In the fifth century in Berceo, a little place in La Rioja, at the foot of the Cogollos mountains, in a valley springing from the and fertilised by the river Cárdenas, a country boy played with his sheep in simpleness, he did his shepard tasks, he never imagined that one day he was going to be one of the most celebrated Spanish saints, even to the point of sharing the patronage of Spain with Santiago. One night, Emilian had a dream that he believed he was listening to the voice of God, that called him to the life of a hermit. So with twenty years he decided to break with the profession of his parents and begin his spiritual vocation that would consecrate himself entirely on the purification of his soul, disregarding the vanities of the earthly life.he presented himself to the hermitage of Felix Felices (he lived like an anachorite in the areas around Haro) famous because he made the most severe penances and mortifications, and he asked him for guidance to reach christian perfection. Once prepared with the guidances and examples of his master, he left the aged man and made his residence in Suso, a few miles from Berceo. Some biographers of the saint are surprised at this decision, put that "at such a short distance from his village it was going to be impossible for him to see himself free from intrusions and visitors". In effect, he stayed there for a short time, as his obstinancy which the uproar caused and the noisy crowds obliged him to abandon his beloved country. It wouldn´t have been easy to leave his childhood memories behind but he walked in the name of an internal freedom to the most abrupt of the Distercios mountains (Sierra de la Demanda). Amongst these mountains, covered with an exuberant vegetation during summer and an immense carpet of snow in the winter, he lived forty years in complete solitude, with no company except for the howl of the wild animals during the night and no more than a gloomy cavern for shelter, and fasting continously. A life like this could not remain hidden for much more time. The fame of the hermit extended to all parts and the bishop of Tarazona (a brother dioceses that then belonged to the Cogollos mountains) ordained him a priest. Obediently he abandoned the solitude of the mountains to look after the faithful of Berceo.   San Felices instructed the young Millán in the Bilibium fort in the Obarenes mountains, near to Haro, where they did penance A Venerable Hermit During his work as a preacher he decided to share his wealth with the poor, which caused criticsm from other clergy who accused him of bringing his parish to ruins. Free of these ecclesiastical obligations, he returned to Suso, with his followers, where he dedicated himself to be a doctor where the faithful could find relief and cures for both spiritual and bodily illnesses. There he had caves for shelter, a spring, a stream with fish and cultivable land: he didn´t need more. With the years Suso converted into a lookout point for the disinherited, the great and powerful that needed advice, the young, the aged, the weak and strong. A hollow in a tree or an opening in the rock improvised as shelter, it was the same, the important thing was to be there, together with the venerable elder, that offered consolation for the afflication and sadness.

El Lugar y El Hombre 2 de 4

El Lugar y El Hombre 4 de 4