In the spiritual heart of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Paray-le-Monial, a moment of deep emotion and family remembrance was experienced on Saturday, November 15. John Streeter Prieto, grandnephew of the Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, presented through a video his lecture “The Family Environment and Its Influence on the Apostolic Mission of Father Mateo,” within the framework of the International Colloquium on the Apostle of the Sacred Heart.
Before a full audience of religious, historians, and devotees, Streeter’s talk blended history, testimony, and faith, offering a new perspective on the human and spiritual roots of the priest who became the worldwide promoter of the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in homes.
He began by evoking his great-grandmother, María Francisca Murga y Murguía, a woman of unshakable faith who endured the loss of four of her twelve children. “She taught her family that suffering can be redemptive when lived in union with the Heart of Jesus,” he said. Her example inspired the young Mateo and even led her husband, Octavius Charles Crawley-Boevey, an Anglican, to embrace the Catholic faith. “There,” Streeter explained, “was planted the seed of Father Mateo’s mission —a profoundly Christian home where faith was lived as daily love and reparation.”
The talk traced the family lineage from the Crawley-Boevey Murga siblings to the present Prieto Crawley-Boevey generation, sharing touching memories of Hilda Inés, Father Mateo’s youngest sister and Streeter’s grandmother, whose devotion and closeness to her brother marked the entire family.
Among the most moving recollections was the story of Angélica Prieto, Streeter’s aunt, who met Father Mateo as a teenager: “She said he could be very strict, but his blessing was unforgettable.”
Streeter also acknowledged a time when the family allowed the devotion to fade: “For years we believed the Sacred Heart belonged to the past, but there’s nothing more current than placing Christ at the center of family life.”
Today, the Apostolate of the Sacred Heart in Chile, where Streeter serves, has helped over 1,500 families enthrone the Sacred Heart in their homes. A trilingual website on Father Mateo is being developed, and the cause for his beatification has gained new strength in both Chile and Peru.
Quoting Saint Pius X’s words to Father Mateo —“Not only do I permit you, I command you: bring this crusade of love to the world”— Streeter concluded, “The world needs to recover the holiness of the home. Without Christ-centered families, society loses its heart.”
His address ended with heartfelt applause, closing a day that united history, faith, and gratitude —reviving a flame that still beats, generations later, in the hearts of his descendants and devotees around the world.
11/15/2025