Published: May 17, 2011
“See you in heaven”
Relics of martyred Mexican priests on tour in San Bernardino diocese
Relics from six priests martyred in Mexico and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 left the Knights of Columbus State Convention in San Diego over the weekend for a 7-day tour of parishes in the Diocese of San Bernardino.
The relics, housed in a silver cross, arrived at the Knights of Columbus convention on Friday, May 13, and left following a closing Mass on Saturday, May 14.
“The pilgrimage of the relics will include St. James Parish, Perris on May 16; St. Edward Parish, Corona on May 17; Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, San Bernardino on May 18; Holy Family Parish, Hesperia on May 19; St. Christopher Parish, Moreno Valley on May 20; Our Lady of Soledad Parish, Coachella on May 21 and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Ontario on May 22,” reported the San Bernardino diocesan newspaper The Inland Catholic BYTE.
Each of the six martyred priests were members of the Knights of Columbus and were among 25 Mexicans who were killed for their faith during government persecution of the Catholic Church in the 1920s and 1930s. Pope John Paul II canonized the 25 martyrs on May 21, 2000.
The Knights of Columbus website provides the following biographical sketches of the six martyred priests whose relics are now on tour in the San Bernardino Diocese:
Father Miguel de la Mora de la Mora
Father Miguel de la Mora de la Mora of Colima belonged to Council 2140. Along with several other priests, he publicly signed a letter opposing the anti-religious laws imposed by the government. He was soon arrested and, with his brother Regino looking on, Father de la Mora was executed without a trial by a single shot from a military officer as he prayed his rosary. It was Aug. 7, 1927.Father Pedro de Jesus Maldonado Lucero
Father Pedro de Jesus Maldonado Lucero was a member of Council 2419. Forced to study for the priesthood in El Paso, Texas, because of the political situation in Mexico, he returned home after his ordination in 1918 despite the risk. Captured on Ash Wednesday, 1937, while distributing ashes to the faithful, Father Maldonado Lucero was so savagely beaten that one eye was forced from its socket. He died the next day at a local hospital. His tombstone aptly described this martyr in four words: "You are a priest."Father Jose Maria Robles Hurtado
Father Jose Maria Robles Hurtado was a member of Council 1979. Ordained in 1913, he founded the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Guadalajara when he was only 25. On June 25, 1927, he was arrested while preparing to celebrate Mass. Early the next morning, he was hanged from an oak tree, but not before he had forgiven his murderers and offered a prayer for his parish. He went so far as to place the rope around his own neck, so that none of his captors would hold the title of murderer.Father Rodrigo Aguilar Alemán
Father Rodrigo Aguilar Alemán of Union de Tula in Jalisco was a member of Council 2330. After a warrant was issued for is arrest, he took refuge at the Colegio de San Ignacio in Ejutla, celebrating Mass and administering the sacraments. Rather than escape when soldiers arrived, Father Aguilar Alemán remained at the seminary to burn the list of seminary students, and thus protect them from being known. When the soldiers demanded his identity, he told them only that he was a priest. He was taken to the main square of Ejutla, where the seminary was located. He publicly forgave his killers, and then a soldier gave him the chance to save himself by giving the “right” answer to this question, “Who lives?” But he replied, “Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe.” The noose that had been secured to a mango tree was tightened, then relaxed twice. Each time it was relaxed, he was asked the same question and each time he gave the same response. The third time the noose was tightened, he died.Father Luis Batiz Sainz
Father Luis Batiz Sainz was born in 1870, and was a member of Council 2367. On Aug. 15, 1926, at Chalchihuites, Zacatecas, he and three laymen – David Roldan, who was only 19 at the time, Salvador Lara and Manuel Morales – were put before a firing squad for refusing to submit to anti-religious laws. When Father Batiz Sainz asked the soldiers to free one of the captives, Manuel Morales, who had sons and daughters, Morales wouldn’t hear of it. “I am dying for God," he declared, “and God will care for my children.” Smiling, Father Batiz Sainz gave his friend absolution and said: “See you in heaven.”Father Mateo Correa Magallanes
Father Mateo Correa Magallanes, who was a member of Council 2140, was arrested and taken to Durango. While in prison, he was ordered by the commanding officer on Feb. 5, 1927, to hear the confessions of his fellow prisoners. Then the commander demanded to know what they had told him. Of course, Father Correa Magallanes wouldn't violate the seal of confession, and so, the next day, he was taken to a local cemetery and executed by the soldiers.“During the 1920s in Mexico, missionaries were expelled from the country, Catholic seminaries and schools were closed, and the Church was forbidden to own property,” explained the BYTE. “Priests and laymen were told to denounce their faith publicly. If they refused, they faced severe punishment.”
“The reliquary last toured the United Sates in 2006 to mark the centennial of the Knights of Columbus in Mexico,” the BYTE reported. “The pilgrimage began in Mexico and then spread to different parts of the United States.”
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