Weekly Collection - the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little ...

BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE LITTLE FLOWER
6. Read about the lives of saints, blessed, and martyrs who paid the ultimate price for freedom!
The relics of six of the Mexican Martyrs canonized by Blessed Pope John Paul II in 2000
were venerated after all Masses at San Fernando Cathedral on the first weekend of June, and
there are many more saintly men and women –including the courageous 14 year-old Blessed José
Sánchez del Río– whose lives are worth reading about and whose intercession we are encouraged
to seek. Read Today's Catholic to learn about the six Mexican priests martyred for the
Faith, whose relics visited San Antonio this month and learn about several more Mexican martyrs
and saints who lived and died for the Faith despite the tortures and threats
www.bing.com/search?q=complete+list+of+mexican+martyrs&src=IE-
SearchBox&FORM=IE8SRC.)
7. Watch and listen to comments by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, Bishop Oscar Cantú,
and Andrew Walther, the Knights of Columbus’ Vice-President for Media, Research and Development
at a recent press conference about religious freedom, our Month of Prayer for Religious
Freedom, the Mexican Martyrs of the 1920s, and the role of the Knights of Columbus
(countered by the Ku Klux Klan!) in defense of the Church’s religious freedom; read about the
holy lives of six Mexican Martyrs whose relics recently visited San Antonio in a booklet (in
Spanish) prepared for the occasion: www.archsa.org/MexicanMartyr.aspx.
8. Watch a documentary which chronicles the history of the Cristero War and provides an inside
look at the new motion picture For Greater Glory (Cristiada.) The documentary includes interviews
with leading historians, cast members, and Catholic leaders, including Bishop Plácido
Rodríguez (Bishop of Lubbock) whose own father lived through the Cristero War, and
Archbishop José H. Gómez (Metropolitan Archbishop of Los Angeles and former Metropolitan
Archbishop of San Antonio.) View the EWTN special For Greater Glory: The True Story Of The
Cristeros on YouTube.
9. Read the June 15 issue of Today’s Catholic, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Antonio,
to learn more about our first, most cherished liberty and what we can each do, even beyond
the 4 th of July, to protect and defend our freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, and
respond to the call “for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong
critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism
which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining
the future of American society. (Pope Benedict XVI, Ad limina address to bishops of the United
States, January 19, 2012.)
10. ¡En español! Listen to Martha Fernández-Sardina in an interview on Virgen de Guadalupe
Radio’s live program “Algo sobre nosotros”, as she explains the various issues at hand in the
defense and protection of our first, most cherished liberty. Find the interview at http://
player.vimeo.com/video/44040519, or search www.vimeo.com for Martha Fernández-Sardina.
We thank you for joining us in prayer, study, catechesis, and action on behalf of our first, most cherished
liberty as we prepare to celebrate another Independence Day this coming 4 th of July, having
celebrated well the Memorial-Feast Days of several Martyr-Saints who were willing to give
their lives for Christ and His Church.
May Justin Martyr (June 1), Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More (June 22), St. John The Baptist (June
24), Ss. Peter and Paul (June 29), and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome (June 30), along with
all angels and saints, pray for us and with us! May Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the
Americas and Star of the New Evangelization, intercede for us, as together we say with joy, both
privately and publicly: Hail to Christ the King!