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Origin of the Sacred Heart Badge Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque "His wish for her to order a picture of the image of that Sacred Heart for people specifically to venerate and have in their homes and also small pictures to carry with them." She wrote this to her Superior, Mother Saumaise, on March 2, 1686. Thus was born the devotion of wearing the little Badges. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque always kept a badge with her and inspired her novices to do the same. She made many badges and often said this practice was very pleasing to...

The 1920s brought a revolution to Mexico, along with the widespread persecution of Catholics. Missionaries were expelled from the country, Catholic seminaries and schools were closed, and the Church was forbidden to own property. Priests and laymen were told to denounce Jesus and their faith in public; if they refused, they faced not just punishment but torture and death. During this time of oppression and cruelty, the Knights of Columbus did not retreat in Mexico but grew dramatically, from 400 members in 1918 to 43 councils and 6,000 members just five years later. In the United States at the time,...

DENVER (CNS) -- A journey that began last year in Mexico and will end in Orlando, Fla., in August made Denver its latest stop May 5-7. A silver cross containing relics of six of the 25 Mexican martyrs canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 has been traveling under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus. Each of the six -- Sts. Pedro de Jesus Maldonado, Luis Batis Sainz, Jose Maria Robles Hurtado, Mateo Correa Megallanes, Miguel del la Mora de la Mora and Rodrigo Aguilar Aleman -- was a priest and a member of the Knights of Columbus....

Worshipers on Saturday paid tribute to a reliquary containing the bone fragments of six martyred priests, all Knights of Columbus, who were canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. "We are blessed to have those who were willing to die for our faith," said Dolores Bouis, who attending the showing after Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. The Mexican priests, members of the world's largest lay Catholic organization, were killed for refusing to renounce their faith during the 1920s when a revolution in Mexico brought widespread persecution of Catholics. The priests were Pedro de Jesus...

The relics of six Knights of Columbus canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 are beginning a tour of the United States on March 18 at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas. The six priests – Pedro de Jesus Maldonado Lucero, Miguel de la Mora de la Mora, Jose Maria Robles Hurtado, Luis Batiz Sainz, Rodrigo Aguilar Alemán, and Mateo Correa Magallanes – were martyred for their faith by the Mexican government during the religious persecution in Mexico in the1920s. “This pilgrimage seeks to promote knowledge of and devotion to the Knights of Columbus priest...

The 1920s brought a revolution to Mexico, along with the widespread persecution of Catholics. Portrait of the Mexican Martyrs at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven. Missionaries were expelled from the country, Catholic seminaries and schools were closed, and the Church was forbidden to own property. Priests and laymen were told to denounce Jesus and their faith in public; if they refused, they faced not just punishment but torture and death.During this time of oppression and cruelty, the Knights of Columbus did not retreat in Mexico but grew dramatically, from 400 members in 1918 to 43 councils...

Guadalajara, Nov. 21 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal José Saraiva Martins presided at the beatification of 13 Mexican martyrs of the 20th century, in ceremonies held in a soccer stadium in Guadalajara on November 20. The martyrs-- 3 priests and 10 laymen-- were members of the Cristeros movement, which rose up in the late 1920s to defy the anti-religious strictures of the Mexican regime. They join a growing list of 20th-century Mexicans recognized by the Church, including the 25 martyrs beatified by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) during his trip to Mexico in 2000. In a message relayed to the...

St. José María Robles Hurtado by Pedro A. MorenoPriest, Martyr and Knight : A Special Heart With a Special Beat In this article: A Heroic Priest Christ, the King of Mexico Help from the Vatican The Ultimate Witness Almost 80 years ago, on a hill outside of the small town of Quila, Jalisco, Mexico, there was a deafening and deadly silence. A special heart, a priestly heart united with Christ’s own, was stilled. Its special beat, a loving palpitation for the Eucharist, was now silent. The silence became one with the predawn darkness in which a group of soldiers finished...

Brothers in Christ The vocation to holiness expressed in the life and martyrdom of two Mexican brothers inspires their family today, including a grand knight in Guadalajara April 3 has become an unofficial feast day for Cristóbal Huerta Wilde. On that day, the grand knight of Fray Antonio Alcalde Council 3552 in Guadalajara, Central-South Mexico, remembers in a special way the heroic life and martyrdom of his grandfather, Ezequiel Huerta Gutiérrez. Ezequiel and his brother, Salvador, were executed by a government firing squad April 3, 1927, due to their involvement with the Cristeros, a group of rebels, including hundreds of...