José Luis Sánchez del Río grew up a pious Catholic with a strong devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. At the age of twelve, he desperately wanted to defend against religious persecution in Mexico.
Mexican Catholics were facing grave persecution from the socialist government, which sought to destroy the influence of the faith in the country by closing churches and parish schools, regulating preaching, dictating Mass attendance and the sacraments, and killing priests. Eventually, the government forbade the public practice of Catholicism altogether and made religious vows illegal.
The Cristero War, as it came to be known, began in 1926 as faithful Catholics protested against the implementation of anti-clerical laws.
Sánchez wanted to fight as a Cristero alongside his older brothers and community members for religious freedom, but his parents—and a Cristero official—refused. After much pleading, Sánchez was first allowed to perform tasks such as preparing the fire, serving food, and cleaning rifles; then he became a flagbearer of a Cristero troop. The men gave him the nickname Tarcisius after an early Christian saint martyred for protecting the Eucharist.
Sánchez was captured during a battle against government forces. He was tortured and commanded to renounce his faith, which he refused to do. On February 10, 1928, when Sánchez was fourteen, he was condemned to die by his godfather–a government sympathizer. A half-hour before his execution, his aunt was able to deliver the Eucharist given to her by a priest and hidden within his final meal.
Soldiers cut off the soles of his feet before forcing Sánchez to walk to the cemetery. He was shot as he shouted, “Vivo Cristo Rey y Santa Maria de Guadalupe!” (Long live Christ the King and Holy Mary of Guadalupe!), a martyr for his faith.
Sánchez was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.
How can you approach the Eucharistic Christ with the heart of a martyr?
