The testimonies about him tell us that he was a normal, healthy and jovial character boy, who attended the catechism and was distinguished by his commitment to difficult parish activities; he approached the sacraments, he prayed the holy rosary every day together with his deeply Christian family. And despite being still very young, José knew very well what Mexico was experiencing at that time with the religious persecution in 1926.
When the Catholic movement of the "cristeros" began, his two older brothers, members of the Catholic Action of the Mexican Youth, entered the movement for the Defense of Religious Freedom. In Guadalajara, where the family had been forced to move, the young José visited the grave of the young lawyer Anacleto González Flores, cruelly martyred on April 1, 1927. José then asked God to be able to die as Anacleto in defense of the Catholic faith .
From that moment on, her resolution became stronger and stronger, asking her parents for permission to join the "cristeros", who despite an initial reasonable prudence on the part of her parents, as well as the "cristeros" leaders, given his young age finally consented. To his parents' objections, the young boy replied, "Mom, it has never been easier than now to go to heaven."
Finally, the young boy obtained his father's blessing and was able to join them. In the summer of 1927 he tried to join the “cristeros” together with another friend of his, a teenager like him, Lázaro, and after multiple adventures, they managed to reach the “cristeros”, who repeatedly wanted to return them to their homes, given their young age and the deadly dangers to which they were exposed. José's occupations consisted mainly of serving simple tasks that did not in any way involve his commitment to active fighting and being a standard bearer.
In a confrontation that the Cristero troops had with the federals of General Tranquilino Mendoza, on February 6, 1928, south of the town of Cotija, they almost managed to take the Cristero chief Guizar Morfín prisoner because they killed his horse, but José quickly got off the hers in a heroic act offered it to him. And so it happened: General Guizar Morfín was able to escape, but the federal troops in that skirmish took José Sánchez del Río and the young indigenous man named Lázaro prisoners. They took them handcuffed to Cotija amid blows and insults, "Let's see how little man you are." Joseph did not let out a whimper and prayed to strengthen his spirit and to overcome the humiliations and torments.
That same day 6 he was able to send a letter to his mother from prison, which is shown below:
«Cotija, Monday, February 6, 1928.
My dear mother:
I was taken prisoner in combat this day. I think that at the present time I am going to die, but nothing matters, mom, resign yourself to the will of God, I die very happy, because I die for Our Lord. Do not worry about my death, which is what mortifies me; Before, tell my other brothers to follow the example of the smallest and you do the will of God. Have courage and send me the blessing together with that of my father. Greet me for the last time and you, finally receive the heart of your son who loves you so much and to see you before dying would have wished.
Joselito José Sánchez del Río ».
On February 7, the two boys were taken to Sahuayo and locked up in the parish church of Santiago, transformed into a jail for several Catholics and a stable for government troops. The soldiers, among other desecrations, had turned the presbytery and the Tabernacle into a "fighting cocks" chicken coop, owned by the region's political chief. Faced with such desecration, young José reacted strongly by killing the roosters, and without fear of death threats from that chief, who among other things had been a friend of his family and his first communion godfather.
He, who had always distinguished himself by his devotion to the Eucharist, replied to that chief on February 8: “The house of God is for praying, not for using it as an animal stable… I am ready for anything. You can shoot me. That is how I will find myself right away in the presence of God. "One of the soldiers hit him violently in the mouth with the butt of his rifle, breaking his teeth, as in fact it was verified during the exhumation of his remains. As immediate revenge, and in the presence de José, his companion Lázaro was hanged in the plaza in front of the church; believing him dead, they abandoned him and he was saved by the gravedigger, while José remained imprisoned in the church's baptistery, where he had been baptized.
They repeatedly invited him to go to the pursuers' party; And that political leader made several very flattering proposals such as the one to enroll him in the prestigious military school of the Regime or the one to send him to the United States, but the young man firmly rejected them.
That political boss then asked the young man's family for a ransom of 5,000 gold pesos that José's father gave, and that the persecutor received despite having already murdered the young man the night before. Joseph had repeatedly asked his parents not to pay that ransom since he had already offered his life to God and that "his faith was not for sale."
On February 10, 1928, José was transferred around 6 pm from the parish to a nearby inn. Around 7 in the afternoon he managed to send a letter to his aunt Maria, where he communicated that he would be shot shortly afterwards for his fidelity to Christ and the Catholic faith, and asked that another aunt, named Magdalena, bring him Communion. You'll make it. Everything happened around 8 at night. In that inn, converted into a headquarters for the troops, the soldiers skinned his feet with a dagger.
At around 11 p.m. after skinning his feet, they made him walk, hitting him, across the street that led to the municipal cemetery. The carnífices wanted to force him to apostatize from the faith with torture, but they did not succeed. His lips only opened to shout "Long live Christ the King and Saint Mary of Guadalupe!".
At the cemetery, the chief of the soldiers ordered them to stab him to prevent the shots from being heard in the town. There was the curfew. The young martyr, with each stab, shouted with an edge of voice: "Long live Christ the King!", "Long live Saint Mary of Guadalupe!". Then, the military chief, with his pistol, fired a couple of shots in the head. His body was thrown into a small pit, covered with little soil. It was 11:30 at night on Friday, February 10, 1928.
Then, during the deep night, the gravedigger and some good souls, secretly, returned to the place, took him out of the pit, covered him with a sheet and buried him again in the same place. In 1954, the remains of the Martyr were buried and transferred to the nearby church of the Sacred Heart. In 1996 they were again buried and transported to the parish of Santiago Apóstol de Sahuayo.
The canonization of the child cristero José Sánchez del Río on October 16, 2016 was received with great joy in Mexico. Some 20,000 people gathered in the city of the teenage martyr, Sahuayo.
Prayer to Saint José Sánchez del
Río
Saint José
Sánchez del Río, littlest soldier of Christ whose last bloody steps brought you
to the arms of Our Lord and Our Lady, keep healthy and strong the steps of Our
Lord’s soldiers who remain here on earth, so that they may have your strength
to endure and persevere to the end. Amen. Viva Cristo Rey!
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