Michael Garicoits
Basque priest (1797–1863)
Feast: 14 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Michel Garicoïts was born at Ibarre in the Pyrenees, near the Spanish border, on 15 April 1797, one of five children of a poor family, and was sent out as a shepherd boy, where the other shepherds nicknamed him 'the little doctor'.
He entered the seminary at Dax in 1819, was ordained in 1823 and two years later sent to teach philosophy in the seminary of Bétharram. There in 1835 he founded the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Bétharram for the education of the young.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A shepherd boy who became a priest and founder devoted to educating the young.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Michele Garicoïts
- Wikidata Q977986 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Michel Garicoïts (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.