Today the Church commemorates 25 years since the canonization that took place during the Jubilee of 2000 in Rome. On May 21, St. John Paul II canonized 27 Mexicans. "The Church rejoices in proclaiming these sons of Mexico saints," the Pope said. "Cristobal Magallanes and 24 fellow martyrs, priests and lay people; José María de Yermo y Parres, priest founder of the Religious Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and María de Jesús Sacramentado Venegas, foundress of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart".
"Most of them belonged to the secular clergy and three of them were lay people seriously engaged in helping priests," the Pope added. "They did not abandon the courageous exercise of their ministry when the religious persecution The Mexican people's hatred of the Catholic religion was unleashed in the beloved land of Mexico. All of them freely and serenely accepted martyrdom as a testimony of their faith, explicitly forgiving their persecutors, (...), and today they are an example for the whole Church and for Mexican society in particular".
The Church in Mexico: intercessors in heaven
In its homilyThe Polish Pope said that "the Church in Mexico rejoices to have these intercessors in heaven, models of supreme charity following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. All of them gave their lives to God and to their brothers and sisters, by the way of martyrdom or by the way of generous offering in the service of the needy (...) They are a precious legacy, fruit of the faith rooted in Mexican lands". The particular feast of each one is celebrated on the day of their death.
In St. Peter's Square the name of the Indian Juan Diego was heard loudly, canonized in 2002, to whom the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531.
Saint Eugene, founding bishop
St. Eugene de Mazenod, Bishop of Marseille, was the founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He was saved from the French Revolution, and instead of court life, he chose the priesthood. This day is also commemorated, among others saints and blessedThe following are also mentioned: St. Hemming of Sweden, and Saints Hospice of Nice, Mantius and Paterno.
St. Hemming and St. Virginia
St. Hemming was born north of Upsala, in Sweden, at the end of the 13th century. Once ordained a priest, he went to Paris to complete his studies. On his return to his homeland, in 1338 he was elected bishop of Abo, today's Turku in Finland. He had numerous initiatives in liturgical and educational matters, and established free services for the poor.
Saint Virginia Centurione (Genoa, XVII century), had to accept her father's decision and marry a rich young man with a disorderly life. At the death of her husband, widowed at the age of 20, she received the vocation to "serve God in his poor and needy". His work was developed in two congregations religious. She was enriched by the Lord with ecstasies, visions and interior locutions.
