A Ballad of a Young Cristero (St José Luis Sánchez del Río)

St José Luis Sánchez del Río was born on the 28 March 1913 in Sahuayo, Mexico. He lived during the time when there was great tension between the Atheist State of Mexico and the Catholic Church. When the tension developed into an active persecution of the Church by the State, many Catholics took arms against the State to protect the Church and their fellow faithful. This is called the Cristero Rebellion. St José Luis del Río was 12 years old when this rebellion started.
Despite his young age, St José Luis del Río insisted on joining the Cristero. He wanted to fight for Christ and his fellow Christians. But his mother did not give him permission. He was also refused by the Cristero's general due to being too young. These obstacles did not manage to discourage him as he kept begging to be allowed to join the rebellion. Relented, his mother and the Cristero's general allowed him to do so. He became a flag bearer for the Cristero Army.
On 25 January 1928, St José Luis del Río gave his horse to his general when his general's horse was killed during a battle. He then laid down some covering fire to let his general escape to fight another battle. Unfortunately, this led to his capture by the Mexican troops. He was held prisoner and sadistically tortured. His captors demanded that he renounce his faith, but young José refused. Frustrated with their failure, his captors decided to cut off the bottom of his feet and then made him walk around the city to the cemetery. He was also slashed with a machete several times during this "way of the cross". Despite the cruelty that had been done to him, young José recited the rosary, prayed for his enemies and sang songs to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The tortures gave young José one last chance to save his life. They demanded him to shout, "Death to Christ the King!". To that request, young José responded, "I will never give in. Viva Cristo Rey y Santa Maria de Guadalupe!" He was executed not long after.
St. José Luis Sánchez del Río was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 20 November 2005 and canonised by Pope Francis on 21 January 2016.
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Lyrics by: Milites Ecclessiae
Music made in: www.udio.com/
Video made in: vizzy.io
Tags: #melodicmetal, #mexicanmetal, #epic, #saintsmetal, #catholic, #CatholicMetal, #celticmetal, AI-generated, #christianmetal, #mexicanhistory, #mexicanmusic