Viva Christo Rey

“Long live Christ the King!”

Such was the cry that opened the gates of Heaven and eternal glory to many blessed during the Catholic resistance in the Mexico of the 1920s. The Cristero martyrs shouted it as they were executed by the communist regime they had fought: a tyrannical regime that shut down their churches, persecuted religion and spread disgrace over Mexico, the great gloved nation of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In this photograph, we see the young engineer, Luis Segura Vilchis, (left) walking toward his place of execution. He is as serene as if he were walking up the aisle of a church for Holy Communion. Such is his serenity that we can easily picture him in former times about to receive the God for Whom he is now to die.

Impressively pure, masculine and noble of countenance, well dressed, and visibly possessing good breeding, this hero can rightly be considered a model Catholic youth; a youth that is serious, generous, and filled with faith and courage. He shows no fear, no horror…nothing! His expression remains unchanged as he contemplates the stark reality so crudely presented before his eyes.

He is its next victim, nevertheless the chroniclers of the time attest that they noticed no reaction. His self-control is total. It can only result from an extraordinary grace to face martyrdom and from a special strength of soul.

“Gentlemen, I am ready!” said he as he faced his executioners and looked heavenward. Seconds later—and with what assurance!—he was entering Heaven. What glory is his as he is carried by the angels to the very throne of God for his encounter, his real encounter, with Christ the King, for whom he has just given his earthly life, and with Mary, who smiles sweetly upon this heroic son who during his entire life was such a faithful devotee!

Note: Excerpt from an article originally published in the Catolicismo, No. 535, in May, 1995. It has been translated and adapted for publication without the author’s revision. –Ed.

Taken from Crusade Magazine July/August 2019