MARTYRED CLARETIANS OF BARBASTRO - 13 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 13th of August

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

MARTYRED CLARETIANS OF BARBASTRO

In Barbastro, in Aragon in Spain, are commemorated today Blessed Secundino Maria Ortega, priest, and his nineteen companions, religious, martyrs, who, at the time of the Spanish Civil War, were executed out of hatred against the Church.

HATRED AGAINST THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

He was born in Santa Cruz de la Salceda (Burgos). In 1928 he made his vows as a Claretian in Vich. In 1936 he was ordained a priest in Barbastro. On August 12, he gave sacramental absolution to the six Claretians who were going to die martyrs. 

FORGIVENESS 

From the moment they learned of the death of their six companions, they prepared for martyrdom by forgiving their murderers. 

THEY ACCLAIMED CHRIST THE KING AND SANG HYMNS

All of them bore the ordeal with great steadfastness and fortitude. Dying, they acclaimed Christ the King, and sang hymns praising the Lord.