
“We are going to die by the law of God; as I have His Divine Majesty, I fear nothing and I shall not need arms.”
Welcome to "North American Sanctity," a series on holy men and women, boys and girls, saints and those on the road to sainthood, from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Some will be familiar, others less so; but all are inspiring!
By Kimberly Bruce
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:10).
So quoted Pope St. John Paul II during the 2002 Mass of Beatification in Mexico City for the Martyrs of Cajonos, Bl. Juan Battista and Bl. Jacinto de los Ángeles (feast day, Sept. 18).
Staunch defenders of the Catholic faith in a land riddled with idolatry, they were killed in 1700, in San Francisco Cajonos, Oaxaca.
“Blessed Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Ángeles are the fruit of the holiness of the first evangelization among the Zapotec Indians,” said the Pope, at his general audience, Aug. 7, 2002.
In not having “to reject their traditional indigenous culture,” he continued, “their lives are an admirable example of how one can reach the heights of holiness, while being faithful to an ancient culture, thanks to the recreating grace of Christ.”
Attorney Generals
Both Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Ángeles were born in San Francisco, Cajonos, in 1660, and were members of the Zapoteca tribe. Jacinto was also the descendant of important tribal chiefs. Both were married with children.
The two men had risen to the stature of “attorney generals” in their town. To achieve this, both Juan and Jacinto first had to serve as altar servers (imagine!), then as judges, councilors, municipal presidents, and constitutional mayors. In their capacity as attorney generals, they were responsible for inquiring into crimes and vices that disturbed morality.
The decision to have such individuals in towns had been decided during The Third Mexican Provincial Council in 1585 to aid priests.
The fact that Juan and Jacinto chose to hold customary positions of civic duty before becoming attorney generals, said St. John Paul, only exemplified their “appreciation for cultural traditions.”
The Dominican Fathers, who had arrived in Oaxaca in 1529 to spread the faith, honored the native peoples from the very beginning by using their local languages, manners, and customs. Blessed Juan and Bl. Jacinto, said the Pope, are “two great martyrs” who “stand out among the fruit of this Christian seed.”
They also demonstrate, said the Pope, that “one can reach God without renouncing one’s own culture but letting oneself be enlightened by the light of Christ, which renews the religious spirit of the best popular traditions.”
Intervention
On Sept. 14, 1700, Juan and Jacinto got word that an idolatrous practice was to take place at a citizen’s home that evening. After informing their priests, the two men were asked to intervene. That night, accompanied by Captain Antonio Rodrígues Pinelo and the Dominican Fathers, they surprised the large group and confiscated their sacrilegious instruments. The idolators ran from the house with heads and faces covered.
A riot resulted the next day with the rebel group demanding the return of what had been confiscated. Juan and Jacinto, along with authorities, sought refuge at the Dominican convent.
That evening, the rebel group arrived at the convent with spears and clubs demanding Juan and Jacinto be handed over to them. Already having set fire to Juan Bautista’s house, they said they would next burn down the convent, with everyone in it, if Juan and Jacinto were not released to them.
Fear nothing
Before leaving the convent, Juan and Jacinto asked for the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion from the Fathers. The two men laid down their arms, and Juan Bautista said, “We are going to die by the law of God; as I have His Divine Majesty, I fear nothing and I shall not need arms.”
Captain Pinelo handed them over to the rebels under the impression that their lives would be spared. Said Juan Bautista to his captors, “Here I am, if they are going to kill me tomorrow, kill me now.”
Juan and Jacinto were whipped and tortured. They were offered the opportunity to save themselves by denouncing their faith, but they did not concede. Instead, they answered, “Once we have professed Baptism, we shall always follow the true religion.”
They were taken to prison, then to Tanga Hill in San Pedro, the following morning. There, they were “tied up and thrown off a cliff, almost beheaded and killed with machetes,” said St. John Paul. “Their hearts were torn out and fed to dogs who did not eat them.”
Their bodily remains, initially thrown into a pit, were later moved to the Church of Villa Alta, and then to the Cathedral of Oaxaca, where they are today.
Beautiful example
These martyrs, said St. John Paul, gave “a beautiful example of how nothing, not even our life, should be put before our baptismal commitment.”
Though some look upon the men “not as martyrs but informers,” he continued, “it is clear that the prosecutors were appointed civilly and religiously to exercise a public office in the town and in the religious community. Moreover, from the beginning in the civil process that took place between 1700-1703 and in the ecclesiastical process up to the present day, comes the fame of martyrdom and sanctity, which the Church finally recognizes with Beatification.”
Said St. Faustina in her Diary:
Faithful submission to the will of God, always and everywhere, in all events and circumstances of life, gives great glory to God. Such submission to the will of God carries more weight with Him than long fasts, mortifications and the most severe penances. Oh, how great is the reward for one act of loving submission to the will of God! (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 724).
Examples to the lay faithful
Blessed Juan and Bl. Jacinto stand as examples “to the lay faithful, who are called to sanctify themselves in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life” to evangelize by the witness of their faith “in the family, at work and in social relations!” said St. John Paul.
May these two “Blesseds” “encourage indigenous people today to appreciate their cultures and languages, and above all their dignity as children of God,” he concluded, and inspire us all to work to build “a new humanity … inspired by the eternal values of the Gospel.”
Blessed Juan Bautista and Blessed Jacinto de los Ángeles, pray for us!
Next in the series: Saint José Maria de Yermo Parres, Sept. 20.
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