Marcos
Marcos Pou Gallo (1991-2015)
A young man from Barcelona who studied Physics, fell in love with Christ and died at the age of 23, ten days after entering the Seminary. This is his story.
Childhood between Barcelona and Los Angeles
Marcos Pou Gallo was born on 20 September 1991 in Barcelona, into a Catholic family. He was the second of six siblings.
In 1993 he moved with his family to Los Angeles (United States) because of his father’s work. They lived for five years in California and in 1998 returned to Barcelona.
The faith that grew at school
At school, his faith grew under the guidance of a group of teachers from the Communion and Liberation (CL) movement. He was struck by their passion for life, the way they explained their subjects, and the human warmth and friendship that existed among them.
Marcos became involved in that friendship: study outings, weekends away, the weekly catechesis (“School of Community”), spiritual exercises and summer retreats. What drew his attention in CL was its insistence on the religious dimension: the human heart desires goodness, beauty and truth, and only Christ responds to that desire. He discovered that faith is reasonable and has to do with everything. He was fascinated by the possibility of living, 2,000 years later, the same experience as the apostles with Jesus of Nazareth.
Physics, friends and mission
Amazed by the stars and the universe, in which he saw the traces of the Creator, he studied Physics at the University of Barcelona. There he was part of «Joves pel coneixement» (Young People for Knowledge), a group of CL friends who organised talks with professors and handed out leaflets on current affairs in order to engage in dialogue with their classmates.
Calcutta and the road to the priesthood
In the summer of 2011 he travelled to Calcutta (India) with a priest uncle and a group of friends to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity. On his return he took part in the World Youth Day in Madrid. That year he began to ask himself whether God was calling him to the priesthood.
For almost four years he was responsible for the CL university students in Barcelona. He was a member of the pastoral council of the parish of Santa Maria del Remei and accompanied dozens of young people. Every Friday, after leaving class, he would go to Eucharistic Adoration at the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart on Tibidabo, and he invited his friends. Every week he helped in the soup kitchen of the Missionaries of Charity in El Raval.
February 2015
On 11 February 2015, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Marcos entered the Seminario Conciliar de Barcelona. Ten days later, on the night of 21 February, he died in a road traffic accident. He was 23 years old.
Entry into the Seminary: vertigo and complete trust, I am Yours, Christ. May this be a path of holiness. Happy to give you my life! Master this more than what you don’t feel like doing, what makes you lazy or what seems like a future burden. I entrust myself to you, Mary. Our Lady of Lourdes, make me faithful! Make me a saint!
Marcos Pou, 11 February 2015
Friends from all over Spain and from other countries soon arrived from Castellón, Valencia, Madrid, Italy, France and England. On 22 February his body lay in state in the chapel of the martyrs of the Seminary, and Cardinal Lluís Martínez Sistach presided over a Mass. On 23 February, his funeral at the parish of La Bonanova brought together more than 2,000 people.
What continues today
Those who knew Marcos agree on what most characterised him: his passion for Christ, whom he recognised as the centre of everything he was and did, and a missionary desire that led him to love each person he met along his way. Anyone who was with him felt welcomed and loved.
His life continues to touch many people who never knew him. On learning his story, they wish to live their faith with greater maturity, or the desire to know Jesus awakens in them.
It is a strange thing to speak of “my story”, since the only interesting thing in it, the only thing that saves it from being a dull and flat story, is what Christ has done in my life.
Marcos Pou, My Story
Machine translation. If you spot a mistake, do write to us.