Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz, OAR was a Spanish Catholic friar in the Order of Augustinian Recollects and now venerated as a saint. He was born on April 9, 1848, in Alfaro, La Rioja, Spain and later served as a missionary to the Philippines. He also became the Bishop of Pinara and later of Pasto, in Colombia. His nephew Julián Moreno is also venerated as a Blessed because of his martyrdom in Motril. Moreno is popularly invoked as the patron of cancer patients. Early life and entry to the Order of Augustinian Recollects Born in the city of Alfaro, La Rioja, Spain to Félix Moreno and María Josefa Díaz, he was the third of six children along with Eustaquio, Juana, Valentina and Benigna. His fourth sister, named María de las Candelas, died. Moreno first wore the habit of the Recoletos in Monteagudo, Navarra, Spain on September 21, 1864. Later, he made his solemn vow in Marcialla (also in Navarra) on September 22, 1868. Philippine missions Arrival and ordination in Manila The monastery in Monteagudo was known for dispatching missionaries to both the Americas and the Philippines. As expected, Moreno sailed for Manila, the capital of the Captaincy General of the Philippines, arriving there on February 10, 1870. In the middle that year, Moreno sailed on to the Visayan town of Jaro, Iloilo where he received and finished his minor orders. A year later, he returned to Manila to receive his sacerdotal orders from the Archbishop of Manila, Gregorio Melitón Martínez. Today, the letter of the archbishop informing him of his sacerdotal ordination is one of the best-preserved manuscripts from the period. After ordination, he was immediately sent to his first mission in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. There, he became proficient in Tagalog that at his canonisation, Filipino Catholics remarked that the language is now "a language of the saints." Provincial assignments Two years after his arrival in the colony, he undertook the arduous task of being Military Chaplain to a penal colony, now Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, in Puerto Princesa City. He was among the founders of the town of Aborlan, Palawan and Barangay Inagawan in Puerto Princesa. Moreno was struck by malaria, which forced him to leave the island. When he was able to recover from the disease, he was again made in charge of a mission in Calapan. Though only 28 years old, both the Archbishop of Manila and