We commemorate the Memory of all the Martyrs of our Congregation. The Holy See approved on January 31, 2019 the inclusion of the memory of Blessed Felipe de Jesús Munárriz Azcona and his fellow religious martyrs in the calendar of the Congregation of Claretian Missionaries for February 1.
From this year onwards, every 1st February – the day on which the attack against Fr. Claret in Holguín (Cuba) is commemorated- will be dedicated to jointly honour the memory of the 184 members of the Congregation of the Missionaries Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who died during the persecution against the Church in Mexico (1927) and in Spain (1936-1939).
The witness of our Blessed is a living example for all of us. As St. John Paul II recalled at the beatification of the 51 of Barbastro, “since most of them were young and students of theology, their life is like a call to recognise the permanent validity of an adequate formation and intense preparation, based on a solid piety, fidelity to vocation and joyful belonging to the Church, serving her through the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; in a self-sacrificing life of community; in perseverance and the witness of one’s religious identity. Without all these presuppositions, the Blessed would not have been able to attain the grace of martyrdom“.
All of them remained faithful to their missionary vocation and gave clear witness of forgiveness of their executioners, love for the Heart of Mary and the Church, concern for the most needy and fervent missionary zeal.
We pray for them and ask for their intercession to be faithful to our missionary vocation and to let ourselves be inflamed by the fire of God’s love until the end.
