Emilio Rodolfo Biosca sat in the office of the American embassy in Mexico waiting for his fate to be decided. It was 1964 and the Cuban native had made the more than 1,300-mile journey to Mexico with two false passports and his 2-year-old daughter with the hope that they could gain asylum in America.
“The man pulled out a Bible and had me swear that I had never tried to enter the United States illegally, which I swore I had not done,” said Emilio. “He then examined the passports and he could instantly tell by the ink that they were fake, so he called me a liar. But I said, ‘I used them to get out of Cuba, not get into the United States.’ He then asked me to stand up and I thought he was going to throw us out, but instead, he took my hand and said, ‘I want to shake your hand and welcome you to the United States.’ ”
Six months earlier, his pregnant wife Maria had traveled to the U.S. with their sick 1-year-old daughter, AnaCristina, to get treatment for her eye cancer.
“Because I was a dentist, the communists would not let me leave because the government wanted to keep all the professionals to work for them,” he said. According to Emilio, Cuban officials wanted his daughter to get treatment in Czechoslovakia. But with the help of the world-renowned oncologist Dr. Juan A. del Regato, who had been a pupil of Emilio’s father, AnaCristina was admitted to the Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo.
When Emilio and his daughter Maria finally arrived in Colorado, they were greeted by his wife and daughter, and the newest addition to the family — a newborn son.
Their start in the new country was bittersweet. AnaCristina eventually passed away about a year and a half later from cancer. The family moved to Kansas City, Mo., so Emilio could work and attend dental school for the second time. He soon passed his medical boards, this time in English.
They decided to join his parents in Virginia. He and his wife were blessed with a total of six children. One of their daughters, Sister Maria Jose, became a Poor Clare in Alexandra, and their son became a Capuchin priest who served for a time in Cuba. Father Emilio is now pastor of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington. The rest of their daughters married and settled in Virginia. Emilio and Maria are thankful to be so close to all 23 of their grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Emilio retired after a 15-year dental career and he and his wife moved to Nokesville where they are parishioners of Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville.
Emilio began his statue repair work at the request of his daughter, Elena Doyle, who brought him a statue of the Virgin Mary that had arrived damaged from Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“It was made from weak materials, so even though it was packed well, it was still in bad shape when it arrived,” Emilio said.
Using epoxy and dental techniques, he went to work repairing the base, reattaching the infant Jesus and molding new fingers for the Blessed Virgin. Since that first project, he has repaired several other statues including a set of altar angels for his son. He is working on repairing some fingers for a St. John Paul the Great statue.
“I enjoy doing it, especially something that can be for the church,” Emilio said.
His daughter praises his work and reflected on the contributions other seniors also make.
“Our seniors have so much to share and so much to teach us,” said Elena, who works as the executive assistant and outreach director at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg. “They are doing things quietly, humbly. There is still much to be done, whether visible or in the silence of prayer and sacrifice for others.”
Kassock is a freelancer in Fredericksburg.
