BEATIFICATION OF 522 TWENTIETH-CENTURY SPANISH MARTYRS
We publish below the full text of Pope Francis' video message,
broadcast at the beginning of the beatification ceremony for 522
twentieth-century Spanish martyrs, which took place in Tarragona, Spain.
"I would like to express my
heartfelt participation in the celebration taking place in Tarragona in
which a great number of pastors, consecrated persons and lay faithful
are being proclaimed Blessed martyrs.
"Who are the martyrs? They are Christians won over by Christ, disciples
who have understood fully the path to that "love to the extreme limit"
that led Jesus to the Cross. There is no such thing as love in
consignments or in portions. Total love: and when one loves truly, one
loves to the very end. On the Cross, Jesus felt the weight of death, the
weight of sin, but He entrusted Himself entirely to the Father, and He
forgave. He barely uttered a word, but He gave His life. Christ precedes
and awaits us in love; the martyrs imitated Him in loving to the very
end.
"The Holy Fathers say, 'Imitate the martyrs!' It is always necessary to
die a little in order to come out of ourselves, to leave behind our
selfishness, our comfort, our laziness, our sadness, and to open
ourselves to God, and to others, especially those most in need.
"We
implore the intercession of the martyrs in order to be true Christians,
Christians not only in words but in deeds; so as not to be mediocre
Christians, Christians painted with a superficial gloss of Christianity
but without substance; the martyrs were not glossed and painted
Christians, they were were Christians to the very end. Let us ask their
help to stay firm in faith, in spite of difficulties, and let us too
nurture hope and be architects of brotherhood and solidarity.
"And I ask you to pray for me. May Jesus bless them and the Holy Virgin
protect them".