Tema: Paracuellos - 75th anniversary

Paracuellos - 75th anniversary

[On the 70th anniversary of the Passion of Spain, in 2006, our special series included as one of its most relevants texts the list of the Martyrs of Paracuellos de Jarama. Since then, several others have been beatified - and 22 will be beatified on December 17. Blogger Francisco Cigüeña, who was present there on Sunday- with only a few hundred others - rightly calls Paracuellos the largest reliquary in the world. These are our martyrs, this is our glorious Church: dear Martyrs of Paracuellos, you who are so dear to Almighty God, pray for Holy Mother Church, pray for Spain! Queen of Martyrs, intercede for us!]

Exactly 75 years ago, on November 7 and November 8 (and from November 28 to November 30), 1936, the largest isolated massacre of Catholics in modern times happened in the outskirts of Madrid, near the foot of a hill called Cerro San Miguel (Saint Michael Hill), in Paracuellos de Jarama.

Many thousands of Catholics were martyred by the forces which defended the Spanish Republic (including Communists, Socialists, and Anarchists), in the most brutal and despicable ways, before and especially during the nearly three years of the Spanish Civil War -- yet no place was as soaked with the blood of martyrs in so short a time as the fields of Paracuellos.



Madrid would only fall in the hands of the Nationalists at the end of the war. Yet, in late October 1936, it seemed to the Republican government and its allies that the Capital was about to fall. The government would be transferred to Valencia, and the thousands upon thousands of prisoners (many of whom were not political partisans, but simply Catholic priests, religious, and lay faithful) kept in the prisons and detention centers throughout the city had to be "discarded"...

By trains and trucks they went, hundreds and hundreds for three days, beginning on November 6. When the prisoners arrived at Paracuellos, they had to dig up their mass graves, and were shot by the leftist squadrons, dozens at a time. Many were also buried alive.

The flow of prisoners to Paracuellos was interrupted on November 8, when the advance of the Nationalist forces seemed under control, and due to the intervention of many foreign diplomats.

On November 28-30, thousands more were murdered at Paracuellos, including almost all the Augustinian friars of the great Royal Monastery of Saint Lawrence of El Escorial. Some historians estimate that the total number of people murdered in Paracuellos in November 1936 may have reached almost 5,000, of whom an incalculable number killed solely for their Faith.

We publish below the names of some of the martyrs of Paracuellos, priests and religious brothers [identified as (br)]. Many more unidentified priests and religious, as well as non-religious laymen, were also martyred in that sanctified place. Some have been beatified; the list was obtained from several sources and is incomplete. We honor with their names all Martyrs of Paracuellos, known and unknown (the second part of the list is dedicated to the Martyrs from the Monastery of El Escorial). Their names include the sounds of all "Spains", from Catalonia to Galicia, from the Basque Country to Andalusia, all martyred in the tablelands of old Castile.

May the Martyrs of Paracuellos never be forgotten, as well as the lessons learned from days of terrible persecution under an Atheist tyranny.

Martyrs of Paracuellos, pray for us!

Martyrs of November 7-8 and November 28-30, 1936

1. Adalberto Juan (Brother of the Christian Schools)
2. Adradas Gonzalo, Juan Jesús (Blessed)
3. Alcalde Alcalde, Juan (br) (Blessed)
4. Alcalde González, Benito
5. Alcalde Negredo, Pedro María (br) (Blessed)
6. Alcobendas Merino, Severino
7. Alfonso, José (br)
8. Alfonso Beltrán (Brother of the Christian Schools)
9. Alonso Cadierno, Pedro Nolasco
10. Álvarez Melcón, Bernardino
11. Álvarez Rego, Manuel
12. Arnaiz Álvarez, Atanasio
13. Baldajos Pérez, Juan (br)
14. Basilio Julián (Brother of the Christian Schools)
15. Bautista Jiménez, Eduardo (br) (Blessed)
16. Bernalte Calzado, Pedro Alcántara (br) (Blessed)
17. Blanco, Vicente
18. Bocos, Ángel (br)
19. Caballero, Juan José (subdeacon)
20. Carmona, Isabelino
21. Daciano (Brother of the Christian Schools)
22. Delgado Pérez, José (br)
23. Delgado Vílchez, Hilario (br) (Blessed)
24. Díez Fernández, Jenaro
25. Díez Sahún, Clemente (br) (Blessed)
26. Donoso Murillo, Arturo (br) (Blessed)
27. Escribano Herranz, Mariano
28. Esteban, Francico
29. Esteban, Gregorio
30. Eufrasio María (Brother of the Christian Schools)
31. Fanjul Acebal, Alfonso
32. Feijoo, Zacarías
33. Fernández González, Justo (br)
34. Floriano Félix (Brother of the Christian Schools)
35. Franco Prieto, Emilio
36. García González, Senén
37. García Molina, Diego de Cádiz (br) (Blessed)
38. García Pérez, José (novice)
39. Garzón González, Anastasio
40. Gesta de Piquer, Jesús (br) (Blessed)
41. Gil Arribas, Valentín
42. Gil, Justo (deacon)
43. Gomara, Vidal Luis
44. Gómez Lucas, Daniel (br)
45. González Bustos, Maximino
46. Guerra, José (br)
47. Iglesias Suárez, Ramón
48. Ismael Ricardo (Brother of the Christian Schools)
49. Juan Pablo (Brother of the Christian Schools)
50. Juanes Santos, Justo
51. Julián Alberto (Brother of the Christian Schools)
52. Llop Gayá, Guillermo (br) (Blessed)
53. López Arroba, Rogelio
54. Luis Victorio (Brother of the Christian Schools)
55. Marcelino Rebollar, Julián (br)
56. Marco, Alberto
57. Martín Gago, Victorio
58. Martín Gómez, Manuel
59. Martín López, Francisco José
60. Martínez Gil-Leonis, Antonio (br) (Blessed)
61. Martínez Izquierdo, Isidoro (br) (Blessed)
62. Martínez Vélez, Dámaso
63. Martínez y Martínez, José
64. Mata Pérez, Anastasio (br)
65. Meléndez Sánchez, Martiniano (br) (Blessed)
66. Mendivelzúa, Juan
67. Mendoza Sabada, Jacinto
68. Menes Álvarez, Antonio
69. Monterroso García, Crescencio
70. Mora Velasco, José (Blessed)
71. Morquillas Fernández, Francisco
72. Múgica Goiburu, Lázaro (br) (Blessed)
73. Muñiz, Félix
74. Nogueira Guitián, Manuel (Carlos de los Santísimos Sacramentos)
75. Pablo de la Cruz (Brother of the Christian Schools)
76. Pajares García, Samuel
77. Peña, Vicente
78. Peque Iglesias, José (br)
79. Pérez Buenavista, Marcos (br)
80. Pérez Carrascal, Laureano
81. Pérez Díez, Gabriel (Manuel del Rosario)
82. Pérez Nanclares, Florencio (br)
83. Plazaola Artola, Julián (br) (Blessed)
84. Poveda Daries, Luis
85. Prado, Eleuterio (br)
86. Prieto Fuentes, José (br)
87. Reguero, Victoriano
88. Renuncio Toribio, Vicente
89. Riaño Herrero, Serviliano (br)
90. Rodrigo Fierro, Sabino
91. Rodríguez Alonso, Avelino
92. Rodríguez Crespo, Agustín
93. Rodríguez Fernández, Vicente
94. Rodríguez Peña, José María
95. Rodríguez, Clemente (br)
96. Rodríguez, Publio (br)
97. Rueda Meijías, Miguel (br) (Blessed)
98. Ruiz Cuesta, José (postulant) (Blessed)
99. Ruiz Ruiz, Leonardo
100. Ruiz Valtierra, Luciano (br)
101. Sáenz Gastón, Romualdo
102. Salvador del Río, Nicéforo (br) (Blessed)
103. Sánchez Fernández, Marcelino (br)
104. Sanz Domínguez, Manuel (br)
105. Sastre Corporales, Ángel (novice) (Blessed)
106. Sedano Sedano, Enrique
107. Sinfronio (Brother of the Christian Schools)
108. Soria Castresana, Juan
109. Touceda Fernández, Román (br) (Blessed)
110. Turrado Crespo, Eleuterio
111. Valiente, José María (br)
112. Vega Riaño, José
113. Villarroel Villarroel, Balbino
114. Zubillaga Echarri, Joaquín
115. Abia Melendro, Luis (br)
116. Alonso López, Ramiro (br)
117. Arconada Merino, Dámaso
118. Calle Franco, Bernardino (br)
119. Carvajal Pereda, Pedro J. (br)
120. Cerezal Calvo, Miguel
121. Cuesta Villalba, Víctor (br)
122. Dalmau Regas, José M. (br)
123. Diez Fernández, Nemesio (br)
124. Espeso Cuevas, Matías
125. Fariña Castro, José Agustín
126. Fincias, Julio María (br)
127. Fuentes Puebla, Francisco (br)
128. Gando Uña, José (br)
129. García Ferrero, Joaquín
130. García de la Fuente, Arturo
131. García Fernández, Nemesio (br)
132. García Suárez, Esteban
133. Garnelo Alvarez, Benito
134. Gil Leal, Gerardo
135. Guerrero Prieto, Marcos (br)
136. Iturrarán Laucirica, Miguel (br)
137. Largo Manrique, Jesús
138. López Piteira, José (br)
139. Malunbres Francés, Constantino
140. Marcos del Río, Francisco
141. Marcos Reguero, Ricardo (br)
142. Marcos Rodríguez, Julio (br)
143. Martín Mata, Román (br)
144. Martínez Antuña, Melchor
145. Martínez Ramos, Pedro
146. Mediavilla Campos, Isidro (br)
147. Merino Merino, Heliodoro
148. Monedero Fernández, Juan
149. Noriega González, José (br)
150. Pascual Mata, Gerardo (br)
151. Pérez García, José Antonio (br)
152. Renedo Martin, Agustín
153. Revilla Rico, Mariano
154. Rodríguez Gutiérrez, Conrado
155. Rodríguez González, Benito
156. Sánchez Sánchez, Juan
157. Sánchez López, Macario (br)
158. Sánchez López, Tomás (br)
159. Simón Ferrero, Pedro (br)
160. Suárez Valdés, Luis
161. Terceño Vicente, Dionisio (br)
162. Valle García, Máximo (br)
163. Varga Delgado, Pedro de la
164. Velásco Velásco, Benito
165. Zarco Cuevas, Julián

RORATE CÆLI: Paracuellos - 75th anniversary

May these brave Martyrs never be forgotten and may we follow there faith and courage! Last week when I flew out of Barajas Airport I could see the large cross in the hill at Paracuellos from the runway. I offered up a prayer and told the story of the Martyrs to my travel companions.