 An image of Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia. Courtesy illustration St. Cecilia’s Church, at 125 W. Whittier St., celebrates the veneration of the traveling image of the newest saint of the Americas, Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia, every Sunday in April. The opening celebration mass begins at noon, April 6. It will be followed by healing masses on Sundays throughout April. The healing masses begin at 6 p.m. While in exile escaping religious persecution in Mexico in the 1920s, Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia spent time in many San Antonio and Austin Churches. Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia was canonized October 15, 2006, by Pope Benedict XVI. Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia was also beatified in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. Before he was canonized, Rafael Guizar y Valencia was known in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, as the “Bishop of the Poor.” He lived humbly, after giving up the wealthy estate he inherited. Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia was even known to take the shoes off his feet and give them to a person in need. Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia escaped death several times. He even tried to negotiate a trade of his life to the state in exchange for the end of Catholic persecution and the suffering of thousands of parishioners. Agustin Mora is great-grand nephew of Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia and has inherited the responsibility of spreading the word of his uncle to the world. As directed by Archbishop Patrick Flores, he and his family began the San Rafael Guizar y Valencia Foundation to honor and support the memory of his uncle. Archbishop Jose Gomez is honorary chairman of the Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia Foundation. Call St. Cecilia Church at 533-7109.
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