Guadalajara – “I fear nothing. You are with me” is the motto that gives the title to the documentary “You are with me: Carmelite Martyrs of Guadalajara,” presented on Saturday, May 2nd, on the HM Television YouTube channel.
The chosen date coincides with the anniversary of the entrance, on May 2, 1925, of Blessed Teresa of the Child Jesus and Saint John of the Cross into the Monastery of Saint José in Guadalajara. The nun was murdered on July 24, 1936, along with Blessed María Pilar of Saint Francis Borgia and Blessed María Ángeles of Saint Joseph, in the context of the religious persecution at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
The documentary presents the life and faith testimony of the three Discalced Carmelites, considered examples of holiness, fidelity, and forgiveness. According to the investigations carried out, the cause of their death was clearly hatred of the faith.
The video features contributions from several experts. Fr. Fernando Moral Acha, Deputy Director of the Office for the Causes of Saints of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, emphasizes: “Martyrs are not just a life, a death, a chronology of events, but rather an authentic witness of life.” For his part, Fr. Jorge López Teulón, postulator of the causes of the martyrs of the religious persecution of 1934–1939, highlights the magnitude of those events: “What happened in Spain was the greatest persecution in the history of the Church in the shortest period of time: in just six months, 12 bishops, an apostolic administrator, more than 4,000 priests, and more than 3,000 religious lost their lives violently.” Furthermore, Antonio Benéitez Domínguez, OCD, Prior of the Convent of San Benito el Real, Valladolid, presents these three women as “models of responding to God’s call.” Finally, Sister Humildad Blanco Ortega, a Carmelite Slave of the Holy Family, reminds us that “the life of a martyr is not improvised, but rather prepared day by day.”
Testimonies linked to the monastery in Guadalajara have also been collected, including those of a Discalced Carmelite nun from the community and relatives of the blessed women. Among the most significant accounts is the conversion of one of those responsible for the nuns’ martyrdom.
The three nuns are part of the group of martyrs killed during the waves of violence that plagued Catholic communities in Spain during the 1930s. They were the first victims of that period to be beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 29, 1987. Similarly, on April 27, the Pope authorized new decrees regarding the martyrdom of Stanislao Ortega García and 48 companions, along with the priest Emanuele Berenguer Clusella, also murdered in 1936 out of hatred for the faith.
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