The archdiocese will celebrate a Holy Mass, followed by talks and veneration of the relics of Blessed Anacleto Gonzalez Flores.
By Catholics for Catholics
On the anniversary of the birth of a Mexican martyr, the Archdiocese of San Antonio will hold a celebration of his life and history.
The archdiocese will celebrate on July 13 the life of Blessed Anacleto Gonzalez Flores, a layman, lawyer and catechist who was killed by anti-Catholic government forces during Mexico’s Cristero War. Many Mexican Catholics during the 1920s rose and took arms to defend the Catholic Church from the religious persecution of the government.
According to Catholic News Agency, Gonzalez was born in 1888 in Tepatitlán, in the highlands of the Mexican state of Jalisco. He was a well-known layman, lawyer, and catechist, recognized for his profound faith and leadership during the religious persecution in Mexico in the 1920s.
He founded associations for Christian formation and defended the rights of the Church, promoting peaceful resistance to the government’s anti-clerical laws. Government forces arrested, tortured, and executed Gonzalez on April 1, 1927. In Nov. 15, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI approved his beatification and in 2019, he was named patron saint of the Mexican laity.
According to CNA, the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s celebration will begin at noon on Sunday, July 13, with a Mass at St. Andrew’s Church in Pleasanton, Texas.
The Holy Mass will be followed at 1:15 p.m. with a talk in English about the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s support, often including providing aid for persecuted Mexican Catholics. This will be followed by a bilingual presentation of the Spanish-language book “Anacleto González Flores: From the Word to Social Transformation.” The celebration will conclude with the veneration of the first-class relics of Blessed Anacleto starting at 2:15 p.m.
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