For Greater Glory

In this post I described a film coming out about the Cristeros war (1926-1929) in Mexico.

The date for the release is June 1. The film's name is to be For Greater Glory. See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1566501/

Viva Christo Rey!

The picture below shows the martyrdom in early April of 1927 of Fr. Francisco Vera, parish Priest of Sangre y Cuerpo de Cristo in the city of Jalostotitlan, Jalisco.

Martyrdom of Fr. Francisco Vera

Padre was celebrating Mass in secret for his people when he was discovered by Freemasons and, with the support of a socialist and vehemently anti-Catholic government and media, executed on the spot. He was not allowed to remove his vestments, and this photograph was sent to President Calles by the leader of the squad to prove how zealous he was being against the Catholic Church. Father Vera's body was taken to a garbage dump outside the city, where it was further desecrated.

This scene was just one of numerous anti-religious atrocities committed by the Mexican government during the Cristero War, a period of Catholic resistance to state persecution comparable in sentiment if not in scale to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Battle Hymn of the Cristeros
La Virgen María es nuestra protectora y nuestra defensora cuando hay que temer,
Vencerá a los demonios gritando "¡Viva Cristo Rey!"
Vencerá a los demonios gritando "¡Viva Cristo Rey!"
Soldados de Cristo: ¡Sigamos la bandera que la Cruz enseña el ejército de Dios!
Sigamos la bandera gritando, "¡Viva Cristo Rey!"

For an upcoming film on the matter, see http://www.cristiadafilm.com

Mexico City Photos

Pentecost - Whitsunday
Queenship of Mary

I put more Mexico City photos on my Flickr page.

Guadalupe

"For I am truly your compassionate Mother: your Mother and the Mother to all who dwell in this land and to all other nations and peoples who love me and call and entreat me. I am the Mother of all who seek me and place their trust in me."
- Our Lady of Guadalupe

At the shrine of Guadalupe, Mexico

The pinnacle of my trip last weekend was a visit to the Shrine of Guadalupe.

Mexico City After All

So I went to Mexico City after all.

Friday night I arrived and was greeted by an earthquake. Cell phone coverage was spotty for a time as a result, so it took me a while to get in touch with my local contacts; otherwise I was unaffected.

Saturday I visited the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which was the fulfillment of an old promise. Later in the day I went to the Teotihuacan pyramids; in the first 41 years of my life I managed to avoid climbing any pyramids, but on Saturday I made up for lost time by climbing three. I ended the day with a trip to the Tepotzotlan museum.

Sunday I visited the Church of the Holy Family and paid my respects to Bl. Fr. Pro; after that I went to Mass. Afterward I spent the afternoon at the Anthropological Museum.

Tomorrow I fly home; photos, video, and more details to follow.

Upcoming Trip?

I've been planning a Memorial Day weekend trip to Mexico City to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

That trip is now put in doubt by the recent swine flu business. Another time, perhaps.

Guadalupe

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

I received my picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a birthday gift from my wife in April, 2000. In February I'd returned from my first Ignatian retreat, and I spoke with great enthusiasm about this image of the Blessed Virgin.

My Birthday Present
In the Living Room

In some ways changing your creed is not unlike learning to speak a new language, when your grammar is still atrocious and your vocabulary is limited and your Neanderthalic pronunciations make the accomplished speakers cringe in pain. Similarly, I had completed the Catechism by the time I was Baptized, but solid as that foundation was there was still more building to do in terms of assumptions to be reconsidered, bad habits to be weeded out, weak virtues to be reinforced and strengthened, and decisions and friendships and commitments to be re-evaluated.

Phoenix was home to the chapel where I went on my first retreat. I was beyond thrilled to be there in no small part because back home we hadn't yet been able to save enough pennies to begin construction on our own church, which meant that we were having Mass in places like hotel conference rooms (where I was Baptized and Confirmed) and the basements of parishioners' homes. Thus, I'd been a Catholic for over a year before I went to Mass in an actual church.*

Day one of the retreat I crept down early to the retreat chapel and slipped inside, for the first time in my life alone with my Lord in the tabernacle.

To the right as you enter the chapel is a votive stand, and above it is a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I knelt before the image and lit a candle, then asked the Mother of God to help me find the answer to a perplexing question during the retreat. The right answer presented itself to me that day during one of the conferences. I repeated this each day of the retreat, with the same result each day.

On the last day of the retreat I made a pledge to the Blessed Virgin to be one of her foot soldeirs.

Our Lady of Guadalupe and Mexican Cross in Tile & Tin
The latter courtesy of the Amadors

God always answer our prayers, and that prayer was no exception.

* Sometimes I'm asked what I "get out of" my religion, as if it were a kind of hobby or self-help program. The answer is that I don't do it for a personal payoff, I do it to love and honor God. The early Christians managed in the Roman catacombs, so I have no complaints about my tour of duty in the Catholic Hotel; even so, it is useful as a refutation of the "religion as reward" assumption.