Deacon whose family fled Cuba, later assisted at liturgies with future saint, mourned at Mass

Father Robert G. Lynam, pastor, St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park, presided at a funeral Mass and gave the homily for Deacon Luis Sabino Moral at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church Oct. 29. Deacon Moral, 85, died Oct. 26.

Ten deacons attended the funeral Mass, including three of his classmates. Deacon James Rivera served as deacon of the Eucharist.

Father Lynam also proclaimed the Gospel and gave the Commendation Prayer.

Deacon Moral, who was retired from active ministry at St. John the Baptist Parish, New Brunswick, was born in Havana, Cuba, to the late Sabino and Nieves Moral. He married his high school sweetheart, Josefa, in 1963 before immigrating to the United States in 1967.   

Deacon Moral called Astoria, Queens, N.Y., home for 20 years, where he established his community of friends and family that were so dear to him before moving in 1987 to East Brunswick, where he became a member of St. Bartholomew Parish.

Deacon Moral was educated at Colegio Baldor, Havana University, Cuba, where he also earned a doctorate in pharmacy. He worked in the personal care and cosmetic industry for more than 30 years as a formulation chemist. He retired from Union Carbide, Bound Brook.

He was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Edward T. Hughes, June 17, 1989, at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen. He first served at St. Bartholomew, then was transferred to then-Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, New Brunswick, in 1993.

In May 1997, he was assigned to St. John the Baptist Parish, New Brunswick, with the special objective of ministering to the Hispanic community. He served in religious education at St. John the Baptist for 15 years and prison ministry in New Brunswick from 1989 to 2001.

At his home parish, St. Cecilia, Monmouth Junction, Deacon Moral assisted with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process.

He was a member of several diocesan organizations, including the Diaconate Personnel Board, Diaconate Advisory Board for Hispanic Deacons, Commission for Hispanic Ministry and Commission for Pro-Life Action.

Deacon Moral’s daughter, Ana Aymes, a member of St. Augustine’s, shared a letter she wrote about him to Father Lynam with “The Catholic Spirit.”

In it, she wrote, “What brought my father the most joy in life were his grandchildren — Edward and Phillip. He lived every moment of their lives with them. Breakfast, schools, concerts, sporting events, birthday parties. He was very popular with other grandparents and mothers of his grandchildren friends at our school community of Rutgers Prep.

“Everybody knew Abuelo [Spanish for grandfather]. We would go to the gas station, churches, food shopping and someone would say, ‘hello.’”

A highlight of his diaconal ministry service, she wrote, was joining the delegates from New Jersey to assist at several Masses and prayer services with then-Pope, now St. John Paul II, during his visit to Havana in 1989.

In Havana, her father had lived in apartments above a restaurant/bar “Moral” that his father and uncles owned. His father and uncles had emigrated from Spain when Franco took power, searching for a better life.

As a young adult, Deacon Moral was active in the Church in Cuba and became a Knight of the Miraculous Medal. He and his wife were in the last graduating class at the university before Fidel Castro closed it because of political unrest.

The establishment “Moral,” she said, was turned over to the government and shut down.

Although her parents were married in the Church and were active at their parish, they were viewed as dangerous by other family members.

Several years later, because her father feared for his safety and the challenges of daily life, they immigrated to Spain, where his family lived. They arrived with 30 pounds of luggage and no money. However, because she wanted to live in the U.S., nine months later, they settled in New York, where they found jobs, friends and family. They also helped her grandparents and other family members establish themselves in New York, too.

They learned English in action programs, she wrote, and with support of the English-speaking community they began to feel like Americans.

“They strived for a family and it was not easily granted. I was a big surprise to them, after they had thought it not possible.”

Her parents were very generous and would loan the car to “family teenagers and paid for the gas.”

At St. Bartholomew, his brother deacons helped him study and pass all his lessons in English; religious women in the parish would him help with his homilies.

He enjoyed visiting the residents of nursing homes, leading the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process and teaching religion and young altar servers.

Deacon Moral was predeceased by his parents, Sabino and Nieves (Acosta) Moral.

In addition to Josefa (Delgado) Moral, and Ana, he is survived by a son-in-law, Charles Aymes; grandsons Edward and Phillip Aymes; and brother and sister-in-law Rogelio and Alejandrina Moral.

Entombment was at Holy Cross Burial Park, East Brunswick. Arrangements were handled by J. Murphy Funeral Home, Monmouth Junction.