Only 22 years old and just three months ordained a priest, Bl. Ángel Darío Acosta Zurita (feast day: July 25) was martyred, the victim of government persecution in Mexico.
"We must teach others about Christ," said Bl. María Inés Teresa of the Blessed Sacrament (feast day: July 22). "We missionaries should not, therefore, let a day go by without our talking of Christ to others. To know that only a small number of people know the true God (Love) should be a source of torment for us."
“It is of vital urgency to have a clear awareness of what the Cross of Christ means, of what it accomplishes in the mystery of the person," wrote Blessed Maria Concepción Cabrera Arias de Armida (feast day March 3), the first Mexican laywoman, wife, and mother to be beatified in the Catholic Church.
Pope St. John Paul II said of Saints Cristobal, Antonio, and Juan, the Child Martyrs of Tlaxcala (feast day: Sept. 23), “I hope that the example of these children may raise up an immense multitude of little apostles of Christ among the boys and girls of Latin America and the whole world."
Saint José María de Yermo y Parres (feast day: Sept. 20), a Mexican priest who cared deeply about the poor, was called the “Giant of Charity” and the “Apostle of Charity."
Blessed Juan Battista and Bl. Jacinto de los Ángeles (feast day, Sept. 18). 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 Pope St. John Paul II.
The first Mexican bishop to be canonized, St. Rafael Guízar y Valencia (feast day: June 6) was known as the “Bishop of the Poor.” “I will give my life for the salvation of souls,” he often said.
The six Mexican Martyrs (feast day, May 21), canonized by Pope St. John Paul II on this day in 2000, were all priests and members of the Knights of Columbus, killed during the persecution of the faithful in the Mexican Cristero War in the 1920’s.
A bit of a rebel in his youth, St. Felipe de las Casas Martínez (feast day: Feb. 5) went on to become a martyr for the faith and Mexico’s first saint, as well as the patron saint of Mexico City.
By happy coincidence, the eve of Christ the King, Nov. 23, is the feast of Bl. Miguel Agustin Pro, a humble Mexican priest who was martyred for the faith, shouting "Viva Cristo Rey!" [Long live Christ the King!]
