Less than a month after his solemn profession “in articulo mortis” (at the point of death), 21-year-old Carmelite Pablo Ma. de la Cruz Alonzo Hidalgo died. He died on July 15, the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The prior provincial of the Province of Aragón, Castilla, and Valencia (ACV), Salvador Villota Herrero, announced the young Carmelites death. Fr. Salvador had received the solemn profession of Alonso as a Carmelite on Sunday, June 25, just three weeks earlier, in the church of the Carmel de Abajo in Salamanca, Spain. An exception was made for him in light of his impending death.

Pablo was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, when he was 16 years old.

A few days prior to his profession, he had been admitted into the novitiate in a ceremony over which Villota presided at the University Hospital Clinic of Salamanca. Alonso’s parents, the novice master, and his spiritual director were also present.

Before his entry into the Carmelite order, the young man posted an invitation on social media stating his determination, which he headed with a quote from the Carmelite St. Titus Brandsma, who was killed by the Nazis in Dachau: “The cross is my joy, not my sorrow.” The post showed Alonso’s hand holding a cross.

“It is my desire to consecrate myself to God and live as an offering to Jesus Christ. My illness is progressing rapidly. From God we come and to God we go. The Father in his infinite mercy will soon call me to be with him,” the young religious wrote. 

1. Fray Pablo María de la Cruz Alonso Hidalgo, O. Carm., wearing the Carmelite habit.
2. Profession of Fray Pablo.
3. Fray Pablo and his parents as he is received into novitiate.
4. Fray Pablo and his parents along with P. Salvador Villota Herrero, the prior provincial of the Aragón, Castilla and Valencia Province and P. Alejandro López-Lapuente Villalba, director of novices.
5. Fray Pablo and Fr. Rafael Ma. López Melús, the youngest and the oldest members of the Aragón, Castilla and Valencia Province.