Brother Urbano and three other companions on their way to Italy, Brother Urbano to accompany the students and make his “second novitiate” and the boys to study in Grugliasco, just like Roger.
When the train reached the French frontier at Irún, all passengers had to get off the train and cross the border on foot to take another train, for Spanish railroad tracks are wider than the rest of Europe. While waiting in line, Roger was behind a beautiful French girl with very long hair. Roger, who loves long hair in women, caressed her hair with his right hand saying: “Qué mona!” (How cute!). The word “mona” also means “monkey”. Not being a Spaniard, her father must not have understood the true meaning of the expression, for he turned around and slapped Roger twice in the face. Brother Urbano apologized to the gentleman in French and then said to Roger: “It serves you right. You are studying to be a Marist Brother. You do not go around touching girls…” Nevertheless, what Roger has never forgotten is that he entered France with a slap in his face.
After crossing the border, Roger, his three other companions and Brother Urbano took the train toward Italy. They made a stop at Lourdes where, according to tradition, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernardette Soubiroux. The water from the grotto has a reputation of having healing powers. So, to make sure that he would have enough of that water, Roger drank a dozen big glasses of the grotto cold water. It also rained very heavily that evening and going to the station with all that cold rain, he and another boy got very bad colds. Brother Urbano decided to take the train to nearby Toulouse where the Marists have a house. They had to stay there two days before resuming their trip to Grugliasco, through Monaco.
After crossing the French border into Italy at Ventimiglia, they decided to go to a restaurant while they waited for their train connection to Grugliasco. Here, Roger discovered again one of the many dangers that result in crossing borders. When crossing the Spanish border into France, Roger was misunderstood. Now, in Ventimiglia, he is going to be the one to misunderstand someone else. While ordering their meal, the waiter asked in Italian if they wanted “pane” (bread). The waiter then continued “con o senza burro?” Now, “burro” in Spanish means “donkey”. Neither Roger nor the others were going to have “donkey” as part of their meal, and they quickly let the waiter know that they would have none of that. The waiter left and soon returned with a bar of butter pointing to it as “burro”. “Con o senza burro?” in Italian means “with or without butter?”
Soon after dinner they resumed their journey towards Grugliasco. As the train left Ventimiglia to venture further away into the unknown, Roger’s mind wandered back to his native land with nostalgia and envisioned his future in a new land with fear. The landscape along the tracks did little to alleviate his mood, for it was a mixture of scenes of the foliage and green pastures he dearly remembered, and hard rock and bald peaks he would rather forget. In any event, the final lap of this long trip was at once reassuring and worrysome.
The train arrived in Torino late in the evening. Someone was waiting for them at the station to take them to Grugliasco, and that was heartening. Neither Roger nor the other students had ever been outside of Spain in an international environment, and that was intimidating. Looking for them at the station was a smiling German Marist, Brother Evarist. His welcoming warmth, however, failed to win Roger’s confidence, since he recalled that the Germans had caused some pain in his family because of his brother’s fatal wound received while serving at the