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St. José Luis Sánchez del Río
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José Luis Sánchez del Río was born on March 28, 1913, in Sahuayo, Michoacán, Mexico. Nicknamed “Joselito”, he grew up in a strong Catholic family who prayed the rosary frequently and attended church as often as they safely could during the unrest in Mexico at the time.
Going to church publicly in Sahuayo was dangerous for José and his family was the Cristero War which broke out in 1926. During this time, the Mexican government began trying to secularize the nation, enforcing anti-clerical laws, and violently targeting churches and Christians, specifically Catholics. The government closed religious schools, exiled and executed priests, nuns, and other religious people, and seized church buildings and properties for their own use. In response to this violent disruption, Catholics across Mexico organized and took up arms against the government united under their war cry, “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” which translates to, “Long live Christ the King!” The fighting was most concentrated in the region of West Central Mexico where José and his family lived.
While still a child, José’s two older brothers joined the war effort as Mexican Cisteros, or “Soldiers for Christ,” fighting against the government. As he became a teenager, José greatly desired to follow in their footsteps and, when his mother refused, he refuted by begging her, “do not let me lose the opportunity to gain heaven so easily and so soon.” He prayed for a chance to give his life for Jesus and to be able to defend his faith and his community. Eventually his parents relented and allowed him to join the military as a flagbearer. During his short time in the militia, the other Cristeros nicknamed him Tarcisius, the name of an early Catholic saint who was put to death for protecting the Eucharist.
During a battle in 1928 he was captured by enemy forces. The general who was leading him and the other Cisteros into battle had fallen off his horse when the animal was killed by opposing forces. José gave his personal horse to the general so the general could continue leading the troops and eventually escape capture. Horseless and thus unable to outrun the enemy, José took cover on the ground and fired until all his ammunition was gone before being taken prisoner.
Shortly after his capture, the government soldiers jailed him and their other prisoners in a church they had confiscated — this make-shift prison happened to be the church of José’s baptism. While imprisoned, he prayed the rosary daily and refused to renounce his faith, even though he was told he would be released if he simply repeated the phrase, “Death to Jesus Christ.” Despite having to watch others tortured and killed in an attempt by his captors to break his resolve, José chose to yell encouraging words to those being put to death in front of him instead of choosing to fall into despair. He refused to back down under the severe pressure and remained resolute in his faith in and love of Jesus.
When nothing else worked to get him to renounce his faith, his captors tortured him. They sliced off the soles of his feet then made him walk on his mutilated bare feet to the cemetery where they planned to kill him. The entire time José sang hymns and refused to despair. They stabbed and cut him many times along the way with a machete, when he finally made it to the cemetery, he was drenched in his own blood. Before he was shot in the head by the military leaders holding him captive, he was heard yelling “Long live Christ the King! Long live Holy Mary of Guadalupe!” He was a month short of his 15th birthday when he was martyred.
José Luis Sánchez del Río was canonized by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016. He is remembered with love by Mexican Catholics sometimes as San Joselito.
