March 28 is the birthday of St. José Sánchez del Río, a 14-year-old boy who was martyed during the Cristero War in Mexico in 1928. 

While many Catholic families celebrate beloved saints’ feast days and their children’s namesakes, there’s something special about celebrating the saints’ birthdays too: They are a concrete reminder that the saints were real people who walked the earth and partook of the joyful occasions we also look forward to.

Known as Joselito, St. José Sánchez del Río was a flagbearer for the Cristero movement in Mexico during the Cristero War (a time of intense, government-sanctioned sanctions on the Catholic Church). When his brothers joined the Catholic rebels, Joselito’s mother tried to stop him from joining too, but he insisted that he wanted to give his life for Christ.

Joselito was captured by government troops, who pressured him to renounce his Catholic faith. He refused. They forced him to watch the hanging of another Cristero, but it didn’t break his resolve. Joselito encouraged his comrade. Some of his last words were, “We will see each other in heaven. Viva Cristo Rey (Long live Christ the King)!”

Since they were unable to scare Joselito into apostasy, they forced him on a death march. He continued to pray the Rosary, praying for his persecutors, and singing hymns of praise. He was killed just shy of his 15th birthday.

It is less likely that our children will end up being killed for their faith and more likely that they will face some degree of persecution for their faith. They will be pressured by their friends to commit sin and reject the faith. They will be pressured by authorities to commit sin and reject the faith. They will be pressured by the culture to commit sin and reject the faith.

But by teaching our children about the lives and witnesses of the young martyrs, St. José and St. Kizito, St. Maria Goretti, St. Tarcisius, St. Philomena, St. Agnes and more, we plant the seeds of Christian hope: No matter what terrible things happen in the world, we know that God is real, heaven is real, eternity is real, and we don’t have to be afraid.

Not only that, but we can celebrate the young saints’ lives with joy and a sense of camaraderie: Joselito was an ordinary boy who loved his family and his faith: He prayed the Rosary daily, was devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and cherished the Holy Eucharist. Those seeds of faith were cultivated in his home so much so that he and his two older brothers were deeply convicted to defend their Catholic faith against the hatred of the socialist Mexican government. 

“Never was it so easy to become a saint,” Joselito told his mother before joining the Cristeros. “And I don’t want to miss the opportunity.”

Surely, he embraced the opportunity with every ounce of his being!

Here is a prayer* you can teach your children to pray often:

 

St. José Sánchez del Río, you were

faithful to God, even when faced with death.

Help me to be brave, even when it’s hard.

Help me to be faithful, even when I’m tempted.

Help me to stay on the right path, even

when others go down different paths.

Be my friend and stay with me when I feel alone.

Pray for me, so I can be happy in Heaven forever,

like you. Amen.

 

If you are looking for a new place of pilgrimage, there is a beautiful chapel dedicated to St. José that my family and I discovered on a recent trip to Connecticut. Nestled in the city of Norwalk, providentially at St. Joseph’s Church on South Main Street, a tiny chapel inside a former convent is home to both a relic of the young saint and a remarkable origin story. (Be sure to click this link to the Bridgeport Diocese’s feature on the chapel.)

In thinking about Joselito’s birthday, the gift God gives us is that Joselito will always be a young boy, a reminder to our young children to persevere in the faith, no matter the cost.

St. Jose Sanchez del Rio, happy birthday! Pray for us!

 

*©2022 David and Debbie Cowden. Reprinted with permission.