7/27/2019 Blessed Martyrs of Valencia
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Blessed Martyrs of Valencia
The five blessed to whom we dedicate these pages weremembers of
the Institute of the Brothers of the ChristianSchools. Their only
concern was to follow Jesus in the vocationto which he had called
them: to gain salvation by educating
young people, teaching them to live as Christians.
When religious persecution began in Spain, they were
workingpeacefully in the educational institutions in the Lasallian
Districtof Barcelona. Because of the religious persecution there,
theyfled to Valencia in order to continue their ministry of
education.It was in Valencia that the Lord called them to a
radicalwitness. When they were found to be religious, they
werearrested and executed.
Martyrs are a sign of the Church, the Body of Christ,
whichcontinues being persecuted and condemned to death in
hermembers, but these martyrs keep their sights fixed on the
glorious dawn of the resurrection.
This is the lesson that the Martyrs give to us, yesterday
andtoday. We should be ready to imitate their generosity.
Brothers Florencio Martn,Bertrn Francisco,Ambrosio Len, Elas
Julin,Honorato Andrs, andFather Leonardo O. Buera, chaplain of the
Bonanova School, gave their lives for being faithful totheir roles
as ministers and ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
Even though they knew that affirming their state as religious
would lead them to death, they did nothesitate in admitting their
faith in Jesus and the fact that they belonged to the Institute of
the Brothersof the Christian Schools.
These five Brothers, now newly beatified, had no other job than
that of following Jesus in thevocation to which He had called them:
To bring salvation to the young and children, that is to say,
toeducate young people and children entirely in a Christian manner,
so that they might achieve theirfull potential as human beings and
as Christians.
With their beatification, their names will increase the number
of saints and blessed among theLasallian world. Beginning with St.
John Baptist de La Salle, our Founder, and then later with
BrotherSalomon Leclerq, the first Brother martyr during the French
Revolution, they ensure that fidelity tothe Lord along the path of
the integrated education of young men and women, boys and
girls,constitutes a Gospel journey.
Young person, teacher, Lasallian partner, parent, this message
invites us also to devote our lives to
the Kingdom, based on our chosen lifestyles and the professional
activities we carry out. The causeof the Kingdom compels our lives
to acquire the religious dimension which is a source for
happinessand continued strength, even when facing life's most
difficult tests.
Along with our newly beatified Lasallians we remember many other
martyrs whose lives wereviolently snatched away for the sole reason
that they were proclaimers of Jesus Christ. We recall ourmartyrs
from France, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Vietnam, Guatemala,
Colombia, and Spain.We also venerate the memory of so many Brothers
and Lasallian partners who devoted their lives ina gradual way, day
after day, bit by bit like a piece of chalk on the blackboard in
the anonymity of
http://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/florencio.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/bertran.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/bertran.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/ambrosio.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/elias.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/honorato.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/honorato.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/florencio.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/bertran.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/ambrosio.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/elias.htmlhttp://www.lasalle.org/English/Heritage/honorato.html
