Saint of the Day: St. Oscar Romero

Bishop and Martyr (1917-1980)

Special Note: In 2024, March 24 is celebrated as Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord and the beginning of Holy Week. As a way of honoring the Passion of Christ and the witness of the martyrs, all of the saints highlighted during this Holy Week will be chosen from those who offered their lives for Christ. The reflections and prayers will be taken from the liturgical texts of the corresponding day of Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum.

His life

+ Born in El Salvador in 1917, Oscar Romero was a carpenter’s apprentice during his youth before entering seminary and worked in a gold mine to help support his family. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1942.

+ Romero spent several years serving as a parish priest and working with various apostolic groups, helped introduce Alcoholics Anonymous in El Salvador, and promoted devotion to Our Lady of Peace. He was eventually appointed rector of the seminary in San Salvador.

+ He was appointed auxiliary bishop of San Salvador in 1970 and, in 1974, he became bishop of Santiago de María, a poor, rural diocese.

+ In 1977, Romero was named archbishop of San Salvador. Initially a political conservative, the murder of a priest-friend inspired him to become an advocate for the poor and oppressed in El Salvador. He fought against the human rights violations of the Revolutionary Government Junta and he eventually became a target of the government.

+ Archbishop Romero was murdered while celebrating Mass in a hospital chapel on March 24, 1980. Hailed as a martyr and saint, he was canonized in 2018.

+ The United Nations General Assembly declared March 24 to be “International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims” in honor of the life and witness of Saint Oscar Romero.

For prayer and reflection

“Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, / Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.”—Verse before the Gospel for Psalm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord (Philippians 2:8-9)

Prayer

Almighty ever-living God,
who as an example of humility for the human race to follow
caused our Savior to take flesh and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Collect for Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.