Today May 21

Today (and also, in some calendars, on May 25) we celebrate the feast of St. Christopher Magallanes and 21 companions. These saints are so new there's nothing about them in any of my usual sources; the only source is the Internet and there's precious little on there. But we do know that they all suffered martyrdom (and some, torture before martyrdom) at the hands of the anti-clerical regions in Mexico in the late 1920's and 30's. They weren't all priests (although Christopher Magallanes and his relative Mateo Correa Magallanes -- who gave St. Miguel Pro his First Holy Communion -- were), the three laymen in the group were all members of Catholic Action. And all 25 of the martyrs were members of the resistance movement Cristeros. Christopher started a clandestine seminary and secretly spread the Gospel and administered the sacraments. His last words were overheard shouted from his jail cell: "I am innocent and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serve the peace of our divided Mexico." He was shot to death in 1927. Now our brothers to the south have shaken off the yoke of their persecution; it is no longer a crime to receive baptism or say Mass, and in fact they have witnessed a great upswelling of the faith and orthodoxy.