Our Lady of Mercy

In Tlaxcala, Mexico, in the early 1500s, three indigenous boys embraced Catholicism after encountering Spanish Franciscan friars. Their names were Cristóbal, Antonio, and Juan. Each was martyred for their faith, making them the first Catholic martyrs on the continent.

“If every flower wanted to be a rose,” wrote St. Therese of Lisieux, “spring would lose its loveliness.” Who is God asking you to be today? There is an obvious answer that springs to mind right out of the gate. God wants me to be a good person (a good father, a good husband) today; today, God wants me to be a saint.

Our parish community is fortunate to have Our Lady of Mercy as our patroness. Today, we celebrate her feast, also known as Our Lady of Ransom. This feast dates back to 1218 when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Peter Nolasco, St. Raymond of Penafort, and King James of Aragon in Spain. In their visions, Mary expressed her desire for the establishment of a religious order dedicated to rescuing Christians who were in danger of losing their faith due to the harsh conditions they faced as captives of the Moors. During that time, captivity and slavery were widespread due to conflicts between Christians and Moors.

Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Ángeles were men from the Zapotec tribe in Mexico and lay Catholic catechists. They were brutally murdered with clubs and machetes by a local mob in retaliation for disrupting a ritual where people were worshiping idols to celebrate the harvest.