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And today we celebrate...Tuesday, March 30

Saint of the Day: St. Julio Álvarez Mendoza

Secretly celebrated Mass in homes and baptized in mountain streams

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Priest and Martyr (1866-1927)

His life

+ Julio was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

+ Ordained in 1894, Father Julio spent his entire ministry serving in Mechoacenejo. Known for his great devotion to the Eucharist, he would visit the ranches within his parish boundaries, going to visit those who could not—or would not—come to church.

+ When the work of the Church was suppressed during the Mexican Revolution, he said Mass in local farmhouses and conducted baptisms in the mountain streams.

+ Arrested on March 26, 1927, for the crime of being a priest, he was tied to a saddle and dragged to the city of Leon where he was sentenced to death.

+ Julio Álvarez Mendoza was martyred on March 30, 1927, at San Julian. His body was returned to Mechoacenejo and thrown on a trash heap near his parish church. He was canonized with other Martyrs of the Mexican Revolution in 2000.

For prayer and reflection

Do not leave me to the will of my foes, O Lord,
for false witnesses rise up against me
and they breathe out violence.”—Psalm 27:12

Prayer

Almighty ever-living God,
grant us so to celebrate
the mysteries of the Lord’s Passion
that we may merit to receive your pardon.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Collect for Tuesday of Holy Week)

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

Access our archives of daily saint biographies here

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