La Salle parishes mourn Brother Marion Sanchez, O.S.B.

“If you had the pleasure of meeting and knowing Daniel, Brother Marion, you were blessed because he was an absolute joy.”

—  Michelle Pufahl Smith, a fellow St. Bede graduate

They all recognized Daniel Sanchez, the La Salle youth who spent his after-school hours busing tables, checking out groceries and greeting everybody by name. But the pilgrims who visited his monastery in 2018 encountered a changed man.

Brother Marion Sanchez, O.S.B., as Daniel had been called, was placed in charge of the retreat center at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama, and he greeted a group of La Salle visitors as warmly as ever, with a noticeable inner joy.

“He imbued the Benedictine spirit of hospitality whether he knew you personally or not,” recalled Mary Caldera, one of the La Salle Catholic parishioners who took a retreat supervised by Sanchez. “He welcomed you as a friend. Even though he was very busy in all his responsibilities, he gave us his time, encouragement and presented us ways to grow closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Caldera is among those who mourned Sanchez after a medical episode Feb. 16 while in Minnesota, where he had been on assignment. The 29-year-old monk had been battling health problems that largely he had kept to himself.

Sanchez was remembered at a Monday requiem Mass at St. Patrick Church in La Salle and was on his way to Cullman, where he will be interred.

The Rev. Robert Rayson was pastor at St. Patrick’s when Sanchez, then a 2010 graduate of St. Bede Academy, decided he wanted to become a priest. Rayson lent his support, and Sanchez was accepted into seminary under supervision of the Diocese of Peoria.

“I remember him being very joyful and reverent at Mass,” Rayson said, expressing shock at Sanchez’s abrupt passing.

Sanchez didn’t remain long at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary, however. During a break, he visited St. Bernard’s, not far from where the Eternal Word Television Network does taping and broadcasting. There, he found a thriving community where the monks wear cowls even in the stifling Alabama summers and was immediately drawn to the monastic life. He joined the community in 2012 and professed his solemn vows in 2016, taking the name Marion in honor of the Virgin Mary.

Sanchez would periodically return to La Salle to visit parents Armando and Maria and his six siblings and to visit his home parish, where parishioners noted his joy and rich interior life.

“If you had the pleasure of meeting and knowing Daniel, Brother Marion, you were blessed because he was an absolute joy,” said Michelle Pufahl Smith, another St. Bede graduate. “Heart of gold.”

“He was such a kind, caring and spiritual young man who truly loved his religious calling,” Bev Sons of Oglesby said.

Not long after he took his solemn vows, Sanchez contacted the La Salle Catholic Parishes and inquired about organizing pilgrimages to Cullman. Among his duties at St. Bernard’s was supervising tours of the Ave Maria Grotto, a replica of holy sites across the globe, and he wanted friends from home to enjoy a respite within the confines of a community.

The invitation drew pilgrims in October 2018 and again in November 2019. Additional tours were planned, but these were waylaid by COVID-19 and Brother Marion’s health issues and, ultimately, his death.

To the end, Sanchez expressed gratitude to Peoria Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, who encouraged him to try monastic life and warmly told Sanchez the door was open for him to return later to seminary if he so chose.

“I was very sorry to learn of the death of Brother Marion, and I offer my deepest condolences to his family,” a spokesman for Jenky said. “May God grant to his family and friends the gift of His healing presences and to Brother Marion the gift of eternal life.”