May 18th, 1925: Last day of St. Josemaria's appointment at (the parish of) Perdiguera

St. Josemaria's first appointment after his ordination was at the parish of Perdiguera. He arrived there just under 2 months before, on March 31st, 1925 (He had been ordained 3 days before!).

The parish was in a village about 15 miles from Zaragoza. It was rather out of the way and in an area with poor roads. Its pastor, the only priest in the village, had been away for some time due to a serious illness.

This appointment was a heavy blow for the new priest, who had not expected an assignment away from his family, nor one announced so suddenly, since it was taken for granted in clerical circles that newly ordained priests would be sent to parishes where they could get pastoral experience under the eye of other priests -and Saragossa had no shortage of priests. But Father Josemaría obeyed promptly and without complaining, and on the very next day, Tuesday, March 31, he set out for his new post, in a mule-drawn carriage.

Church of the Assumption, Perdiguera

On May 18th, Saint Josemaría came to the end of his ministry in the parish of Perdiguera. Years later, he recalled: “I lodged in the home of a very good countryman. He had a son who took the goats out every morning, and I felt sorry for him, seeing him spend all day out there with the herd. I did my best to give him a few catechism lessons, so that he could make his First Holy Communion.

One day, to see how much he was learning, it occurred to me to ask him: “What would you like to do if you were rich, very rich?” “What does being rich mean?” he answered. “To be rich is to have a lot of money, to have a bank…” “And what is a bank?” I explained it in a simple way and continued: “To be rich is to have a lot of land, and instead of goats, very big cows. And to go to meetings, change suits three times a day… What would you do if you were rich?” His eyes opened wide, and then at last he said: “I would like to eat lots of bowls of soup and wine!” All our ambitions come down to that; nothing is worth while. Funnily enough I have never forgotten that story. It struck me and it made me think: “Josemaría, it is the Holy Spirit speaking.” The Wisdom of God did this to teach me that the things of the earth, all of them, come to that: very, very little.”