Artigo do dia · 21 de May
Saints Christopher Magallanes and Companions
At Colotlán, in the Mexican region of Jalisco, Saint Christopher Magallanes, priest, and his nineteen companion martyrs, killed during the religious persecution of the Cristero War. A zealous parish priest, founder of schools, of works of charity, and of a seminary, Christopher was arrested on his way to the altar and, without trial, gave up his life — forgiving those who were killing him and offering his own blood for the peace and unity of the Mexican people.
Roman Martyrology
About the saint
Saint Christopher Magallanes is one of the most luminous witnesses to forgiveness the Church has ever received — the forgiveness that does not wait for the other person to deserve it, but gives itself wholeheartedly in the hardest moment of all. Some people forgive with time; he forgave standing before the very men who were killing him, and still handed them the little he had. This Mexican priest lived the Gospel not as a beautiful theory, but as a decision carried through to its final consequences. Let us get to know the story of this extraordinary saint and see how a shepherd turned his own death into a prayer for peace.
Life
Cristóbal Magallanes Jara was born on July 30, 1869, in the village of San Rafael, in Totatiche, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. He was the son of Rafael Magallanes and Clara Jara, a family of simple farmers, and as a boy he tended the flock as a shepherd. It was from this humble background, far from any prestige, that his vocation sprang: at the age of nineteen he entered the Conciliar Seminary of Saint Joseph, in Guadalajara, to prepare for the priesthood.
He was ordained a priest in 1899, at the age of thirty, in the church of Santa Teresa, in Guadalajara, and first served as chaplain of the School of Arts and Crafts of the Holy Spirit. Soon afterward, he was sent as parish priest to his own birthplace, Totatiche — and there the tireless shepherd revealed himself, the man whom his biographers describe as devout and eager to serve. He was not content merely to celebrate Mass: he founded schools and carpentry workshops, helped to plan the Candelaria dam, opened an orphanage and a home for the elderly, and raised chapels on the farms of the region. He devoted himself with special tenderness to the Huichol Indians, helping them to repopulate the town of Azqueltán.
When, in 1914, government decrees closed the seminary of Guadalajara, Christopher would not let the formation of new priests die out: he opened an auxiliary seminary in his own parish, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which within a short time already gathered seventeen seminarians and was recognized by the Archbishop of Guadalajara. From that house would come the priest who would succeed him in Totatiche, and Agustín Caloca Cortés, a young priest who would also serve as prefect of the seminary — and would be his companion at the hour of death.
Mexico was then living through the Cristero War, and the Church was suffering a harsh persecution. Christopher had always written and preached against the armed rebellion, yet he was falsely accused of inciting it. On May 21, 1927, as he was traveling to celebrate Mass at a farm, he was arrested. Before the men who captured him, he handed over the few possessions he still had and gave them absolution. Without trial, he was put to death four days later, on May 25, in the city of Colotlán, together with Agustín Caloca and other Catholics. His last words were an act of peace: “I am innocent, and I die innocent; I forgive with all my heart those who are putting me to death, and I ask God that my blood may serve for the peace of the divided Mexican people.” And, seeing a frightened companion, he still found a way to console him: “Father, just one moment more and we shall be in Heaven.”
On May 21, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized Christopher Magallanes together with nineteen companion martyrs of that same persecution. The Church celebrates his memory, an optional memorial, on May 21, recalling the shepherd who chose to die forgiving rather than to live in hatred.
Why we celebrate today
The memory of Saint Christopher Magallanes and Companions is celebrated on May 21, even though his martyrdom took place on May 25, 1927, in Colotlán. The date of May 21 holds two landmarks of his story: it was the day he was arrested, in 1927, on his way to Mass, and it was also the day Pope John Paul II canonized him, in 2000. So on this day the Church recalls both the beginning of his passion and the glory of his recognition as a saint.
For our life
Few of us will ever be called to forgive someone who takes our life. But almost all of us carry smaller wounds that weigh on us like stones: the betrayal of a friend, a harsh word from a relative, an injustice that was never set right. Saint Christopher shows us that forgiveness is not born the moment the other person apologizes — it is born of a free decision of the heart, made before God. He forgave when no one had repented, and he even asked that his suffering might serve the peace of others. Today it may be worth bringing to the Lord that one name that still hurts to remember, and asking for the grace to let it go — not because the wound was not real, but because resentment imprisons the very person who holds on to it. Forgiveness, on the other hand, is the door of Heaven that the saint saw so near.
And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing his garments, cast lots.
Lc 23:34 (Douay-Rheims)
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