Atilano Cruz Alvarado, Saints of the Cristero War (Memorial to Mexican Martyrs) - San Luis, CO, USA
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Outspoken1
N 37° 12.118 W 105° 25.831
13S E 461796 N 4117363
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: WM1024J
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 02/10/2019
Views: 0
"Atilano Cruz Alvarado was born in Teocaltiche on October 5, 1901. He worked as a ranch hand for his family until the parents decided to send him to Teocaltiche to learn to read and write. There he discovered his vocation and entered a clandestine seminary in 1918. Two years later, he was sent to Guadalajara to finish his training. He was ordained on July 24, 1927, and sent to Cuquío a year later, where the parish was being run from a ranch house, "Las Cruces". There, on June 29, 1928, he joined his pastor, Justino Orona Madrigal, and they prayed and discussed the situation in their parish.[9]
In the early dawn of July 1, he was apprehended by a squad of soldiers. In the jail where he was held, Fr. Orona Madrigal and his brother were there, covered with wounds. While he was praying at the foot of the bed, the soldiers shot Fr. Cruz. His still living body was thrown onto the porch together with Fr. Orona. The two were then taken to Cuquío, where their bodies were dragged through the central square, during which they died." (from (
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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 (
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