Archdiocese of Jalapa receives episcopal ring of Mexican saint

Mexico City, Mexico, Jun 8, 2007 / 09:09 am

The Archdiocese of Jalapa has been given the Episcopal ring of St. Rafael Guizar y Valencia, which the saint had sold to help the poor.

For years the whereabouts of the ring was unknown.  An American family had bought the ring from the bishop, and recently the family decided to give it to Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Flores of San Antonio.  The archbishop held on to the ring and this week traveled to Jalapa to give it as a gift to the archdiocese.

St. Rafael Guízar y Valencia--

The saint was born in 1878 to a family of eleven brothers and sisters in the Mexican state of Michoacan.  He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on January 29, 1995, in St. Peter’s Square.  He endured many trials and persecutions because of the Mexican revolution of the 1920s. 

As bishop he was responsible for a vast expansion of territory and would often travel on mule or foot to make pastoral visits to different areas.  He was known most especially for his missionary zeal in preaching Christ.

Plagued by various diseases and exiled from his diocese, he died in Mexico City on June 6, 1959.  His body was found to be incorrupt in 1959 and his remains were transferred to the Cathedral of Jalapa in Veracruz.

Pope Benedict XVI canonized St. Rafael Guizar y Valencia on October 15, 2006, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.