A Mass to honor San Jose Sanchez del Rio is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9, at the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians in Stony Point. A first-class relic of the saint will be featured in a pre-Mass rosary procession and blessed during the Spanish liturgy.

“We love the message of his courage and his faith. San Jose Sanchez del Rio proclaimed the faith with courage,” Fr. Manny Gallo, SDB, director of the shrine, told The Good Newsroom Aug. 4 by phone. “He was so young, and he is an inspiration to all, young and old.” Fr. Gallo will serve as principal celebrant and homilist of the Mass.

Faith over fear

San Jose Sanchez del Rio was only 14 when he was put to death in February 1928 by soldiers of the Mexican Army because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. He was a Mexican Cristero rebel and flag-bearer for the Cristeros who fought in the Cristero War, an uprising from August 1926 to June 1929. Rural Catholic peasants asserted the battle cry “Viva Cristo Rey.” The battle cry was Jose’s last words.

It was a resistance against the anticlerical laws of President Plutarco Elías Calles. Under a diplomatic accord, the war ended in June 1929 via a compromise mediated with help from U.S. Ambassador Dwight Morrow.

Sanchez del Rio was declared venerable on June 22, 2004, by Pope John Paul II and was beatified on Nov. 20, 2005, by Pope Benedict XVI. On Jan. 21, 2016, Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him, allowing for his canonization. He was made a saint on Oct. 16, 2016. The saint was born and died in Sahuayo, Michoacán, Mexico. The feast day is Feb. 10, the date of his death. He is the patron saint of persecuted Christians, children, adolescents, and the city of Sahuayo.

A festive send-off

The pre-Mass procession is set to begin at 4 p.m. at the shrine, preceded by veneration of the relic, and followed by the Mass and a dinner reception. The gathering will include music from a mariachi band. Organizers said the event will be the “inauguration, presentation, and blessing of a first-class relic.” The shrine obtained the relic in October 2025 from the Diocese of Sahuayo. The relic is a piece of the saint’s collarbone.

The shrine is located at 174 Filors Lane, Stony Point. For more information, visit their website.

“We create an environment in which young people and adults can experience the presence of God calling them into a relationship of love and service with Jesus Christ. In accord with the vision of St. John Bosco, Mary Help of Christians is our role model, teacher, and guide,” the shrine’s website says.