Like Jonah, the priest was terrified of God’s call. Word had come; he was to return home to become bishop. In exile from a death sentence handed down by the secular forces of the Mexican Revolution, Rafael Guízar y Valencia had good reason to fear a return to Mexico. And so, like Jonah, the future bishop jumped aboard a ship sailing for Colombia. But just as with the prophet fleeing Nineveh, God did not relent; the call was not forgotten. The Holy Spirit pursued the priest, bolstered his faith, and brought him to Veracruz.
The future saint Rafael, born in 1878, was raised in a devout Catholic family in Cotija, Michoacan. The young boy felt an early call to the priesthood. Following in his elder brother’s footsteps, he attended seminary in Zamora and was ordained in 1901. As he assumed the demands of his vocation, Mexico descended into a violent madness. Revolutionary forces consumed by their secular hatred of the Church were beginning what would be decades of oppression of the Faith.
He initially served in Zamora as missionary priest, and in 1905 was made spiritual director of the seminary. His newspaper, founded in 1911, was forced to close by the revolutionaries, and Fr. Rafael began a secret ministry, traveling in disguise to serve those cut off from the Faith.
In one village, he might appear as a junk dealer. In another, he might wear the clothes of a street vendor. When Catholics went to battle against secular troops, the priest was often with them. That accordion player who entertained them in camp at night also cared for their souls on the battlefield. And wherever needed at a sickbed, he might appear dressed as a traditional medicine man delivering God’s mercy to the ill and dying.
In constant danger of capture, Fr. Rafael lived a life on the run. When sentenced to death by the revolution, he fled to the United States. From there, he traveled to Guatemala and Cuba. His mission work became renowned, and he was acknowledged for his dedication to charity. He worked tirelessly as black plague and Spanish flu ravaged Cuba in the years of his exile. It was there, caring for the sick and dying, that the priest received the call to take up his cross and return to Mexico to become the Bishop of Veracruz.
The state of Veracruz hugs the coastline along the Gulf of Mexico, stretching for nearly 500 miles. It was near the present city of Veracruz that Hernan Cortes made his first settlement in the country. The Conquistadors, with the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians who followed them, made their way from the coast up into the high cloud forests of the Sierra Madre Oriental. There in 1555, in the present day state capital city of Xalapa, the Franciscans built a convent. Many churches followed, and a cathedral was begun in 1792. This cathedral was to be his home, tomb, and shrine.
After his consecration in Cuba, Bishop Rafael returned to Mexico in early 1920. He took possession of his diocese as the armed phase of the revolution came to an end. Rather than restoring peace, the new revolutionary government quickly worked to enshrine anti-Catholic laws into the constitution. The new bishop was forced to return to a life in hiding, traveling throughout the vast state of Veracruz in his multiple disguises, eager to serve the faithful even when such service was forbidden.
Only days before his return to Mexico, a devastating earthquake shook much of the central part of the country. With its epicenter near Pico de Orizaba, it caused significant damage and hardship in Veracruz. Aftershocks continued to rattle Xalapa for days and the destruction caused by the powerful seismic event called the bishop to actively serve as God’s mercy wherever he was needed.
At the same time, Bishop Rafael, long passionate about the formation of the clergy, determined to reopen the seminary in Xalapa. He believed that “a bishop can do without his miter, the crozier, and even without the Cathedral. But he cannot do without the Seminary, since the future of his Diocese depends on it.” The seminary for Veracruz had been shut down by the government in 1914. Bishop Rafael restored the building, and the school reopened in 1921. The government soon confiscated the school for a second time. Refusing to accept defeat, the bishop established a clandestine seminary in Mexico City to train the priests necessary to shepherd the citizens of Veracruz.
In face of the persecution of the Church, Rafael worked diligently to serve the Catholics of Veracruz. He travelled throughout the state, a missionary bishop, itinerant and determined to gather his lost flock. In 1931, the governor of Veracruz, Adalberto Tejada, a fierce proponent of the anti-Catholic Calles Laws, ordered that the bishop be executed on sight. Bishop Rafael, in exile in Mexico City at the time, returned to Xalapa, crossed the street from the Cathedral to the Government Palace and presented himself to Tejada saying:
I have come to show you that I respect authority. You have ordered that I be shot wherever I am found. I have come so that you yourself can have the satisfaction of doing it, and thus prevent any of my faithful from having to stain their hands by shooting their bishop.
Impressed by the bishop’s bravery, Tejada rescinded the order.
As the worst era of persecution of the Church came to an end during the 1930s, Bishop Rafael was able to give up the disguises and subterfuge that had marked so much of his clandestine ministry. He, however, never gave up his desire to serve his diocese, to minister to the faithful, and to promote the education and spiritual formation of his flock, especially those called to the priesthood. The bishop suffered a heart attack while on mission in Orizaba, Veracruz, in 1937. He spent the rest of his life bedridden, though he worked tirelessly until his death six months later in Mexico City. Only death could stop him, for as Pope St. John Paul II said: “Those who knew him said there was no power or obstacle which could weaken his evangelizing zeal.”
Bishop Rafael Guízar y Valencia was laid to rest in Xalapa. His tomb stands near the entrance of the city’s cathedral, and a steady stream of pilgrims arrive daily to ask for his intercession. His feast day is on June 6th, but Xalapa explodes with a celebration of their former bishop on October 24th, the feast day of the bishop’s namesake, the Archangel.
At the canonization of St. Rafael, the first Bishop-Saint of the Americas, Pope Benedict XVI stated:
This Saint was faithful to the divine Word, “living and active”, that penetrates the depth of the spirit. Imitating the poor Christ, he renounced his goods and never accepted the gifts of the powerful, or rather, he gave them back immediately. This is why he received “a hundred fold” and could thus help the poor, even amid endless “persecutions”. …His charity, lived to a heroic degree, earned him the name, “Bishop of the poor”.
St. Rafael stands as a powerful intercessor for all those who face persecution. His name can be invoked by any who are passionate about the formation of priests. His service to the poor, his unceasing shepherding of his flock, and his determination to spread the word of the Gospel no matter the danger or risk, places him as a testament to the power of faith to overcome any obstacle.
Photo by Luis Andrés Villalón Vega on Unsplash
