The beatification of 12 Redemptorist martyrs will take place on 22 October who were martyred in Madrid in the year 1936. They belong to the two communities that, on that date, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer had in the capital of Spain (Santuario del Perpetuo Socorro in Chamberí, and the Basilica of San Miguel in La Latina), led by Fr. Vicente Renuncio Toribio.
The beatification will be held in the Almudena Cathedral at 11:00 am and will be presided over by the apostolic delegate, Cardinal Marcello Semenaro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The ceremony will be preceded by a youth prayer vigil on Friday, October 21, at 8:30 p.m., in the Parish-Sanctuary of Perpetual Help in Madrid. The events will end with a Eucharist on Sunday the 23rd, at 12:00 noon, presided over by the Redemptorist Superior General, and will coincide with World Mission Sunday, which this year is celebrated under the motto “You will be my witnesses”.
The beatification is the result of the affection with which the children of Saint Alphonsus and their relatives have guarded the memory of their confreres throughout the almost 90 years that have elapsed and of the data collection work that began almost the day after the events that led to requesting the opening of the cause in 2005, beginning the diocesan phase of the process in September 2006 and concluding in November 2007. After a study iter in the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints by historians, theologians, cardinals and bishops, the Holy Father declared them martyrs on April 24, 2021.
With the celebration, we Redemptorists want to thank God for our charism and vocation and for these 12 religious missionaries -priests and laity- who, in addition to preaching the Gospel and announcing Christ the Savior, lived their vow of perseverance (4th of the Redemptorists ) being faithful to their faith and vocation and announcing the salvation and mercy of God in the midst of persecution and shedding their blood as an expression of generous dedication, love of God and forgiveness and reconciliation for all.
Father Antonio Quesada, CSsR.
