August 24, 2025 - "The Catholic Church in Spain 1936-1939"

Here are the six groups:

 

· Sixty-five friars from the Monastery of El Escorial, Madrid

· Ten friars from the Seminary at Udés, Cuenca

· Six friars from the schools in Santander

· Three friars from the Augustinian house in Gijón, 

             Asturias

· Four friars from Augustinian community in Málaga

· Ten mostly elderly or infirm friars residing at the 

             infirmary in Caudete, Albacete

 

These 98 Augustinians were a diverse group: young and old, professors and seminarians. Preachers and manual laborers.  All were united in their unwavering faith. Not even the prospect of a cruel death could induce them to abandon our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

During the nights of November 28 and 30, 1936, sixty-five friars from the community of El Escorial were “tried” and convicted by a sham court of being friars.  All of them affirmed they were Augustinian friars from El Escorial Monastery.  They refused to deny their Christian faith or cooperate with the atrocities of those who were persecuting the Church.  The friars were tied together, loaded onto trucks and taken to Paracuellos de Jarama, where they were shot to death.

 

The process of beatification and canonization of the Augustinian martyrs were begun at various times between 1950 and 1964. Diocesan investigations were concluded between 1955 and 1967. The Congregation for the Saints combined the causes of the several groups of martyrs into a unified cause in 1990 and officially recognized the validity of the united cause in 1991.

 

The Ordinary Historical Meeting of the Congregation of Saints approved their designation as martyrs on March 11, 2005. On December 19, 2006, the Plenary Meeting of Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregation gave additional approval of their beatification and sent their recommendation to Pope Benedict XVI.  The Holy Father confirmed their martyrdom on June 1, 2007.  The Augustinian martyrs, along with some 400 others, including lay Catholics, members of other religious institutes, priests, and bishops, who gave their lives for Christ, were beatified on October 29, 2007.

 

I obtained the information for this article from the website maintained by the Midwest province of the Augustinian friars.

 

Until next week,

Fr. John