Remember the Martyrs of the 20th Century

 Originally Published on OMIWORLD.ORG

 In a 26 March 2015 letter to the parish pastors of the Archdiocese of Madrid, the Auxiliary Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, announced an initiative to honor the 402 canonized and beatified martyrs of the 20th century who died in and around Madrid. The bishop stated: “It is good and necessary to know about this treasure and gift of God to our diocesan Church, which can be of great help in the renewal of Christian life and the new evangelization.”

Therefore, the archdiocese has created a special place in Madrid for remembering these martyrs: in the Church of the Calatravas. On 12 April, Divine Mercy Sunday, there was the dedication of two newly painted icons at altars in the church. One icon depicts St. John Paul II as “the pope of the martyrs of the 20th century,” and the other depicts a number of the martyrs: priests, sisters, other religious and laity. There is also a publication where one finds a map to the burial sites of all the martyrs (Guía “Memoriae martyrum”. Los santos mártires del siglo XX en Madrid, BAC, Madrid 2015)

Among the martyrs pictured, there is Blessed Francisco Esteban LACAL, representing the 22 Oblates of Mary Immaculate martyred in 1936: priests, Brothers and scholastics from Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). They were beatified on 17 December 2011 in Madrid; their feast day is on 28 November.