• =?UTF-8?Q?22_November_'_Saint_Pedro_Esqueda_Ramirez?=

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Sat Nov 21 09:17:41 2020
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    22 November ' Saint Pedro Esqueda Ramirez

    =C2 Priest, Martyr of the Cristero War, Apostle of Eucharistic Adoration,
    of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Charity, devoted to the youth and
    especially their Catechesis ' born on 29 April 1887 in San Juan de =
    los
    Lagos, Jalisco, Diocese of San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico and died by
    being shot three times on 22 November 1927 in Teocaltit=C3=A1n, Jalisco, Mexico, he was 40 years old. Additional memorial 21 May as one of the
    Martyrs of the Mexican Revolution.

    St Pedro was born in San Juan de los Lagos, Jal. (Diocese of San Juan
    de los Lagos), on 29 April 1887. His parents Margarito Esqueda and
    Nicanora Ram=C3=ADrez did not realise that they had brought into the world
    an authentic, brave and holy Priest, who would witness Christ to the
    world.

    At 4 years of age he began his instruction in a private school. His
    early association with the parish as a choir and altar boy awakened
    his vocation to the priesthood. His academic record was impeccable.
    His childhood was enriched by piety and hopeful joy. He erected altars
    at which he pretended to be celebrating the Mass, the dream that fed
    his spirit.

    At age 15 he entered the seminary in Guadalajara but in 1914 the
    Seminary was forcibly seized and closed by the Government. Pedro
    returned to San Juan de los Lagos where he helped as a Deacon in the
    parish. He completed his studies at the Seminary in Guadalajara and
    was ordained a Priest in 1916 and appointed Parish Priest of his
    native parish, a position he held during the 10+ years of his priestly ministry. The ministry to which he dedicated himself with true
    passion, was the Catechesis of children. He founded several study
    centres and a school for the formation of Catechists. He also promoted
    the Eucharistic Crusade association fed by his love for the Eucharist,
    devotion that, together with his love for the Blessed Virgin, he
    extended among the faithful. From the Eucharist he drew his strength
    and encouragement. He was also spared nothing of the little he had, in
    his kindness and help to the poor.

    In 1926 Government forces began a fierce anti-clerical campaign and
    issued an order of persecution and the good people of the town tried
    to convince Pedro to flee to another place. He only agreed to take
    refuge on a provisional basis in some places always close to the
    faithful, whom he continued to attend pastorally. Fr Pedro continued
    his work but lived in several private houses, in one of which, they
    opened a hole in the floor where they kept the ornaments and sacred
    vessels and where at times the priest had to hide.

    At the beginning of November 1927 he sought refuge in Jalostotitl=C3=A1n, Jalisco. But he returned to San Juan, led by his love to the
    parishioners. He didn't want to leave them without assistance. He
    stayed at the Sacred Heart hospital. And the hosts of the homes where
    he was welcomed, seriously begged him to escape. But Peter was not
    willing to do so and testifying to his great faith, he said: =E2=80=9CGod brought me here, I trust in God=E2=80=9D.

    He was arrested on 18 November of that year 1927. In a miserable and
    dark room he suffered patiently the fierceness of the scourges and
    other cruelties that caused the fracture of one of his arms. But the
    most painful torment was to see the sacred objects desecrated before
    him, the ornaments destroyed and the parish archive ransacked. A cruel
    and infamous torture for a man of God, an innocent person whose only
    mission was to love Christ and others. The incessant torture lasted
    until 22 November. Battered and full of wounds, they forced him to
    climb a tree by himself. There he was shot mercilessly by a high
    officer who poured into him his torrent of anger when he saw that he
    could not stand on the pyre they had arranged to burn him to death by
    setting fire to the tree in question.

    On the way to his particular Calvary, wrapped in a heroic silence, he
    left his will of fidelity to Catechesis and the Gospel to some
    children who walked beside him in tears.
    He was Beatified on 22 November 1992 and Canonized by St Pope John
    Paul II on 21 May 2000.

    see
    https://anastpaul.com/2019/11/


    Saint Quote:
    This Blood--that but one drop of--has the power to win All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.
    --St. Thomas Aquinas

    Bible Quote:
    "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through
    Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me."=C2 [Psalm 119:97-98]


    <><><><>
    I am going to reveal to you the secret of sanctity and happiness.
    =C2 Every day for five minutes control your imagination and close your ey=
    es
    =C2 to the things of sense and your ears to all the noises of the world,
    in order to enter into yourself.

    =C2 Then in the sanctity of your Baptized soul, [which is the Temple of t=
    he
    Holy Spirit] speak to that Divine Spirit, saying to Him:

    Oh, Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul. I adore Thee.
    Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me.
    Tell me what I should do . . . give me Thy orders.
    I promise to submit myself to all that Thou desireth of me
    and to accept all that Thou doth permit to happen to me.
    Let me only know Thy will.

    If you do this, your life will flow along happily, serenely and full of consolation, even in the midst of trials. Grace will be proportioned to the trial, giving you the strength to carry it and you will arrive at the gates
    of Paradise, laden with merit.

    This submission to the Holy Spirit is the secret of sanctity.
    --Joseph Cardinal Mercier

    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)