José Luis Sánchez del Río March 28, 1913 – February 10, 1928 Beatified November 5, 2005 He was born in Sahuayo, Michoacán, Mexico and attended school there, and later in Guadalajara, Jalisco. When the Cristero War broke out in 1926, his brothers joined the rebel forces, but his mother would not allow him to take part. The rebel general, Prudencio Mendoza, also denied him enlistment. The boy insisted that he wanted the chance to give his life for Christ and so come to Heaven easily. The general finally relented and allowed José to become the flag bearer of the troop. The Cristeros nicknamed him Tarcisius, after the early Christian Saint, Martyred for protecting the Eucharist from desecration. During heavy fighting on January 25, 1928, Pedroza's horse was killed, and José gave his horse to the general so that the battle could go on. Then he sought cover and fired at the enemy until he ran out of ammunition. The government troops captured the boy and imprisoned him in the sacristy of the local church. José's Martyrdom was witnessed by two childhood friends, one of whom was Father Marcial Maciel who wrote in his book that José was "captured by government forces," who ordered him to "renounce his faith in Christ, under threat of death. He refused to accept apostasy". Please note that This Fr. Macial is not the founder of the Legionaries. To break his resolve, the enemies of Christ made him to watch the hanging of another Cristero that they had in custody, but instead José encouraged the man, saying that they would soon meet again in Heaven. In prison, José prayed the Rosary every day and wrote a heart-filled letter to his mother, saying that he was ready to fulfill the will of God. His father attempted to raise a ransom to save him, but was not able to appease the government in time. Father Maciel recalled the gruesome events that transpired after the government's failure to break José's resolve on the evening of February 10, 1928: "Consequently they cut the bottom of his feet and obliged him to walk around the town toward the cemetery. They also at times cut him with a machete until he was bleeding from several wounds. He cried and moaned with pain, but he did not give in. At times they stopped him and said, 'If you shout, "Death to Christ the King" we will spare your life.' José would only shout, 'I will never give in. Viva Cristo Rey!' " When they reached the place of execution, his captors stabbed him numerous times with bayonets. The commander was so furious that he pulled out his pistol and shot José. Moments before his death, the boy drew a cross in the dirt and kissed it. HOME---------------PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONS www.catholictradition.org/Saints/cisteros1.htm