Pedro de Jesus Maldonado, Saints of the Cristero War (Memorial to Mexican Martyrs) - San Luis, CO, USA
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 37° 12.134 W 105° 25.862
13S E 461750 N 4117393
This memorial garden honors the Mexican priests who were martyred during the Cristero War (1926-1929 Mexico). The priests were later canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
Waymark Code: WM1026Y
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 02/10/2019
Views: 0
"Because of the political unrest in Mexico, Father Pedro de Jesus Maldonado was ordained in El Paso, Texas. Returning home, he became pastor of Santa Isabel, Chihuahua. In the early 1930s, he was sent back to safety in Texas, but he begged to be allowed to return. A group of armed and drunken men arrested him at his house and made him walk barefoot to Santa Isabel. He recited his rosary along the way. He was beaten and hit on the head so hard that his left eye popped out. He had prayed for the grace of receiving final Communion. He had a consecrated host with him in a pyx, and when his murderers found it, one of them forced him to eat it saying, “Eat this, this is your last Communion!” He was then beaten until he was unconscious, then taken to the civil hospital where he died on February 11, 1937." (from (
visit link) )
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"Next to the shrine, there is the Memorial of the Spanish Martyrs, a series of other statues honoring the Spanish priests who worked to convert the natives to Christianity and gave their lives for their beliefs.
"Dedicated in 1990, the Shrine was built as an act of faith and love for the parishioners of the Sangre de Cristo Parish," according to the church's website. "It is a place of prayer and solace open to members of all faiths and people of good will."" (from (
visit link) )