Parishioners at Immaculate Conception Parish in Taft are ecstatic at the news that Pope Francis has approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed José Luis Sánchez del Río, thus paving the way for his canonization. Pope Francis signed the decree for Blessed José Luis' on Jan. 21.
Immaculate Conception has a first class relic of Blessed José.
A date for the canonization ceremony will be announced during the next consistory of cardinals in March. The miracle that was approved involved a baby girl named Ximena Guadalupe in Sahuayo, Michoacan, Mexico who was only given a four percent chance of living, but today is an energetic seven-year-old.
At the age of three months, doctors diagnosed her with atypical bronchopneumonia. Her small lungs could not fight the infection and she was taken to a specialty hospital where things got worse. The doctors recommended emergency surgery and when she came out of the operation they diagnosed that she had tuberculosis. While in intensive care she went into convulsions. The next morning, doctors told her mother that Ximena was in a vegetative state and that 90 percent of her brain was dead. They induced her into a three-day coma.
While she was in the coma, the family went to Mass daily and placed her in God's hands and asked for Blessed José's intercession. When they disconnected life support, the doctors could not explain what had happened and took her for a CT scan and EEG and found that 80 percent her brain had recovered. The doctors were astonished, believing that if she lived, she probably would not be able to walk, talk, see nor hear. Today she is fully recovered.
Born on March 28, 1913, José had older brothers who were all committed to the war against the Mexican government, who was persecuting Catholics, and he wanted to join the fight as well. He was too young for combat, but was allowed to participate as flag bearer. During a particularly brutal battle, he was captured by Mexican soldiers and imprisoned.
At just 14-years of age, he felt called to defend his faith until his ultimate death. He endured cruel torture at the hands of the Mexican government’s soldiers. The enemy troops beat him, forced him to witness his fellow prisoners murdered and even taunted him with promises of freedom if he renounced his faith. Under severe pain and agony at the hands of his captors, José’s last words were “Viva Cristo Rey!” (Long live Christ the King). After being shot and stabbed, he drew a cross in the sand and kissed it before dying.
Pope Benedict XVI beatified him on Nov. 20, 2005.
(Editor's note: Information on Ximena's medical history was taken from the Internet article "
Ximenita, la niña milagrosa de Sahuayo" by Miguel Ángel Sánchez that appeared on the online publication
Quadratín on May 11, 2015.)