Martyrs (d. 1915-1937)

Their story

+ The group of martyrs commemorated today includes 22 Mexican priests and 3 laymen who were martyred between 1915 and 1937 during the religious persecutions of the Mexican Revolution.

+ As tension increased in Mexico, bishops suspended public worship and ordered their priests into hiding. Many priests, especially in rural areas, continued to provide pastoral care.

+ Among those killed was Padre Cristobal Magallanes Jara, the pastor of the parish at Totalice, who was murdered on May 25, 1921, as he made his way to celebrate Mass at a local ranch.

+ Saint Cristobal Magallanes and the Marytrs of the Mexican Revolution were canonized in 2000.

For prayer and reflection

“Faithful to God and to the Catholic faith so deeply rooted in the ecclesial communities which the martyrs served by also promoting their material well-being, today they are an example to the whole Church and to Mexican society in particular.”—Pope Saint John Paul II at the canonization of Saint Cristobal and his companions

Spiritual bonus

On this day we also remember a group of Egyptian martyrs who have come to be known as the “Pentecost Martyrs of Alexandria.” These Christians—an unknown number of clerics and lay Christians—were arrested by order of the local Arian bishop and the Emperor Constantius on Pentecost Sunday in 339. Those who refused to accept Arianism were executed or exiled for their fidelity to orthodox Christian teachings.

Prayer

Almighty and eternal God, who made the Priest Saint Christopher Magallanes and his companions faithful to Christ the King even to the point of martyrdom, grant us, through their intercession, that, persevering in confession of the true faith, we may always hold fast to the commandments of your love. 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)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

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