The Mass was presided by the Bishop of Getafe, Ginés García Beltrán, on the feast of St Pedro Poveda on 28 July 2024. It was held in Santa María de Los Negrales (Madrid, Spain), the place where the remains of the founder of the Teresian Association rest. Following the Mass, the singer-songwriter Luis Guitarra gave a recital with the theme “Sal de tu tierra” (Go forth from your homeland) as the underlying message.
TA members, friends and co-workers from different places gathered here, thus giving a more universal dimension to the event. There was a large group from Italy who travelled to celebrate the centenary of the pontifical approval; young people from various Spanish provinces who were celebrating the National Assembly of Acit Joven; TA members from America, Asia and Africa who were in Spain for meetings as members of commissions, etc.
At the beginning of the Mass, Maria Rita Martín Artacho, vice-president of the TA, read a message from Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, congratulating the Association on the 100th anniversary of pontifical approval. “St Pedro Poveda”, says Cardinal Farrell, “continues to be a figure of extraordinary relevance”. The cardinal went on to encourage the TA to “relaunch the role of the laity and especially of women, [...] to stimulate love of knowledge and the sciences, to nurture in young people boundless faith like Poveda had and not to yield to pessimistic views; to teach young people a love of freedom and to engage continuously in searching for original and creative educational methods...”
In his homily, the bishop of Getafe spoke on several aspects of the life of St Pedro Poveda starting with his martyrdom. He highlighted especially the “primacy of God” from which all his work stemmed. “We are given the grace of being able to contemplate this saint with the perspective of time that reveals more clearly the hand of God and helps us to read history, including our own, in the light of God’s will.”
He then pointed to the teachings of St Pedro Poveda on prayer and his confident prayer that was transformed by an encounter with Jesus Christ. He spoke about Guadix –a diocese where D. Ginés had previously been bishop–, and he recounted how Poveda set out to offer spiritual and not only material care to the inhabitants of the caves.
Different groups were involved at certain points of the Mass. The prayers of the faithful were said in various languages and the offertory was accompanied by young people with a liturgical dance. 
The air of celebration, joy and gratitude was reflected in faces and expressed in the songs and at the sign of peace. Peace is a longing in everyone's heart as wars rage in various parts of the world. Pedro Poveda, in his times, lived in a turbulent world in the months before he gave his life as a witness to faith and as a priest.
Luis Guitarra's recital, which followed the Mass, concluded with the song “Sois la sal” (You are the salt) in which the audience joined in. This is reported in another article on this website.
Here you can watch the complete Eucharist recorded on video.
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