May. 21 Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter; Opt. Mem. of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest & Martyr, & His Companions, Martyrs, Opt. Mem.

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes (1869-1927). Christopher was joined in martyrdom by twenty-one diocesan priests and three devout laymen, all members of the Cristeros movement, who rose up in rebellion against the anti-Catholic Mexican government during the 1920s. Having erected a seminary at Totatiche, he secretly spread the Gospel and ministered to the people. Captured by government authorities, he was heard to shout from his jail cell: "I am innocent and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serve the peace of our divided Mexico."