Roman Catholic Archbishop. San Rafael de Oreamuno born Monsignor Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez was the youngest of seven children born to a farming family. Receiving his primary studies in his village and his secondary ones at the Seminary College, requesting admission to the Major Seminary in 1915, his teachers wrote in his regards that he had "talent, good spirit and a probable vocation". Sent to Rome by Bishop Juan Gaspar Stork Werth to further his studies at the Pio Latin American College, he was ordained priest there on October 9, 1921. Earning a doctorate in canon law 'summa cum laude' having also studied philosophy, back in Costa Rica he was named coadjutor of the parish of San Nicolas de Tolentino, presently the cathedral of Cartago, and successively parish priest of San Ignacio de Acosta and chaplain of the Sión College. After six months of exercise in the latter office was named canon of the metropolitan chapter going on to hold various positions including those administrator and chancellor of the archbishopric curia. Appointed vicar general of the diocese of San José by Bishop Rafael Otón Castro y Jiménez in 1935, he was elected the second bishop of the diocese of Alajuela by Pope Pius XI at the early age of thirty nine on March 12, 1938, receiving his episcopal consecration from Msgr. Carlo Chiarlo, then Apostolic Nuncio in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, on the following April 25. Promoted to the metropolitan see of San José following the demise of the named Msgr. Rafael Otón Castro, he took possession of the see on April 28, 1940. A man of superior intelligence and sharp wit, well versed in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church and his country's history, his tenure in San José would leave an indelible mark on Costa Rica, especially on its 'cuestión social'. Transferring the Central Seminary to its new building in Paso Ancho and creating the Minor Seminary, he undertook innumerable tasks regarding social work and the care of the poor. Giving an impulse to the Catholic Action, he founded 'Radio Fides' for the protection of Catholic education and oversaw as the introduction of religious education in primary and secondary schools. His most important achievement remains however the contribution to the drafting and constant support for the enactment of Social Laws of the Republic, incorporated into the Constitution of the Chapter of the Social Guarantees on July 2, 1941 followed by the enactment of the Labour Code on September 15 1943, thanks to which the Costa Ricans started enjoying social benefits such as paid vacation leave, social security, health insurance, maternity and disability payments and other employment benefits. Moreover he contributed to the opening of the University of Costa Rica on August 26, 1940. Sanabria also faced the tragic national conflagration and the revolution of 1948. However, by the end of the the war, he managed to fuse into a single thought the ideas of the Founding Board of the Second Republic and the Church enabling the Costa Rican people to return to their fraternity that had always characterized them. A noted a researcher in the historical field, especially on Costa Rican Church history and genealogy, he was a member of various academic institutions, including the Academia de Historia de Costa Rica, the Academia de la Lengua and the Academia Bolivariana. Mastering several languages, some of his publications made his name universally notable in the literary field. Leading a modest and simple life, Monsignor Sanabria passed away suddenly but peacefully due to an unexpected heart attack at fifty three years of age after celebrating mass at the cathedral of San José on the occasion of the liturgical celebration of the Holy Trinity. Having had a long day of preaching following two days of confirmations, returning to his residence he asked his housekeeper for a black coffee and some pills. Noticing he was sweating severely, she called for her nephew, a medical doctor and a neighboring pharmacist but by the time they arrived he died sitting on a chair. With the Costa Rican government decreeing national mourning, his memorial service was held at the metropolitan cathedral of San José, where he received a series of tributes which kept on going one after the other along the route of his funeral cortege down to his native Oreamuno, where his remains were buried in a chapel built specifically for the purpose that bears his name to this day in San Rafael de Oreamuno at the Barrio Las Cortinas of Cartago, being soon declared a component of architectural heritage. On November 19, 1959, the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Costa Rica through deed no. 309 named the late Archbishop, Meritorious of the Homeland.