Blessed José Sanchez del Rio
[Blessed Jose's] martyrdom was witnessed by several people, among them a seven-year-old boy who would later become the founder of a religious congregation, Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ and of the Regnum Christi Movement. In the book-length interview “Christ is my Life” (www.christismylife.org), he speaks of the decisive role that his friend, José Luis,’ testimony had for his vocation.
“He was captured by government forces, which wanted to give the civilian population that supported the Cristeros an exemplary lesson,” remembers the founder, who was then seven years old. “[…] Then the skin of the soles of his feet was sheered off, and he was obliged to walk through the village towards the cemetery,” he remembers. “He wept and moaned with pain, but would not give in. Every now and then, the stopped and said: ‘If you cry out “Death to Christ the King,” well will spare your life. Say “Death to Christ the King!”’ But he answered, ‘Hail to Christ the King!’” […] “Once in the cemetery, before shooting him, they asked him once more if he would deny his faith. He refused and was killed right then and there. He died crying out as many other Mexicans did: ‘Hail to Christ the King!’” […] “These are indelible images of my memory and of the memory of the Mexican people, although often there is not much mention of it in the official history” (Christ is my Life, n. 4).