Solemn Canonization of one hundred and twenty-two Saints.
Excommunication and anathema against the Antipope John Paul II,
as also against all his followers.

We, Supreme Pontiff, Vicar of Christ, Successor of Saint Peter, Servant of the servants of God, Patriarch of El Palmar de Troya,—

We, as Universal Doctor of the Church, impelled by the potent light of the Holy Ghost,—making Our own the general feeling of the Church, after a study of the lives of certain distinguished and illustrious members of the Mystical Body of Christ,—today, with great joy, by means of Solemn Beatification and Canonization  raise to the glory of the Altars the following:

1. His Holiness Pope John XXIII, Italian.

2. His Holiness Pope Paul VI, Italian.

3. The Reverend Father Vincent Blanco Martínez, Spanish.

4. The Reverend Father Charles Esquer Mira, Spanish.

5. The Reverend Father Joseph Aznar Guirao, Spanish.

6. The Reverend Father Stephen Zarco de Moya, Spanish.

7. The Reverend Father Edward Torres Lozano, Spanish.

8. The Reverend Father James Soriano García, Spanish.

9. The Reverend Father Anthony Albadalejo Aguirre, Spanish.

10. The Reverend Father Emmanuel García Riquelme, Spanish.

11. Fra Anthony Abad Gómez, Spanish.

12. The Reverend Father Ignatius Abad, Spanish.

13. The Reverend Father Amado García Sánchez, Spanish.

14. The Reverend Father Joseph Durán, Spanish.

15. Ramon Poch Casasampere, Spanish.

16. Louis Hill Rovira, Spanish.

17. Vincent Blasco Cirera, Spanish.

18. Anthony Mampel Gavaldá, Spanish.

19. Dominic Tuset Cladellas, Spanish.

20. Clement Prats Boloix, Spanish.

21. Louis Oller Almirall, Spanish.

22. John Termes Rebordosa, Spanish.

23. Brother Joachim Natividad Villacampa, Spanish.

24. Brother Louis Espoy, Spanish.

25. John Nicolau Ferrés, Spanish.

26. Victor Capdevila Gaujachs, Spanish.

27. Candelaria Pascual Boada, Spanish.

28. John Romaguera Ortiz, Spanish.

29. Salvadora Monzo Viadel, Spanish.

30. Joan Romaguera Monzo, Spanish.

31. Brother Alexander Planas Sauri, Spanish.

32. Brother Eliseus García Morán, Spanish.

33. Peter Valls Valls, Spanish.

34. Joseph Amigó Tuset, Spanish.

35. John Boltá Casanovas, Spanish.

36. Juventino Balcells Huguet, Spanish.

37. John Boltá Nicolau, Spanish.

38. James Cortadella Fumanal, Spanish.

39. The Reverend Emmanuel Gasset Llecha, Spanish.

40. Ramon Camps Miró, Spanish.

41. The Reverend Father John Ramón Munt, Spanish.

42. Brother Agapius, Spanish.

43. Sor Carmel Moreno, Spanish.

44. Sor Amparo Carbonell, Spanish.

45. The Reverend Father Remigius de Papiol, Spanish.

46. The Reverend Father Robert Grau Bullich, Spanish.

47. The Reverend Father Cyril Montaner, Spanish.

48. The Reverend Father Michael de Grajal, Spanish.

49. Brother Boniface, Spanish.

50. Mother Trinity of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, Spanish.

51. Mother Mary of the Heart of Jesus Sancho Guerra, Spanish.

52. Mother Candida Mary of Jesus, Spanish.

53. Blessed Mary of Jesus, Spanish.

54. Blessed Mary Anne of Jesus, Spanish.

55. Blessed Marcellinus de Champagnat, French.

56. Blessed Nicholas of Longobardi, Italian.

57. Mother Cornelia Connelly, American.

58. Mother Teresa of the Heart of Jesus, Spanish.

59. Mother Mary of Saint Marcellus, Spanish.

60. Mother Mary Dolores of the Heart of Jesus, Spanish.

61. Anna Linares, Spanish.

62. Venerable Sor Philomena of Santa Coloma, Spanish.

63. Sor Consuelo Utrilla Lozano of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Spanish.

64. The Reverend Father Joseph Torres Padilla, Spanish.

65. The Reverend Father Joseph Mary Rubio, Spanish.

66. The Reverend Father Francis Coll, Spanish.

67. The Reverend Father William Doyle, Irish.

68. The Reverend Father Theobald Matthew, Irish.

69. Archbishop Daniel Murray, Irish.

70. Mother Mary Augustine Aikenhead, Irish.

71. Archbishop Dermot O’Hurley, Irish.

72. Blessed Dominic Barberi, Italian.

73. The Reverend Father Frederick William Faber, English.

74. The Reverend Father Jean-Edouard Lamy, French.

75. Blessed Eugene de Mazenod, French.

76. The Reverend Father Jean-Baptiste Debrabant, French.

77. Blessed John Nelson, English.

78. Blessed Thomas Sherwood, English.

79. Blessed William Filby, English.

80. Blessed Lawrence Richardson, English.

81. Blessed Thomas Cottam, English.

82. Blessed William Lacy, English.

83. Blessed Richard Kirkeman, English.

84. Blessed James Thompson, English.

85. Blessed William Hart, English.

86. Blessed Richard Thirkill, English.

87. Venerable George Haydock, English.

88. Blessed James Fenn, English.

89. Blessed John Slade, English.

90. Blessed John Body, English.

91. Blessed Thomas Hemerford, English.

92. Blessed John Nutter, English.

93. Blessed John Munden, English.

94. Venerable Stephen Rousham, English.

95. Venerable Alexander Crow, English.

96. Venerable Hugh Taylor, English.

97. Blessed Edward Transham, English.

98. Venerable Nicholas Woodfen, Welsh.

99. Venerable Richard Sergeant, English.

100. Venerable William Thomson, English.

101. Blessed Robert Anderton, English.

102. Blessed William Marsden, English

103. Venerable Francis Ingleby, English.

104. Venerable John Finglow, English.

105. Venerable John Sandys, English.

106. Venerable John Lowe, English.

107. Venerable John Adams, English.

108. Venerable Robert Dibdale, English.

109. Venerable Thomas Pilchard, English.

110. Venerable Edmund Sykes, English.

111. Venerable John Hambley, English.

112. Venerable George Douglas, Scottish.

113. Venerable Nicholas Garlick, English.

114. Venerable Robert Ludlam, English.

115. Venerable Richard Simpson, English.

116. Venerable Robert Sutton, English.

117. Blessed William Dean, English.

118. Blessed William Gunter, Welsh.

119. Blessed Robert Morton, English.

120. Blessed Thomas Holford, English.

121. Blessed James Claxton, English.

122. Blessed Richard Leigh, English.

We, as Universal Doctor of the Church, give assurance and guarantee of the life of sanctity and heroic virtue of the Servants of God whom today We have raised to the glory of the Altars.  In all of them there are lively examples of dedication to God and to the service of Holy Church.  Among the Saints We have canonized today are found popes, bishops, priests, canons, religious both men and women, and also lay people.  Most prominent among them are the martyrs.  Among these martyrs are those who gave their lives in the Holy Spanish Crusade against Communism, for God and for Spain.  Here also are the martyrs of England, who defended the Catholic Faith against Protestant heresy.  Among the Saints of these times are several founders and foundresses of religious Orders.

We desire to speak about Our venerated predecessors Saint John XXIII and Saint Paul VI.  We know that Saint John XXIII led a life of continual prayer and penance.  He was most especially devoted to the Sacred Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  This holy Pope loved most dearly the Precious Blood of the Redeemer.  He had a filial and most ardent love towards the Most Holy Virgin Mary.  Saint John XXIII clearly showed his very ardent Marian devotion, reciting daily with piety the 15 mysteries of the Holy Rosary, the Angelus, and other devotions in honour of Mary.  Saint John XXIII had the most pious custom of commending himself and consecrating himself to the Virgin Mary every day.  This holy Pope professed too, a great love for the most glorious Saint Joseph. His personal priestly life was irreproachable.

We stand in defence of the sacred person of Pope Saint John XXIII.  The errors in the government of the Church during his pontificate cannot be put to his blame, since this holy Pope, because of his goodness, was used by the Church’s enemies.  This Pope was incapable of thinking ill of others.  He placed confidence in everyone and in the apparent goodness of those about him.  Without doubt, Pope Saint John XXIII was coerced and manipulated by the Masons.  In the intense agony which prepared him for passage to the other life, he purified with dreadful pain the errors of his pontificate.

As for Our venerated predecessor Pope Saint Paul VI, We say that his pontificate was truly a Way of Sorrows that led him to Golgotha.  This holy Pope lived his pontificate bearing a heavy cross.  In the eyes of the progressivists, he was a reactionary.  To the extreme traditionalists, he appeared a heretic, at times an antipope, even an antichrist.  This Pope felt himself practically alone.  If other Popes before him had called themselves prisoners, without any doubt, this Pope was, beyond all others, preeminently the prisoner Pope.  Some previous Popes lived as prisoners inside the Vatican walls.  Let us say that the gaolers and tormentors of those previous Popes lived generally outside the walls of the Vatican.  Pope Saint Paul VI lived in the Vatican surrounded by enemies, who acted as gaolers and tormentors.  This holy Pope passed the days of his pontificate subjected to large doses of drugs, which were administered to him by his tormentors.  These were cardinals, bishops, priests and so forth.  Among these tormentors there stand out Cardinal Jean Villot, Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, Cardinal Sebastian Baggio, Cardinal Poletti,—and among others there also stands out Casaroli, of the Vatican’s diplomatic service, the great traitor, who opened the gates for satanical dialogue with the Marxists.  Pope Saint Paul VI is not guilty of the heresies introduced, since he was coerced and drugged.  Also the holy Pontiff’s signature was forged, and in addition, falsified documents were promulgated.  The Masons and other infiltrated heretics in the Roman Curia reached the point of destroying the Catholic Mass, changing it and putting in its place the heretical Mass of the great Mason and traitor Bugnini.

We give guarantee and assurance, pledging Our word in the name of Christ, that the life of Pope Saint Paul VI was exemplary and virtuous.  This holy Pope gave himself up completely to prayer and penance, and, of course, to continual self-sacrifice, his pontificate having been a sorrowful ascent to Calvary.  This holy Pope was vilely murdered by the traitors of the Roman Curia.

We desire that Pope Saint Paul VI bear the most worthy title of Martyr.

We declare Saint Paul VI, Martyr, to be a special guardian of Ours in Our pontificate.

We exhort all the faithful to honour the memory of the great Pontiff, Saint Paul VI, Martyr.  The hour has come to acknowledge the great personality of this exalted Pope.  He lived amidst great incomprehension, as well of progressivists, as of extreme traditionalists.  Consider this height of human injustice: after his life amidst incomprehension, and after his death, there entered that clown of an Antipope, Cardinal Luciani, called John Paul I; who, with his false smile of 33 days, eclipsed the great pontificate of 15 years of Saint Paul VI.  Further comment is not necessary, as the events are recent and generally known.

We continue to adorn the beautiful and Mystical Olive Tree with lovely, beautiful and saintly olives.

We desire to speak a little about the Mystical Olive Tree and the olives.  Let us say that by creating the first man, Adam, God planted an olive tree in the earth.  This olive tree became dry, when it no longer received the necessary waters of obedience.  The first olive tree, Adam, became dry through pride and disobedience to the Creator.  Consider now the second Olive Tree, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam.  In the Book of Genesis we find again the water that nourishes the Olive Tree, the Olive Tree that represents the Messianic promise and the water that represents obedience.  In regard to this obedience, We recall the following truth: “Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis”. (Christ was made for us obedient unto death,—even unto death on the Cross).  In this truth we see manifest the life-giving water that nourishes the Olive Tree, the water of obedience.  The second Olive Tree combats the pride and disobedience of the first olive tree with obedience and humility.  The root of the second Olive Tree is planted atop the first olive tree.  This planting is done on Golgotha, the mount called Calvary, which means skull.  According to constant tradition, the skull of Adam was in that mount, and above it was raised up, triumphant, the Holy Cross of our Redemption.  That second Olive Tree anointed the earth with its Most Precious Blood, a sweet and soothing oil of the olive.  Therefore, all we who accept the Redemption and are baptized, and put into practice the Holy Gospel, we all become olives which hang from the Mystical Olive Tree, for we receive the unction of the Most Precious Blood of the Redeemer.  For a good Catholic, it is very important to consider the olive tree, because our sacred ceremonies are replete with rites and unctions of Holy Oils.  We meet these unctions in abundance in the Old Testament, and equally in the New Testament, in suchwise that in the two Testaments there is formed one single Mystical Olive Tree, which is Christ.  Among the olives which hang gracefully from the Olive Tree, there stand out those Saints who have excelled in their life of consecration to God and to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.  If all we true Catholics seek to attain holiness, we have to contemplate the Mystical Olive Tree planted atop Golgotha.  The vigorous life, intense fragrance and vital sap of this Mystical Olive Tree, urge us to adhere as lovely olives grafted onto this Tree rich in foliage.  The sap of this Mystical Olive Tree is more vigorous than that of all other trees; since this sap is the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us think that we, the olives, if we wish to have eternal life, have to infuse into our veins, like branches of the Mystical Olive Tree, the sap of the Most Precious Blood of the Redeemer.  This infusion is received in different ways: through holy Doctrine, holy Tradition, firmness in the Catholic Faith, and above all through the Sacraments.

We put before your eyes an Olive Tree of resplendent beauty, a beauty reflected in its hanging olives.  Now comes the Owner of the olive grove, who beholds with discerning eyes the purity and beauty and life of the Tree; and, seeing certain olives that are vile and ugly, he has these bad olives cut off at once.  Let us consider this action as the gathering of the olives: the ugly and bad olives are cut off and thrown into the rubbish, signifying the souls that are  cast into Hell.  The good gatherer then performs two operations with the olives that are lovely and beautiful: he prepares a number of them for the extraction of oil; and another quantity he puts aside to be sold whole.  Here are signified two things: the first represents the martyrs, since the extraction of oil clearly indicates the abundant effusion of the blood of the martyrs, that rich olive oil which sustains and invigorates the whole Church.  The second part of the olives, those that are sold whole, represents lives of holiness, which are put on fine display before the public. This is realized in a singular manner in the exemplary lives of the Saints.  In this operation, the Owner of the olive grove finds some of the good olives slightly marred by the sting of certain insects.  The gatherer carefully takes these olives, and lovingly and tenderly removes the scars, so that they are fit for sale.  This gathering represents two classes of souls: one, those that are purified while still on earth, through mortification, illness and other sufferings; the other, souls that are purified after death through the sufferings of Purgatory.

We exhort all the faithful, constantly to entreat the Most Holy Virgin Mary, our Mother, that we may belong to the number of the lovely and beautiful olives.  Let us not forget that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Mystical Olive Tree.  As Mother, She nourished the physical Olive Tree that She had borne within Her virginal Womb.  As Mother, She stood at the foot of the Olive Tree on Golgotha.  On Golgotha She received officially the spiritual Motherhood of the Mystical Olive Tree, the Church.

We, through the present Document, with the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, excommunicate and anathematize the Antipope Cardinal Wojtyla, known as John Paul II.  We hurl excommunication also at all followers of this Antipope.  By their fruits shall ye know them!  Whereas We are passing Our pontificate in hurling excommunication and anathema at all the enemies of Christ, the Antipope John Paul II declares that he will not condemn any political system.  With this declaration, he places himself in clear opposition to a considerable number of Popes, who have condemned every political system whose manifest doctrine is against God.  There is no doubt that the Antipope John   Paul II is a Marxist spy infiltrated into the Church in order to destroy her from within.  For all his fine words and studied speech, do not forget that he is an enemy of Christ who uses pleasing phrases from behind a mask in order to destroy the Church.  Another position of his, clearly against the true Church, is manifest in his defence at all costs of the collegiality of bishops.  Another clear fact is his admitting representatives of heretical sects to ceremonies, as well as Marxist civil authorities.  Let us thank God, that in His infinite wisdom, He has permitted the Antipope John Paul II also to refuse the coronation with the sacred papal tiara.  There is no doubt that the truth expressed by Saint Teresa of Avila,—‘God writes straight with crooked lines’,—is being fulfilled. We exhort you all to observe the fruits produced, or those to be produced, by the Antipope John Paul II, and to make a holy comparison with the fruits that We, through the infinite mercy of God, are producing.

We desire to make known in what follows some details of the heroic lives of the Saints whom today We have raised to the glory of the Altars.

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born on the 25th of November 1881, in Soto il Monte, near Brusicco (Bergamo, Italy).  In 1892 he entered Bergamo’s minor seminary, and later passed to the major seminary.  In 1900 he went on pilgrimage to Rome, and the following year received a scholarship to study at the Roman Seminary of Apollinare, where he distinguished himself for his competence and love of study, attaining a degree in theology and a distinction in Hebrew.  He did his military service in the 73rd Infantry Regiment of Bergamo.  On the 10th of August 1904 he was ordained priest in the church of Santa Maria del Sacro Monte.  The following day he was received in audience by the Supreme Pontiff.  He became secretary to the Bishop of Bergamo.  During this period of his life he travelled very frequently.  In 1924, after having been appointed President of the Central Council for Italy of the Pontifical Missionary Works, he was appointed professor of patristics at the Lateran Athenaeum.  In 1925 he was consecrated bishop in the church of San Carlos al Corso in Rome.  There followed another period of many travels.  On the 15th of January 1953, as Apostolic Nuncio to France, he received the cardinal’s hat.  Saint Pius XII also named him Patriarch of Venice, and at the death of this Pope he was elected Supreme Pontiff, and solemnly crowned in the Basilica of Saint Peter on the 4th of November 1958.  After five years of a prolific pontificate, he died in holiness on the 3rd of June 1963.

Giovanni Battista Montini was born in Concesio (Brescia, Italy), on the 26th of September 1897.  His first studies were with the Jesuits in Brescia.  In 1916, after attaining his baccalaureate, he began ecclesiastical studies at the seminary at Brescia, and was ordained on the 29th of May 1920.  Later, in Rome, he became Doctor of Theology and Doctor of Canon Law.  In 1925 he was called to form part of the Secretariat of State, where he remained as a documentalist until 1937, when he was named substitute Secretary of State.  In 1952, Saint Pius XII named him pro-Secretary of State for Ordinary Affairs.  After 30 years at the Secretariat of State, he was named Archbishop of Milan.  On the 19th of December 1958, Saint John XXIII named him cardinal.  At the death of this holy Pope, he was elected Supreme Pontiff on the 21st of June 1963, and was very solemnly crowned in Saint Peter’s Square by Cardinal Ottaviani a few days later.  During his pontificate, he voyaged much, notably to the Holy Land in 1964 and to Fatima in 1967.  After a pontificate of 15 years of much suffering, he died in holiness on the 6th of August 1978.

Canon of the Cathedral of Orihuela (Alicante), he was killed by the Communists in the cemetery of Elche on the 30th of November 1936, offering his life for God and Spain in a glorious martyrdom.

In charge of certain diocesan functions, this illustrious priest received the glorious crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain, at the hands of the Communists, in the cemetery of Elche on the 30th of November 1936.

First Master of Ceremonies at the Cathedral of Orihuela, he was martyred for God and for Spain by the Communists, in the cemetery of Elche, on the 30th of November 1936.

Choir Master of the Cathedral of Orihuela.  He, too, was killed in the cemetery of Elche by the Communist mob on the 30th of November 1936, offering his life for God and for Spain in a glorious martyrdom.

Assistant priest at the parish of the Saviour, in Orihuela, martyred by the Communists on the 30th of November 1936, in the cemetery of Elche, offering his life for God and for Spain.

8. Saint James Soriano García, martyr

Chaplain of Jesus Mary School in Orihuela.  He also was killed by the Communists, in the cemetery of Elche, on the 30th of November 1936, receiving the palm of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

Assistant priest of Torrevieja, he received the glorious palm of martyrdom in the cemetery of Elche on the 30th of November 1936, killed by the Communists, offering his life for God and for Spain.

Parish priest of Granja de Rocamora, he was also killed by the Communists,  in the cemetery of Elche, on the 30th of November 1936, offering his life for God and for Spain, and receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom.

Dominican priest, he was killed in Castellón de la Plana by the Communist mob on the 12th of September 1936, crying out before he died, “Long live Christ the King! Long live Spain!”

This Claretian priest, belonging to the Claretian school at Don Benito (Badajoz), received the palm of martyrdom in the cemetery of Don Benito, killed by the Communist mob, for God and for Spain, on the 23rd of August 1936.

Superior of the Vicentian Fathers in the city of Gijón.  He accomplished an untiring apostolate during the cruel Marxist persecution, devotedly comforting souls with ardent love for God and zealous desire for martyrdom.  Saint Amado García, with  a spirit of prayer and singular joyfulness, inflamed his hearers with optimism and courage, so that they experienced enormous strength of faith, which disposed them for martyrdom.  Arrested by the Communists, he was put into a prison where there were 290 more people awaiting martyrdom, whose confessions he heard and whom he animated with the praying of the Holy Rosary.  On the 23rd of October 1937, he was killed by the Communists in the cemetery of Gijón, after forgiving his murderers, thus consummating the sacrifice of his life for God and for Spain.

He was born in Esparraguera (Barcelona) in 1897, and studied at the seminary of Barcelona, being ordained in 1920.  In 1923 he was made parish priest of Alcoll, where the parishioners preserve the memory of his great apostolate and goodness.  In 1927 he was named parish priest of San Vicente dels Horts (Barcelona), where he accomplished a laborious apostolate of nine years of priestly work.  He almost completely restored the church, disposing all for the greater magnificence of divine worship,—all of which was in contrast with the great simplicity of his rectory and private life.  To all his parishioners, the youth, the children, the sick, he was a good and charitable father.  He was a zealous guardian of the glory of God, and of the liberty of the Church.  He was a counsellor of Catholic Action, which he loved intensely.  He was taken by the Communists, mocked, ill-treated, and then killed in the woods of Casa Rialt (Ordal) on the 26th of July 1936, offering his life for God and for Spain.

He was born in San Vicente dels Horts.  When the National Movement began on the 18th of July 1936, he held the office of president of Catholic Action for the second time.  He was a model father of a family, young, of strong character, great apostle, propagator of the Spiritual Exercises and of catechetical works and so forth.  He was well known in his district for the light which shone from his apostolic zeal, virtues and the goodness of his countenance, faithful expression of his peace of soul.  He was killed by the Communists at the age of 30 in the city of Barcelona, on the 5th of September 1936, receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

He was born in Sitges (Barcelona) on the 23rd of February 1914.  He filled various offices in Catholic Action in San Vicente dels Horts, refusing no sacrifice, however difficult.  He devoted a good part of his cultural formation to propagating the social teaching of the Church. His only wish was that Christ be known and loved in the factory and workshop.  He was martyred by the Communists in the town of Cervelló, on the 9th of October 1936, offering his life for God and for Spain.

Born in Lérida on the 22nd of August 1892, he was a major in the Engineer Corps, and had been decorated for his military service in Africa.  At the beginning of the glorious Movement he was in San Vicente dels Horts, where he boldly protected the lives of persons lodged in his house, among whom were two priests that he tried to save from Marxist barbarism at all costs.  Taken by the Communists, he was shot to death on the 12th of October 1936, in the cemetery of Moncada, receiving the glorious palm of martyrdom for God and for Spain, reward for his exemplary life as Christian and soldier.

He was born in Barcelona in 1901.  When a child, he was left motherless.  He attended the school of the Fathers of the Holy Family.  A man devoted to studies, and to his profession of secretary of the town council in San Vicente dels Horts, his character was amiable, affectionate and courteous.  When the National Movement began, he at once experienced the clash of opposition within his own sphere of work, precisely because he was an incorruptible friend of order, truth and justice.  On the 12th of August 1936, he was killed by the Communists in San Esteban Sasroviras, receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

He was born in San Vicente dels Horts on the 4th of September 1892.  Through his enterprising character, he excelled in his work as contractor.  He was an exemplary father, edifying all with his presence at all the religious functions of his parish, besides being a member of Catholic Action.  He was apprehended by the Communists, and taken to Sitges, where he was mercilessly killed on the 8th of October 1936, leaving his wife and five children, receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

He was born in San Vicente dels Horts on the 1st of November 1887.  He was the postman of the town, an exemplary husband and father who loved his children, to whom he gave a good Christian upbringing.  He was killed by the Communists in Las Costas de Garraf on the 8th of October 1936, giving his life for God and for Spain.

He was born in Castellví de Rosanes in 1918.  He was pursued for three months by the Communists.  Put under obligation to fight in the Communist ranks, he took the first opportunity to join the army of Saint Francisco Franco.  Fighting for God, in order that Spain be truly Christian, he died in 1938 on the Extremadura front.  Saint Louis Oller Almirall led an exemplary life of great piety.  The seeds of Catholic Action “study circles” and of the Spiritual Exercises were deeply rooted in him.

He was born in San Vicente dels Horts on the 21st of May 1919.  Member of Catholic Action, he led a life of exemplary piety, and was a model in the practice of the Faith.  He had noble plans to work for the glory of God and the grandeur of Spain, for which ideals he died fighting the Communist army on the Ebro front, on the 10th of September 1938.

He was born on the 23rd of October 1905 in San Andrés (Barcelona).  An angel of charity for the invalids of the hospital whom he attended in their several needs.  Later he entered the Congregation of the Brothers of Saint John of God, in order there to offer himself entirely to the sick poor, for love of God.  Taken by the Communists, he was vilely murdered on the 23rd of August 1936, on the road to Pallejá, at the place called ‘La Magia’, thus receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

He was a devoted Brother of Barcelona’s Holy Cross and Saint Paul Hospital and its Saint Andrew’s mental asylum, where he spent himself for the sick with untiring love for more than thirty years.  Seized violently from among his poor sick by the Communist murderers, he crowned his life of continual sacrifice and mortification with the glorious palm of martyrdom, in company with his spiritual brother, Saint Joachim Natividad Villacampa, on the 23rd of August 1936, for God and for Spain.

He was born in San Vicente dels Horts of humble parents, who died when he was a child.  He had to earn his own living, working as a porter.  With his strong decisive character, he faced up to the Communists without fear for his life.  During the first days of the glorious National Movement, he was taken by the Communists and killed, receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain, when 37 years old, in the town of Cornellá.

He was born in San Vicente dels Horts in 1888.  Farmworker on his own land, his best loved and principal occupation was always working in the fields.  In Sarriá he had made a retreat of the Spiritual Exercises, which would be for him his greatest consolation.  When the war began he was living in Martorell, where he was taken by the Communists and killed, near the town of Vallirana, receiving the palm of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

An unprotected and inoffensive woman, of retired life, independent of family ties and friends, she led a life of charity towards the unfortunate, and of pious  practices, to which she had great devotion; so much so that she did not wish to destroy the devotional objects in her home, this leading to its complete plundering by the Communists; but she did not relinquish her feeling of pride for having had greater love of God than fear of men.  The Communist committee of Cervelló seized this devout woman, and murdered her near San Baudilio, when she was 60 years old.  Thus she received the high honour of martyrdom for God and Spain.

Owner of several properties in San Vicente dels Horts, he was subjected by the Communists to ill-treatment, persecution, and an ignominious death, receiving the glory of martyrdom for God and Spain.

Both these Saints lived in San Vicente dels Horts (Barcelona), and were ill-treated, persecuted and subjected to ignominious deaths by the Communists, in company with Saint John Romaguera Ortiz, offering their lives for God and Spain.

He was born in Mataró (Barcelona).  He belonged to the Salesians, and was called familiarly ‘the deaf teacher’. But God wished to give this man a special mission.  When the Salesian House in Mataró had to be kept closed for three years, this providential man stayed on with the patience of a saint.  The children came to his oratory, where he taught them Christian doctrine.  A man of great penance, prayer and meditation, he was always seen to be recollected and with the rosary in his hands.  He was a strong-bodied man, but had a simple childlike soul.  On the 19th of November 1936, he was taken by the Communists and killed, receiving the glory of martyrdom for God and Spain.

A young Salesian brother, born in El Manzano (Salamanca). At the Salesian farm in Gerona he made his first attempts at the workers’ apostolate among poor children, to whom he gave a Christian and also professional education, as well as bodily nourishment.  He was 29 years old when he was taken prisoner with Saint Alexander Planas Sauri, and was marytred for God and for Spain on the 19th of November 1936.

This great apostle, who discharged various offices in the Apostolate Groups at San Vicente dels Horts, was distinguished for his exemplary conduct as apostle of Christ and lover of truth.  He refused to deny his love for Jesus Christ, and was killed by the Communists in the town of Fraga, at the beginning of 1938, at 27 years of age, thus receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

He was born on the 8th of December 1916, in San Vicente dels Horts.  When the enemies of God went wild in destroying sacred images and objects used for worship, this great apostle, with fortitude and decision, and with intrepid spirit, tried persistently to keep them out of sacrilegious hands.  A member of ‘El Centro Católico’ (The Catholic Centre), he died on the Ebro front, at 22 years of age, on the 30th of November 1938, giving his life for God and Spain.

He was born on the 29th of June 1919 in San Vicente dels Horts.  An active and diligent young worker, of peacable and amiable disposition, he belonged to the Apostolate Group.  His death was planned deliberately by the Communist leaders, who knew his traditionalist and Catholic position.  He was traitorously murdered on the Cambrils front on the 20th of October 1938, offering his life for God and Spain, at the age of 19.

He was born in Bellpuig (Lérida).  At the age of 12 he commenced ecclesiastical studies in the seminary of Solsona, and later in Barcelona, achieving excellent marks.  Although he gave up an ecclesiastical vocation, nevertheless he used the solid formation he had received to teach the children of the parochial school of Las Corts where he was a teacher.  The Communists knew of his apostolic activities, and persecuted him all the while.  Obliged to fight at the front in the Communist band, during the heat of battle he managed to join the Spanish Nationals, and with them, fighting for God and Spain, he gave his life.  He was buried near Gandesa.

He was born in San Vicente dels Horts on the 5th of October 1904.  He practised the Exercises of Saint Ignatius, and ever maintained a firm spirit amidst the struggles of his time.  He was a leader in the Apostolate Groups, a model father and great collaborator with the parish.  He died on the Vimbodí front (Tarragona), at the beginning of January 1939, at the age of 35, offering his life for God and for Spain.

He was born in Barcelona on the 4th of October 1912.  He was an exemplary youth, a model of virtue, since he had no other ideal than his own sanctification and the happiness of his kind and loving parents and their children.  He belonged to the Apostolate Groups, and was killed by the Communists on the 5th of October 1936, offering his life for God and for Spain.

He was born in the town of Flix (Tarragona).  He studied philosophy, theology and canon law at the Barcelona seminary.  He was assistant priest to the administrative Vicar of San Vicente dels Horts, Saint Joseph Durán.  Recently ordained priest, at the age of 23, and only a few months at his post in the town, he was killed by the Communists, together with his parish priest, on the 26th of July 1936, receiving the crown of martyrdom for God and for Spain.

He was born in Barcelona on the 24th of September 1884.  Father of a numerous family, and exemplary husband, he consecrated his whole life to the parochial apostolate, especially in Catholic Action.  He was martyred by the Communists on the 12th of August 1936, in the locality of San Esteban Sasroviras, giving his life for God and for Spain.

The first was Vicar of the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Barcelona.  The second was the Headmaster of Saint Hippolytus of Voltregá School, also in Barcelona.  Both, from the end of August 1936, shared their life preparatory to martyrdom in an apartment of Mr. Jodar Motta and his wife in San Hipólito de Voltregá, forming, as it were, a religious community of great fervour and spiritual practices.  The Communists entered the apartment on the 9th of December 1936, and the following day, the 10th, both martyrs, having observed the novena of the Immaculate Conception in the apartment, were murdered by them.

Both these nuns, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians from a Salesian school in Sarriá (Barcelona), when given the opportunity to escape to Italy with other nuns, with generous impulse refused the offer.  Both were killed by the Communists on the 6th of September 1936.

Capuchin of the convent at Sarriá (Barcelona). During his six months of life under the Communist persecution, he accomplished a fruitful catacomb apostolate, celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and attending souls either personally or through letters.  He would entrust certain nuns with the Blessed Eucharist to take with them in a reliquary hanging from the neck: “As there are no tabernacles, you will be them”, he would say.  He was killed by the Communists on the 21st of January 1937, in Cerdañola.

He was prior of the Benedictines of Montserrat.  During the Communist domination of Spain he exercised a great apostolate among the religious of his Order, dispersed in Barcelona, and among others elsewhere.  In order to pass unnoticed among the Communists, he used to go about in the company of a 5 year old girl, who bore the Blessed Sacrament around her neck.  He was martyred by the Communists on the 6th of January 1937.

Missionary of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  From the start of the Holy Crusade until placed in Saint Elias Prison, he accomplished a great catacomb apostolate, celebrating Holy Mass daily and attending souls in Confession and other ministrations, all at the constant risk of his life.  He always had desired the Lord to grant him the extraordinary grace of martyrdom, and this desire was fulfilled on the 28th of November 1936, in the cemetery at Moncada (Barcelona), where he was killed by the Communists.

Capuchins of the convent at Montehano (Santander).  The first, priest and Vicar of the House, and the second, a lay brother, were inseparable companions of the Order during the time they lived under Communist persecution.  At the risk of their lives, and refusing as they did to abandon the dangerous areas of their apostolate, they accomplished great apostolic work among the religious of their Order dispersed in different parts, among the Poor Clares of Escalante and among many other souls who, thanks to these two Saints, were comforted and assisted, spiritually and materially. The Communists took them prisoners on the 29th of December 1936.  Shortly before dying, Saint Michael de Grajal said to the lay brother: “Come, it is God’s will”.  They were martyred seven kilometres from Gama on the road to Santoña (Santander).

Foundress of the Institute of “Slaves of the Most Holy Eucharist and of the Mother of God”, she was born in Monachil (Granada, Spain), on the 28th of January 1879.  The object of her Institute was the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the education of poor girls.  Saint Trinity had, as a special seal, her love to folly for the Eucharist, the light and fire of her work.  The Eucharist was her guide, her love, her strength, her mainstay, the mould in which her ideal was formed, the motor of her whole existence.  Untiring soul and ceaseless traveller who, wherever she went, raised thrones to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, so that He might be adored; to which end she confronted great obstacles, labours, humiliations, tribulations, until her foundation was approved by Pope Saint Pius XII in 1949.  She died in sanctity on Good Friday, the 15th of April, 1949.  Innumerable miracles have been obtained through this holy foundress.  Here is one of the Saint’s thoughts, which can be considered as a motto for her work: “With that faith in obedience which the Lord has given me since I began my religious life, I have offered myself to whatever the Lord has asked of me, and I have embraced the cross”.

Foundress of the religious Institute “Slaves of Jesus of Charity”, whose object was to assist the sick in their homes, in hospitals, and so forth.  This holy foundress was born in Vitoria (Spain) on the 7th of September 1842.  She founded her Institute in Bilbao in 1871. It was approved by Pope Saint Leo XIII the Great in 1880 and 1886.  Saint Mary of the Heart of Jesus was a model of charity and self-denial towards the sick, reflecting in her life the charity and humility of Christ.  She died in sanctity on the 20th of March 1912, in Bilbao. Her Institute has spread within Spain as well as to other nations of South America.

Foundress of the Congregation of the “Daughters of Jesus”, generally called “Jesuitines”.  This great Spanish Saint made this foundation in the city of Salamanca in December 1871.  During the reign of nothing less than the First Spanish Republic, amidst the furious religious persecution raging in Spain at the time, during anarchy, profanations, the triumph of Masonry, and great tribulation, Saint Candida Mary of Jesus laboured with all self-denial in order to maintain her recently founded Congregation, whose object was the education of young women.  This holy foundress was greatly persecuted.  One would need to understand what it is to found a Congregation for Christian education in a Spain whose government had blotted out the name of God, practically suppressed Catholic teaching in schools, declared church marriages null and void and imposed civil marriage, profaned churches, convents, and so forth.  In these great calamities, the holy foundress counted on the help of Father Michael Herranz.  In 1902, His Holiness Pope Saint Leo XIII the Great approved the Constitutions of her religious Institute.  These were definitively approved by Saint Pius X in 1912.  The Institute spread rapidly through Spain, South America, China, the United States and elsewhere.

She was born in Tartanedo (Guadalajara) in 1560, of an illustrious family, in which she was an only child.  At the age of 17, she renounced all her possessions and gave herself to God in the monastery of the discalced Carmelites in Toledo, the fifth foundation of Saint Teresa of Jesus.  She was disciple and a favourite daughter of the Holy Reformer, who called her her letradillo.  Her soul was enriched with great virtues and heavenly gifts through her austere contemplative life which, living in solitude in her cell with the Lord, was for the Saint a great gift of God, and which made her write, full of gratitude: “that it is a life of Heaven to live without cares, except for those which accompany divine love”.  On the 15th of October 1637, she had a vision of Saint Teresa of Jesus, who came with three crowns: of virgin, of martyr and of doctor.  The first was of roses and beautiful flowers.  The second of purest gold, and the third of very precious stones.  With these three crowns, the Holy Reformer was most beautiful and full of glory.  And with her came the glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, who granted her the place to his right, she being Foundress and in her own house.  Also came several nuns who had died in the convent, of whom one of them said “that these nuns had been very much the daughters of our Holy Mother, and those who behave likewise, she will reward and help”.  Saint Mary of Jesus lived 63 years of religious life, and died in sanctity in Toledo in 1640.  She was beatified by His Holiness Pope Saint Paul VI on the 14th of November 1976.

She was born in Madrid in 1565.  At a very tender age she consecrated herself to God, and had to endure the ill-treatment of her father and stepmother who wished her to marry, while she remained unmoved in her generous resolution.  In order to be free from this family persecution, she sought admission to a convent, but everywhere she was refused for fear of her family.  The Saint was obliged to live under the paternal roof, leading a life of retirement and great austerity, receiving extraordinary favours of the Lord.  At the age of 42, she was able to enter the Order of Ransom.  In 1614, she made her solemn vows.  Together with another religious, Mary of Jesus, she formed the nucleus of a new Institute called the Discalced Nuns of Our Lady of Ransom.  Saint Mary Anne of Jesus enjoyed a great friendship with the Queen, with considerable influence at Court, which was edified by her modesty and great virtue.  After a painful illness, which put her patience to the test and rendered her submissive to the will of God, she died on the 17th of April 1624.  Her still incorrupt body lies in Madrid.

Founder of the Institute of the Little Brothers of Mary (Marist Brothers).  He was born in the village of Rosey (Marlhes, Loire, France), of a family of country folk, on the 20th of May 1789.  He grew up without school studies and as a youth he helped his father in many occupations and dealings, since he was quite gifted.  One day he felt the call of God to be a priest.  He entered the seminary in 1805, and excelled in piety and virtue, but not in study.  He escaped expulsion from the seminary thanks to his stubborn effort to learn, and was ordained on the 22nd of July 1816.  While still in the seminary, there was planned the founding of a congregation under the protection of Mary, to be composed of twelve seminarians, one of whom was the Saint, and  they made a pact to accomplish the plan if it were possible.  Saint Marcellinus was appointed Curate of La Valla, near Saint-Chamond (Loire), where the parish priest was very old and unable to speak in public.  This gave the Saint the opportunity to preach to the faithful, and to accomplish a considerable apostolic and catechetical apostolate.  On the 2nd of January 1817, he bought a house and set up two youths in it who desired to lead a religious life, for whom he drew up an austere rule.  Other youths soon joined, and the Saint prepared them; when ready, he opened the first school for teaching the children of the town, and took in some orphans.  Saint Marcellinus went to live in the house to prevent laxness. After the opening of the first school, other cities requested like foundations, which were carried into practice.  Difficulties soon arose.  The priests of the surrounding area, captained by the old parish priest of La Valla, undertook to discredit the Saint, declaring that he had not been a shining light in the seminary, denouncing him in perfidious manner, and doing everything possible to do away with his work.  This rabid persecution of the Saint ended thanks to Monsignor de Pins, the new Apostolic Administrator, who had been impressed by the virtues of the holy founder, and who favoured the work.  This trial overcome, there remained another perhaps more terrible.  Saint Marcellinus became gravely ill, and in the monastery reigned the height of disorder, the house being large and full of brothers and novices, near Saint-Chamond.  The two priests who were helping him took flight; in the prevailing relaxation, many older brothers left the Institute.  Hardly well again, the holy founder began to reestablish the peace of his dispersed family, little by little restoring the Institute.  A third trial awaited him: given his frail health, he was obliged to renounce his office of Superior General and to limit himself to giving counsel on vigilance and patience amid the cruel pains of his illness, cancer of the stomach.  He died on the 6th of June 1840, and was beatified by Saint Pius XII the Great on the 29th of May 1955.

He was born in Longobardi, near a town of Calabria (Italy) called Citerior, of a humble family, though rich in virtue, on the 6th of January 1649.  He worked as farmhand at his parents’ home, exercising virtue with great mortifications, prayers, fasting, and continual abstinence, never eating meat.  His love for Holy Mass and the Eucharist was so intense, that a day when, for any reason beyond his control, he could not assist at Mass, he considered as a day lost, and tried to repair the loss with other works of merit.  At the age of 20, he entered the Order of Franciscan Minims.  In the several convents where he lived, his virtues always shone in the fulfilment of the Rule and of humble duties.  He never complained of an offence towards himself, did anything disagreeable to others, or was troublesome to his brothers.  He was untiring in his work and in the service of others.  His very prudent, humble and constant behaviour increased his superiors’ love for him. In 1681, he came to Rome, where his life was more angelic than human.  Given to the service of others, and to prayer, he practised severe corporal penances: vigils, fasts, the discipline, hairshirts, and every kind of mortification.  He also practised great mortification of the senses: great silence, modesty of the eyes, profound humility, exact obedience and patience.  He died in Rome on the 3rd of February 1709.  According to his own words, for ten years he had not been his own, but God’s.  He was beatified by Pope Pius VI on the 17th of September 1786.

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus was founded in England in 1846 by Cornelia Connelly, a convert from the United States of America.  More English houses were established until 1862, when the Society opened houses in the United States.  In 1930 was founded the first African house, in Calabar (Nigeria).  The object of the Society was “not only to obtain the salvation and greater perfection of its members, but to work for the salvation and perfection of one’s neighbours”.  Its spirit was one of humility, simplicity, obedience and charity, in imitation of the hidden life of the Holy Child Jesus.  Recollection and prayer nourished the profound inner life which ought to have animated a sister of the Holy Child Jesus.

Celia Méndez y Delgado, Marchioness of la Puebla, was born in Fuentes de Andalucía (Spain) on the 11th of February 1844.  She was reared beautifully by her parents, and was gifted with a singular grace that filled her with innocence and purity.  She was co-foundress with Saint Marcellus of Seville (Cardinal Spínola), of the “Slaves of the Immaculate Conception”.  This great latter Saint formed her soul according to only one ideal: the glory of God.  Her goodness was a gift of nature, which, when elevated by charity, made her say: “I prefer to be mistaken by thinking well of my neighbour, than to be right by thinking ill of him”.  She remained by the tabernacle hour after hour, imbibing the spirit of the Eucharist, meditating on the life of Jesus, in order to imitate that life of silence, abnegation, sacrifice, atonement, reparation and love, that marked the Rule of the Institute, offering herself daily as victim in union with the Sacred Host for the glory of the Heavenly Father.  She died in Seville on the 2nd of June 1908, after having lived on earth with, as her only model, Jesus in the Sacred Host, with no more to breathe than the purity of the Immaculate Virgin, thus glorifying Her most pure Conception.

In the world, Rosario Spínola, sister of the Cardinal Saint.  After his death, she entered the Institute of the Slaves of the Immaculate Conception, which he had founded together with Saint Teresa of the Heart of Jesus.  She took the name of Mary of Saint Marcellus.  On the 6th of April 1906, she took the habit, adding to her name the title ‘of the Heart of Jesus’.  In spite of being, as it were, the third pillar of the Institute, she was a model of simplicity and humility.  After the death of the holy co-foundress, this model of every virtue was unanimously elected Superior General of the Institute.

In the world, Mercedes Villa y Linares, she was born in San Lúcar de Barrameda (Cadiz, Spain), on the 24th of September 1859.  She also had been directed by Saint Marcellus of Seville.  Still a small girl, she made a vow of chastity.  She suffered frightful interior trials,  but was able to rely on the invaluable assistance of her spiritual director while, with prayer and penance, she ascended the path of holiness.  In 1877 she became gravely ill, and thanks to this illness, she freed herself from worldly ties with society about her.  She endured great battles with the religious vocation she had felt since childhood.  In 1899 she entered the novitiate of the Slaves of the Immaculate Conception, and there she found the peace that never was hers in the world.  She was a model of submission, humility, poverty and obedience.  In knowledge and virtue, she alone was the equal of all the novitiate.  She was the fourth pillar of the Institute, filling the posts of mistress of novices and Vicar General.  Mortification was the rule of her life, fasting, hairshirts, the discipline.  She was never heard to complain or speak either of the cold or the heat.  Nor had she preferences in ordinary things like food; nor would she show her likes or dislikes.  After enduring a painful illness, she died in holiness on the 18th of March 1917.

She was the mother of Saint Maria Dolores of the Heart of Jesus.  She was a true example of the Spanish Christian woman.  Gifted with very clear intelligence, and prudence, she was the light of her home.  With her deep piety, prayer and diligence, tenderness and charity, she was the guardian angel of her daughters, especially of Saint Maria Dolores.  Saint Anna Linares ascended the path of holiness thanks to the spiritual direction of Saint Marcellus of Seville.  She died in holiness, an example of continual patience and abnegation.

She was born in Mora de Ebro (Spain) in 1841.  She entered the Order of Minims, in Valls, at the age of nineteen.  She was a great apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spain.  A simple and innocent soul, she was a model of prayer, and very severe penances.  Heaven favoured her with great visions, and other supernatural gifts, such as prophecy.  She died at the age of twenty-seven, in 1868, leaving a well established reputation for holiness.

She was born in Daimiel (Ciudad Real, Spain) on the 6th of September, 1925.  At the age of twenty-two, she entered the Convent of the Minims in Daimiel.  She gave herself fully to God, through the hands of Mary, and with Her help, worked, fought and conquered herself, one of her most prominent virtues being total detachment from her own will, attaining to a permanent state of holy indifference.  She possessed great supernatural gifts and infused virtues, a deep desire for solitude and silence.  Her heart was noble, loving, generous, humble, patient, all of a great supernatural spirit.  The Lord placed on this pure soul a heavy cross of illness, that for a time kept her from living in her beloved convent, having to stay in a nursing home, where she suffered intense pain, physical and particularly moral.  She loved the Blessed Virgin to her last breath.  Each day she prayed the Holy Rosary, despite the wounds on her tongue that impeded her speech during her last days.  She died on the 9th of December, 1956, praying the Hail Mary.

He was born in San Sebastián de la Gomera (Canary Islands, Spain) in 1811, of a Christian and very charitable family.  As a child he hoped to be a priest.  One day, while praying with other children, he fell into a well, and revealed that it was Satan who had thrown him in.  As best he could, he tried to climb out, but Satan pushed him down again, forcing his head into the mud at the bottom.  He swallowed water and mud, but then came out, without knowing how.  When he was sixteen, both his parents died on the same day.  Still wishing to be a priest, he went to live in Tenerife where, with great sacrifice, he completed the first part of his studies at the University of La Laguna.  In 1833 he set out for Seville, but because of an epidemic of cholera in Andalusia, he could not disembark in Cadiz, and travelled on to Valencia to continue his studies.  In 1834 he came to Seville, and was ordained priest on the 8th of March, 1836.  Those who were about him at once observed his sanctity.  He slept only three hours at night, taking tea and toast in the morning, and boiled rice at night.  His bed was a plank, his soutane very poor, his body lean, consumed by severe mortification and incessant labours.  He also suffered a painful stomach ailment from the time when he had been thrown into the well by the devil, and had swallowed mud.  He mortified his eyes, keeping them always to the ground, so that during the forty years he lived in Seville, he never once saw the Torre del Oro (Gold Tower), as he himself admitted.  Saint Joseph Torres Padilla was the spiritual director of Saint Angela of the Cross, and gave the Saint great help in founding the Institute of the Sisters of the Cross.  He was proposed as bishop, but the Saint did not accept.  He died in Seville on the 23rd of April, 1878.  His remains rest close to those of Saint Angela.

This zealous apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Jesuit priest, exercised his ministry in the city of Madrid, where he was known for his holiness.  Tireless apostle of the confessional, he was continually sought to assist the dying, in hospital or at home.  His body he crucified with severe penances, fasting, hairshirts, and other mortifications of body and soul.  His soul was entirely given to prayer and to works of charity.  In the biographies of Saint Joseph Mary Rubio, the incident that gave this great Jesuit fame and popularity as a man of God is very well known.  One day he was asked to bring the Last Sacraments to one who was dying in a certain house in Madrid.  The Saint went at once, according to custom.  But the persons of that house, of ill-repute, had called the Saint in order to make a mockery of him.  A brazen young man lay in bed as though sick, with the prostitutes and companions all part of the game.  When the holy Jesuit arrived, several half-dressed women went to receive him, trying to disguise the trick they had prepared.  They brought the Saint to the room of the make-believe patient.  He approached the bed, then turned to the perfidious companions, who were trying to hide their amusement, and said: “I am sorry, but it is too late”.  The members of that infernal house approached the bed and saw for themselves the frightening fact of the death of that young man.  Saint Joseph Mary Rubio died in holiness in Aranjuez (Madrid) on the 2nd of May, 1929.  His body rests in the Church of the Sacred Heart and Saint Francis Borgia in the capital of Spain.

Founder of the Institute “Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation”, whose object was to teach and to carry out works of charity in hospitals.  Saint Francis Coll, Dominican priest, made the foundation in Vich in 1856.  The Institute was approved in 1910, and has spread through Spain, France and Spanish America.

Born in Ireland on the 3rd of March, 1873, from childhood he had the heart of a soldier.  At the beginning of Lent one year, standing before the mirror in his room, shaking a fist at his own reflection, he said: “You villain!  You wretch!  I’ll starve you. I’ll kill you.  Not a sweet will you get, not a bit of cake.  I’ll starve you.”  In this spirit, he grew in holiness.  On the 31st of March, 1891, he entered the Society of Jesus, fulfilling his duties to the letter.  On the 1st of May, 1893, he wrote in his own blood: “Do Thou, sweet Mother, assist me, and obtain for me the one favour I wish and long for: to die a Jesuit martyr”.  He was ordained priest in 1907.  He was a teacher, a retreat master, an admirable confessor, a tireless apostle.  In November 1915, he was accepted as army chaplain, and died in France on the 15th of August, 1917, assisting the wounded on the field of battle.

He was born on the 10th of October, 1790, in County Tipperary (Ireland). From childhood he was very generous towards the poor, a lifelong virtue of his. When a brother of his refused to be a priest, seeing his mother’s sorrow, he said: “Mother, do not grieve, I will be a priest.” He entered the Capuchin Order, and was ordained five years later. He exercised a great apostolate among the poor, and in the confessional, where he spent many hours. He said: “Every time I see a child without shoes, I see Jesus”. “Give”, he preached, “and do not be afraid to give”. He accomplished an untiring apostolate in Ireland, England, and the United States of America. He died on the 8th of December, 1856.

Archbishop of Dublin, he was born on the 18th of April, 1768, in County Wicklow. He studied in Dublin and Salamanca (Spain), and was ordained in 1792. In 1823 he became Archbishop of Dublin, and was the great restorer of Catholicism in Ireland, after more than two and a half centuries of oppression. The holy Archbishop built churches, schools, re-established communities of religious that transformed the life of the people, with great spiritual fruits in all social classes. He died on the 26th of February, 1852.

In the world Mary Aikenhead, she was born in Cork (Ireland) on the 19th of January, 1787. Her Protestant father had her baptized in his Church, and put her under the charge of a Catholic nurse until the age of six. This nurse, of profound faith and simplicity, taught the child to love the Most Blessed Virgin, and to pray the Rosary, and also brought her to Sunday Mass. Saint Mary Augustine had great love for the poor, whom she succoured and for whom she was prepared to give her life. Catholic from 14 years of age, she learned from the poor the riches of the Catholic Faith, as well as heroic virtue and joy in suffering. She prayed long hours of the night, and came to understand that the Lord was calling her to be a religious. With the help of Archbishop Saint Daniel Murray, she established the Institute of the “Sisters of Charity”, in order to exercise an apostolate among the poor. The life of the Saint is a life full of love, of endless labours, of faithfulness to spiritual duties, of illness endured with patience and humility, of tender love towards the Most Holy Virgin, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Saint Joseph, and many Saints. Saint Mary Augustine died on the 22nd of July, 1858.

He was born in a village that no longer exists, Lycodoon, near the city of Limerick (Ireland) in 1519. When the persecutions under Henry VIII began, the Saint went to Paris, where he prepared for the priesthood, and was ordained. He was professor at the University of Louvain, as well as at that of Rheims. Saddened and afflicted by the persecutions of Elizabeth I of England, he went on pilgrimage to Rome to pray for his people. His Holiness Gregory XIII sent him to Ireland as Archbishop of Cashel. Taken prisoner and tortured, he heroically refused to repudiate his Faith. He was brutally hanged, on the 30th of June, 1584, in Dublin.

He was born on the 22nd of June, 1792, in a village near Viterbo, in the Papal States. When he was left without father or mother, he took the Most Holy Virgin to be his Mother. As a youth his spiritual life suffered, but after many hesitations and extraordinary graces, he entered the Congregation of the Passionists. He was ordained in 1818. He accepted from the Lord the vocation of victim for the conversion of England, and he continued until death to offer himself through great suffering of body and soul for the salvation of that land, for which he felt an intense supernatural love. He fulfilled his mission in Italy for many years, occupying various offices, administrative, professorial, ministerial, all the while advancing towards the heights of the mystical life. He finally came to England in 1840, to accomplish his prophetic mission, crowning it with 7 years of an apostolate of love, until his death, on the 27th of August, 1849, having offered all for the conversion of England. Saint Dominic Barberi played a most important rôle in the conversion of him who was later to become Cardinal Newman.

He was born in Calverley (Yorkshire, England), on the 28th of June, 1814. An Anglican Rector, after much prayer and penance he became a Catholic, followed by a group of Anglicans for whom he was spiritual father. With these he founded the Congregation of Saint Wilfrid, whose Rule was approved by His Holiness Gregory XVI in 1846. Later the Congregation was merged with the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. He was ordained in 1847. He had a fervent and spontaneous love for the Blessed Virgin, great power in preaching, while his books of spirituality are marvellous. His apostolate for the conversion of sinners was unceasing, in spite of chronic illness. He died in 1863.

He was born on the 23rd of June, 1853, in Le Pailly, of the diocese of Langres (France). From childhood he led a life of mortification, and had many visions of the Most Holy Virgin. The day of his first Holy Communion, he felt his vocation to the priesthood. At the age of 21 he became a soldier for 3 years, during which he did not interrupt his devotions. At that time he lost his right eye in an accident. He entered the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales, and founded the juvenile branch, which he directed for 14 years. Losing hope of becoming a priest, he had a vision of Saint Joseph, who said: “Be a priest”. He was ordained on the 12th of December, 1886, and continued to direct the youths, being known as “priest of the ragamuffins”. These he was frequently obliged to defend before the authorities. As parish priest of Courneuve, he fulfilled a mission of great love and apostolic poverty that produced lasting spiritual fruits. His life was given totally to souls: severe in teaching doctrine and morals, but at the same time compassionate and meek. He died on the 1st of December, 1931.

He was born in 1782 in Aix-de-Provence (France). He was ordained priest in 1811, renouncing ecclesiastical promotion which would have suited a person of his eminent lineage, and dedicating himself to the poor of Provence, who had suffered much during the revolution. The poor recognized in him the good shepherd. In 1816 was formed the “Missionaries of Provence”, a hard and exhausting apostolate under the zealous direction of the Saint. He was a great preacher, the fire of whose word came from a spirit mortified by prayer and penance. In 1826, His Holiness Pope Leo XII approved his Congregation with the name “The Oblate Missionaries of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary”. In 1832 he was nominated bishop, being consecrated on the 14th of October that year. He died on the 21st of May, 1861, after a long life of apostolate, work, prayer, penance and complete self-sacrifice.

He was born on the 13th of October, 1801, near Tournai (France). His parents, farmers, were fervent Christians. As a child he preferred to kneel before the tabernacle, than play with others. He fulfilled his desire to be a priest in 1825, when he was ordained. He accomplished the ordinary duties of a priest in an impressive manner, celebrating Mass with great fervour, hearing confession and preaching. His zeal for souls and his love for the poor was great. Saint Jean-Baptiste Debrabant re-established Sunday catechism classes; and, helped by a group of pious ladies, accomplished an apostolate of education for girls. This was the start of his great work which later, in spite of painful difficulties, would become “The Holy Union of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary”, in two branches of brothers and of nuns. This was approved by His Holiness Saint Pius IX the Great. He died on the 18th of February, 1880, and his body rests in Douay.

He was born in Shelton (Yorkshire, England). At the age of 40 he went to Douay (France) to prepare for the priesthood. After ordination he returned to England as missionary. During an exorcism the devil threatened that within a week he would be taken prisoner, and pay with his life. And so it happened. For declaring that the Queen was a schismatic, he was condemned to die. On the scaffold, he said: “I call all to witness that today I die in the unity of the Catholic Faith, and for that unity do now most willingly suffer my blood to be shed”. He was martyred on the 3rd of February, 1578.

He was born into an exemplary Catholic family in London, where he was taught the true Faith, and the holy fear of the Lord. He began his ecclesiastical studies in Douay (France), but before completing them he returned to England. He was taken prisoner, and was made to suffer for  six months the torments of the rack, and hunger, as well as the filth and foulness of the place in which he was confined. He was condemned to death for refusing to acknowledge Elizabeth I as Head of the Church in England, and executed on the 7th of February, 1578.

Leaving the University of Oxford (England), where he had been studying, he sought true doctrine in the Seminary of Douay (France), where he was ordained. He returned to England in 1581, and within a few months was taken prisoner and sent to the infamous Tower of London, where he was kept in chains for 6 months. He refused the opportunity to save himself by accepting heresy, and was martyred on the 30th of May, 1582, praying the Our Father and Hail Mary.

He too abandoned the University of Oxford, where he was a professor, in order to profess and teach the true Catholic Faith by becoming a seminarist at Douay (France). He returned a priest to England in 1577, exercising his ministry for four years in Lancashire. Condemned for false crimes, he was imprisoned for six months, at the end of which, and after confessing his Faith and innocence, he suffered martyrdom on the 30th of May, 1582.

He too left Oxford University, became a Catholic, and studied for the priesthood at Douay and in Rome, being ordained in 1580. He returned to England, was taken prisoner, and after two years was condemned to death. Shortly before dying, he declared: “I will not swerve a jot from my Faith for any thing: yea, if I had ten thousand lives, I would rather lose them all than forsake the Catholic Faith in any point”. He was martyred on the 30th of May, 1582.

He was a noblemen of Yorkshire (England), and occupied a position of trust in his country. His home, however, he kept at the disposition of the priests who were ministering to the persecuted Catholics. To avoid imprisonment, he was obliged to leave his home. Become a widower, and now advanced in years, he was ordained a priest. Having exercised his ministry for two years , he was martyred on the 22nd August, 1582.

A gentleman of Adingham (Yorkshire, England), he was ordained priest in Douay (France), in 1579. He returned to the mission in England, where he was arrested on the 8th of August, 1582, and condemned to death. He showed great calm at the unjust sentence, and asked the judge to consider well, for he was unworthy of so sublime a dignity. When the sentence was confirmed, he sang aloud the Te Deum. The Saint was martyred on the 22nd of August, 1582.

He was born in Yorkshire (England), and was ordained in Rheims (France), in 1581. He returned to England as missionary, and was arrested on the 11th of August, 1582. He was condemned for denying the supremacy of Elizabeth I over the Church in England, and was martyred on the 28th of November, 1582, after having converted a good number of the criminals imprisoned with him, some of whom died with him.

He was born in Wells (Somerset, England). A student at Oxford, he was converted, and went to Douay where, at the seminary, he was a model of modesty and piety. He then went to Rome where he was ordained, afterwards returning as missionary to York, where he was distinguished for his zeal, his piety and preaching. He was arrested, and condemned for not admitting the supremacy of Elizabeth I over the Church in England. Preparing for martyrdom with rigorous fasts and continual prayer for six days, he was executed on the 15th of March, 1582.

Born at Cunsley (Durham, England), he was advanced in years when he entered the seminary at Douay (France). He was ordained in 1579, and having just received the Sacrament of Holy Order, he exclaimed: “O good God! God alone knows how great a gift this is that has been conferred upon us this day”.  In 1583 he was arrested, and put in a filthy prison, whence he wrote: “This prison seems to me a paradise; and being deprived of all earthly comfort, affords a great heavenly joy. O happy prison! O blessed confinement!” He was martyred on the 29th of May, 1583.

He came from Preston (Lancashire, England). His brother was a priest in Rome, while his father, after the death of his mother, had also become a priest, and missionary. Following their example, he too became a priest, at the Douay seminary, in 1581. After returning to his country, he was imprisoned for two years, and condemned to death for defending the Supremacy of the Pope over the whole Church. He was executed on the 12th of February, 1584.

He was born in Montacute (Somerset, England), and studied at Oxford University where, on the point of receiving a professorship, he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy of Elizabeth I over the Church in England. He married and had two children. But his wife having died, he went to France, and was there ordained priest in 1580. He returned to England, converting several persons of distinction, and was jailed and put in chains. The more to disgrace him, they exposed him in chains on market day; but his modesty and serenity awakened the respect of the spectators. For two years prisoner in London, his goalers did not know him to be a priest and treated him more humanely. This enabled him to exercise a great apostolate, and to make several conversions. Among these was a pirate, in despair over his past life, whom he received into the Church, administering Confession and Holy Communion to him. Saint James Fenn was condemned to death, and executed on the 12th of February, 1584.

A layman, he was born in Manston (Dorset, England). A teacher, he was executed for denying the supremacy of Elizabeth I over the Church in England, on the 30th of October, 1583.

He was from Wells, Somerset (England), a lay teacher. He would not acknowledge Elizabeth I as Head of the Church in England, and was executed on the 2nd of November, 1583.

Priest of Montacute (Somerset, England), also martyred for not acknowledging Elizabeth I as Head of the Church, on the 12th of February, 1584.

Priest of Burnley (Lancashire, England), he led an exemplary life in prison, winning many conversions. Martyred for the same reason as those mentioned above, on the 12th of February, 1584.

Priest of Coltley (Dorset). Executed for the same reason, the 12th of  February, 1584.

He was born in Oxfordshire (England). A Protestant minister, he was converted and became a priest. He was imprisoned in a filthy hole for 18 months. He was executed in 1587, after perceiving a lovely soft light, and three gentle supernatural strokes on his hand.

He came from Yorkshire (England) where he was a shopkeeper. He studied at the Seminary of Rheims (France), returning to his country in 1583. After several years of edifying ministry, he was jailed and condemned for his priesthood. According to the testimony of his cell companion, while keeping vigil on the eve of his martyrdom, the devil appeared to him and engaged him in conflict. The infernal enemy assured him that he was already condemned by divine Judgement, and that he would not be a martyr. On all sides he saw the devil in the form of a hideous monster, trying to make him despair, and to make him take his own life before the morning of his martyrdom. But the martyr called upon Heaven, and the Most Holy Virgin appeared with Saint John the Evangelist, evicting the monster with the words: “Begone, accursed creature! You have no part with this servant of Christ who, in the morning, will shed his blood for the Lord, and so enter into his joy”. But the devil, envying the happiness of the soldier of Christ, returned to throw him off the scaffold. The martyr quickly reascended and, giving testimony to the Faith, suffered martyrdom on the 30th of November, 1587.

By a law of 1585, it became a crime of high treason for a priest to remain within the realm of Elizabeth I, and a criminal offence for a layman to give help to a priest. Continuing our list of martyrs, we note that the following died under this wicked law, for being priests.

A priest from Durham, executed on the 26th of November, 1585.

A priest from Oxford, executed on the 21st of January, 1586.

A priest from Leominster, executed on the 21st of January, 1586.

A priest from Gloucestershire, executed on the 20th of April, 1586.

A priest from Blackburn (Lancashire), executed on the 20th of April, 1586.

A priest from the Isle of Man, executed on the 25th of April, 1586.

A priest from Lancashire, executed on the 25th of April, 1586.

A priest from Ripley, Yorkshire, executed on the 3rd of June, 1586.

A priest from Barnby, Yorkshire, executed on the 8th of August, 1586.

A priest from Lancashire, executed on the 11th of August, 1586.

A priest from London, executed on the 8th of October, 1586.

A priest from Martinstown, Dorset, executed on the 8th of October, 1586.

A priest from Shottery, Warwickshire, executed on the 8th of October, 1586.

A priest from Battle, Sussex, executed on the 21st of March, 1587.

A priest from Leeds, Yorkshire, executed on the 23rd of March, 1587.

A priest from Saint Mabyn, Cornwall, executed in 1587.

A Franciscan priest from Edinburgh, Scotland, condemned for preaching the Catholic Faith. Executed on the 9th of September, 1587.

A priest from Dinting, Derbyshire, executed on the 24th of July, 1588.

A priest from Radborne, Derby, executed on the 24th of July, 1588.

A priest from Well, Yorkshire, executed on the 24th of July, 1588.

A priest from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, executed on the 27th of July, 1588.

A priest from Linton-in-Craven, Yorkshire, executed on the 28th of August, 1588.

A priest from Raglan, Monmouth (Wales), executed on the 28th of August, 1588.

A priest from Bawtry, Yorkshire, executed on the 28th of August, 1588.

A priest from Ashton, Cheshire, executed on the 28th of August, 1588.

A priest from Yorkshire, executed on the 28th of August, 1588.

A priest from London, executed on the 30th of August, 1588.

We confer on Saint Dominic Barberi the exalted title of “Apostle of the Holy Catholic Faith in England”. We exhort the faithful to direct prayers to Saint Dominic Barberi in order to obtain the conversion of England.

We beg our beloved children, as a father, that they implore of the Most Holy Virgin Mary Her special protection for Ourself. The present moment is most difficult, as We are condemning every kind of heresy, trusting in divine assistance in order to continue in defence of the Catholic Faith.

We confidently hope that before long an Angel or Saint shall let fall his sword on the Antipope John Paul II, just as Saint Michael the Archangel destroyed the Antipope John Paul I. Once more We repeat: no one mocks God and escapes His Justice.

We are full of joy and gladness, having canonized until now the considerable number of 284 Saints. We await their intercession in order to be able to pasture, in holiness, the Church of God,—One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Without doubt there is being manifested the glory of the Olives, since We are adding beauty and lustre to the Mystical Olive Tree at every moment.

Given in Seville, at the Apostolic See, on the 24th of October, Feast of the Archangel Saint Raphael, in the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ MCMLXXVIII.

principal page