The brave 14-year-old for Christ, St. José Sánchez del Río, martyred for his refusal to deny Christ. The soldiers cut the skin off the bottoms of José’s feet and made him walk on salt. Screaming in pain, José did not give in to their demands.
Faced with this choice, what would you do? That’s the situation, 14-year-old St. José Sánchez del Río. Martyred for his refusal to deny Christ, St. José was a member of the Cristeros, a group of landowners, ranchers and sharecroppers who revolted against the anti-Catholic government of Mexico in 1926. The Mexican government had implemented laws intended to marginalize and eliminate the Catholic Church from the lives of its people.
St. José’s parents were cattle ranchers who lived in Sahuayo, Michoacán, Mexico, about 300 miles west of Mexico City. They raised their four children with great devotion to the Catholic faith. José was third in the lineup of their children, born on March 28, 1913.
Even as a young boy, little St. José said his rosary daily, attended Holy Hours with the Blessed Sacrament, and encouraged other children in the faith. Only 12 years old when the Cristero War broke out, José pleaded with his mother to be allowed to join his two older brothers in the Cristeros. She objected strongly to his pleas, but young José responded, Mama, do not let me lose the opportunity to gain heaven so easily and so soon.
Commander Prudencio Mendoza of the Cristeros did not want young José to join the ranks either. He said to José, What contribution can so small a boy make to our army? José answered, I ride well. I know how to tend horses, clean weapons and spurs, and how to fry beans and tortillas.
Mendoza relented, allowing José to be the flag bearer for the troop. In this position, José received the nickname Tarsicius in reference to an early Christian martyr who died protecting the Eucharist. Mendoza soon promoted him to be an aide of General Ruben Guizar Morfin.
The general promoted him to bugler, and it became José’s job to ride with the general into combat, and deliver his orders via the bugle. During heavy combat on February 6, 1928, General Morfin’s horse was shot by the opposing force. 14-year-old José jumped off his horse and shouted, General, take my mount and escape to safety.
You are of far greater importance to the Cristero cause than I am. He helped the general atop the horse and slapped the horse’s rear, sending the horse and general on their way. Shooting from behind a rock until he was out of ammunition, José was eventually captured by federal soldiers, who shackled him in irons and imprisoned him.
During captivity, José wrote to his mother telling her he was ready to suffer for Christ. Trust in God’s will. I die happy because I am dying next to our Lord.
The soldiers forced him to watch as they tortured another Cristero. Instead of allowing this to frighten him, José encouraged his comrades, saying, You will be in heaven before me. Prepare a place for me.
Tell Christ the King I shall be with him soon. Angered even more, the soldiers cut the skin off the bottoms of José’s feet and made him walk on salt. Screaming in pain, José did not give in to their demands to renounce Christ.
With every wound inflicted, he cried out, Long live Christ the King! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe! On February 10, 1928, he was cut with a machete and shot several times at point-blank range until he died. Proclaimed one of the Church’s most recent saints, young José was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.
Nelson MCBS 
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