St. Cristobal Magallanes is one of 25 saints who are honored for refusing to be intimidated by the anti-Catholic policies of the Mexican government. They were killed for leading the faithful during the persecution of the Church in that country at the start of the 20th century.

Cristóbal was born in Mexico in 1869 to a family of farmers—he grew up working as a shepherd, and entered the seminary at the age of 19.

After his ordination, he was assigned to a parish in his hometown. There, he started schools and helped the people initiate public works to benefit the town, such as a carpentry shop and the building of a dam. He began a mission in a nearby village to reach the local indigenous people.

A secularist and anti-Catholic Mexican government took shape during the Mexican Revolution, and in 1914, it closed the seminary where Cristóbal studied. He offered his parish as a relocation site for the seminary, and soon 17 students were (illegally) preparing for the priesthood there.

During the revolution, Cristóbal spoke out against armed rebellion. Still, he was accused of supporting the Cristero rebel fighters. On this date in 1927, he was traveling to a farm to celebrate Mass and was arrested. He was executed four days later without a trial.

After his arrest, he gave away his possessions to those who were about to execute him. Just before he died, he shouted this statement from his cell: “I am innocent and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serve the peace of our divided Mexico.”

On this date in 2000, Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Cristóbal Magallanes along with 24 other martyrs who were killed between 1915 and 1937during the Mexican Cristero War. Twenty-one were priests who were killed for attempting to offer the sacraments under the anti-clerical rule of the government, and three were lay people. These Saints of the Cristero War all share today’s feast date.

St. Cristóbal Magallanes and companions, you offered the Sacraments to the Mexican faithful under threat of death—pray for us!