Father Dario,Veracruz Mexico martyr,saint,Jesus Christ,Catholic

The last consolation for Dario in this land of Veracruz. (the true cross) On July 26th, his Mom came to visit him and arrived just when her son was celebrating the Mass. He couldn't stay with her for a long time due to his heavy workload in the parish ministry. They planned to see each other in the evening after his catechism class, which coincided with the date fixed by the government for the application in force of Law 197. Consequently, there were more children than ever- 4 thousand filling the church naves. But one event was going to tragically upset all the plans of mother and son.

In fact, on July 25th, a religious fanatic and ex seminarian named Jose Ramirez, who left the seminary due to illness, and later experienced the failure of a broken engagement, tried to assassinate the governor Tejada. It was the drop of water that broke the dam! Furious, the governor and his leaders accused the clergy as responsible for the attempt. Anti-clergy took advantage of the opportunity to attack the churches in Xalapa. Armed with pistols and machetes, and carrying containers full of gasoline, they burst into 4 churches.

The priests in Veracruz were unaware of what had happened in Xalapa. They were each at there own post, performing their ministry. It was a cloudy afternoon which switched into a tremendous storm. One witness from the 1930 era "secret police" of Veracruz, Mr. Angel Ojeda Luna, was 99 years old when he spoke at the ecclesiastical tribunal in 1996. "A violent thunderstorm let loose over the city." Colonel Tejada had given "Orders to arrest any priest performing their ministry." Father Landa, one of the three parish priests, lived through the events of this dismal night. On October 23rd, 1996, he testified before the ecclesiastical tribunal, "Father Rosas was at the pulpit leading catechism, Father Dario was near the baptismal font (actually, he had just finished a baptism), and I was in the opposite nave. At about 6 in the evening, someone entered by the Zamora St. door and told me " We're coming in to attack you."

I went to the Sacristy to look for the monsignor, who was tranquil upon receiving the news. He sent the sacristan, " Go take a look at what you see in the church." The sacristan returned, " I didn't see anything. " It was now 6:10 pm. Father Landa relates: We were all in the same places. I didn't tell the other priests, only the monsignor. Four or five men (other witnesses speak of up to 10) dressed in military uniform came in through the east door (Mario Molina St.). When they reached the communion rail, they got up and began to fire. They shot at Rosas, but missed. He protected himself with the pulpit, ducked and covered. Rosas was grazed in his leg by a bullet. About two or three meters away, Father Acosta was facing the men. Another witness, Mrs. Delfina, gives us an important detail that Father Landa was too far away to note. She clearly heard Father Dario telling the men, " If you want something with me, come with me to the Sacristy." " Before reaching the Sacristy, they shot him in the back. Dario fell to the ground, riddled with bullets, bathed in his own blood, exclaiming,"Jesus!"

Father Landa continues,” They shot him and there he fell. I didn’t think about running or defending myself.”Mrs. Ramirez relates,”I saw Father Dario thrown to the floor at the foot of the sacristan’s cabinet on the east side of the church by Mario Molina St. I saw blood.”There was great confusion,-shrieks of panic and horor.

“We were about fifteen catechists,” says Mrs. Josefa Salum, “Horrible things, tookplace that day-gunshots Lucia Quiroga was wounded (at the time of writing she has already passed away due to natural causes); the order was given to all the children to duck and get down on the ground. " A young fellow named Aguirre from the Catholic Action league was shot in his thigh, snatched up and taken to the police. The man who took him to the police was not the one who shot him and the cops let Aguirre get away.

Some children injured themselves while running, and several were wounded by tripping. Evererything happened so fast Suddenly, the pastor appeared and asked the assasins to killhim too. While the ambulance took father landa to the hospital, for the bullet that he received with an entry wound in the chhek and an exit wound in the throat, Father dario “was stretched out there with his mouth hanging wide open,” says a witness, Mrs. Maria E. Ulibarri Vda. de Poo.. The assassins took the body of Darío Father and his burial was held practically in secret at dawn the following day,the 26th of July. Nobody was permittedto attend. In his interesting book, Rafael Guizar sus órdenes, Father Joaquin Antonio Pe6nadosa related that

”while the gravediggers dug the pit, a lightning storm was unleashed , wind gusts extinguished the lanterns. They left the martyr’s corpse in a grave full of water.topped by a stone. No name or date.Someone carved the number 1066 at the gravesite.

A witness at the ecclesiastical tribunal, Mr. Enrique Robert Infante reveals, in his testimony on the 15 of Abril,1994, that the murdurers

” had taken the body to bury it in the Private Cemetery. Some Catholics discovered and kept secret the location of the burial place, in order to avoid disposal of the body by enemies of the Church

” He speaks of his childhood memories and how Father Dario was present in the popular mind.

During this era, the sacrifice was present in the people’s thoughts, prayers and petitions to the martyred priest. Were my dear mother (who rests in peace) living, she would relate her faith, her sorrow and how she pleaded aid in her prayers to Father Dario; about the miracles that were done I do not know, but there must have been some judging by the way she spoke when she talked about him. She took us to a tomb where it was said the remains of Father Dario were buried. The tomb was always adorned with a multitude of flowers , vigil candles and people who came to pray.

We cannot dismiss the similarity in the upheavals in the natural environment which occurred at the death of Jesus and the storm at the death of Father Dario. Dark clouds, earth tremors and graves which opened. (Mt. 27,45-52). The servant is no greater than his master, said Our Lord at the last Supper (Jn. 13, 16).

The murder of Father Dario spread about the city like wildfire. It was condemned as a savage murder. Monsignor Guizar did not waste a moment in sending an exlosive letter of protest to the governor Adalberto Tejeda, dated the same day of the death of Father Darío, the 25th of July 1931.

Mr. Tejada: Now Veracruz has been bathes with the blood of martyrs, and it will bear fruit so that Truth and Justice will shine forth; and so that the Religion,far from being extinguished in my beloved Diocese, with such an excellent pruning shall sprout up with more vigor, in spite of the tyrannical efforts which shatter to bits before the Impregnable, rock of God.

A few days after the murder Colonel Adalberto Tejada sent a gift rewarding the perpetrators of the crime: new Star brand pistols arrived from the city of Xalapa, (testimony of the 21 of June 1996).

In order not to endanger the lives of more priests, the bishop had to order the closing of the temples for six years, from 1931 to 1937. ¡Six years without the support of the Church! ¡The horror of the catacombs! The governor dealt like a hypocrite with Monsignor Guizar and responded rudely to the bishops’s letter. Moreover, he had issued orders to kill the bishop, even, offering a reward. But the bishop appeared before Tejada in the governor’s palace in Xalapa and told him: -“You have issued the final order to kill me wherever i may be found and as I do not want any of my flock stained with my blood, take your pistol and kill me yourself, since you have given the order. Father Penalosa says that " Tejada turned pale and could not answer at first. Later, he stretched out his hand and said, “ Go in peace, I take back the order. So it is with men of courage.”

Dario’s mother was extremely distressed with suffering and worry, not knowing where her son had been wounded and spoke even in her sleep asking if he suffered for a long time. She was always saying, “Damn those who killed my son “"

A few days after Dario’s death, she was staying in a home lent by a friend, Mrs. Docuro. One night, she was sleeping in the same bedroom with her daughter Elisa, though in separate beds. Suddenly Dario appeared and took his mother’s hands to feel his wounds. She felt the orifice of the penetration wounds and Dario said “ Mother, Here are my wounds,so you can stop asking yourself and please never say “Damn them” again. Forgive them for me. If not, I can’t enter into the heavenly kingdom.” Then he left by way of a curtain door. Elisa woke at the same moment and saw him leave.

The following day, the doctor who attended Father Dario after his death, came to comfort his mother and said “I am the doctor who took care of your son at the Red Cross. Father Dario’s mother said “I know where my son was wounded.” The doctor answered her “ That´s impossible mam. You couldn’t know because I was the only one with him.” When dario’s mother told the doctor where the wounds had been, he startlingly confirmed that she was precisely on target. Later she told him everything that happened the night before. The doctor believed her because she pointed out the exact location of the wounds. This tale is told and it’s credibility is left to the reader’s conviction. Later, the three assassins appeared before the Dario's mother. They knelt before her saying it: "Please forgive us, lady, we're the ones that killed your son. But, please understand- it was under orders " She replied, "It's not from me that you should ask pardon. You must seek forgiveness from God."

A short while later, the faithful of Veracruz discovered Father Darío's tomb which had quickly been transformed into a center of popular veneration. The people attributed miracles and favors to the servant of God who had shed his blood for Christ, making his ministry a true practice while preaching the Word of God.

After Father Dario's death, a traditional monthly procession was initiated by Catholic groups such as the Knights of Columbus, the Mexican Catholic Action League and youth groups. They would gather and march down Main Street Veracruz (Independence Avenue) praising and singing until arriving at the Cathedral, where Father Dario died. The culmination was a memorial Mass in honor of his martyrdom. What a grace it would be, were this custom revived by today's youth, remembering Dario's exemplary path walking the way of Christ. Dario's mother was always a participant, and though nobody seems to remember exactly when the tradition faded away, the parades demonstrate the devotion and the affection of the people of Veracruz for the mother and the martyr, always present in their memories. Dario's niece, Elisa told me that the crowds always came to greet her affectionately, and that so many people surrounded her that her grandchildren could hardly move on the sidewalk.

Years later, in 1962, the archbishop of Veracruz, Monsignor Doctor D. Manuel Pio Lopez, sent a pastoral letter to all his diocesans, initiating the informative process, concerning the infamous martyr. In the letter, he relates a miracle which occurred at the tomb. ...

A nun from the religious infirmary in Veracruz with a collapsed lung, from the final stage of tuberculosis laid herself down upon Father Dario's tomb, and was healed instantaneously.

Above the tomb, which was transferred to the Parish of Asunción (Assumption), near the site where he fell mortally wounded, one can read the heartfelt inscription, placed by the Christian people, that confirms his great martyrdom:

Here, rest the remains of Father Darío Acosta, transferred on the 2nd of November, 1947. From the citizens of Veracruz, on the XVth anniversary of his death, to Father Darío Acosta, who was sacrificed here on the 25th of July, 1931 at the age of 23. Another chapter for the history of our Country and the Mexican people. His death for Christ was a victory, His death was a seed for Christianity.

The people from the state of Veracruz, and particularly the townspeople of Naolinco love their young martyr, and every year beginning at 8 o'clock on the 1st of November, in many of Naolinco's homes, one can hear the harmonized chanting praises, singing simple phrases from sincere and humble hearts.

From tender childhood Jesus called you to follow his path to the foot of the cross

You preach to the people with humble voice and in the glory of God and sweet consolation

You were persecuted cruelly humiliated for following Christ your delight in life

You give us doctrine to all left behind no killers bullet can silence your voice

One can note the simple faith of the Mexican people underscored in a special manner by their by their knowledge of an essential ingredient to martyrdom- hatred of the Faith and of the Church, and Father Dario's voluntarily accepted death. As Pope John XXIII commented to Cardinal Rivera of Mexico: We must work on the exaltation of our Mexican martyrs. It's an opportunity to present an exemplary and heroic role model of a priest to all Christians. In our times, full of fear and uncertainties concerning the future, saturated with dangers for the Church, the family and nations, with the entire world threatened by the diabolical errors of communism, we need a role model who doubted not for an instant, yet dared to shed his blood on defense of the Faith and for the salvation of souls.

Now, all the testimonies of the witnesses have been compiled and sent to Rome. We hope that the Holy Father soon declares that our kind martyr may be addressed as the BLESSED DARÍO ACOSTA. In this hope, it remains for us to pray and pray for the present Bishop of Veracruz to use wisdom and grace in support of Veracruz's martyr. A proposed prayer for the beautification of the Servant of God, Father Darío Acosta Zurita: Oh God, Who in your Divine Providence, have given us saints so that we can imitate them in their virtues and have recourse to their intercession, sending them at the moments that we most need them, like the present day, during which great uncertainties, dangers and tribulations threaten us, and in which we must defend the treasure of the faith, even at the cost of our life.

We humbly beseech thee to grant the honor of the altars upon your generous Servant Darío, who invoking the Holy Name of Jesus, spilled his blood, following the example of Our Divine Redeemer. Grant us this grace, by the powerful intercession of the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, to Whom Darío from childhood always held a childlike devotion, so that we soon may publicly venerate Him as our efficient intercessor before Thee, and to imitate him in his virtues, mainly in his charity, simplicity, humility and obedience towards all his Superiors, thus contributing to Your greater glory, the honor Our Holy Mother Church and the good of our souls. We ask Thee, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. So be it.