The seven MSC Martyrs of Canet del Mar (Spain)

In July 1936, the Community of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Canet de Mar (Barcelona) was made up of twelve professed religious, six novices about to make profession and had received ten postulants to begin the Novitiate.

On the 21st, a group of violent people burnt down the parish church and Father Superior ordered everyone to dress as laymen, the sacred forms were put away, the sacred utensils were hidden and a sum of money was given to each one. On the same day, a representative of the local Committee appeared with the order to vacate the convent. The Community and the children of the College were held in a residence next to the Sanctuary of Mercy.

On 3 August, one of the watchmen informed the MSC that the Committee had decided to shoot the friars. The group of religious split into two. The group of the seven blessed martyrs, made up of the youngest, went into the bush. The first night a heavy storm fell and they had to seek help in some farmhouses, located in San Cipriano de Vallalta. They were hidden in the open for about fifteen days.

Faced with the impossibility of returning to Canet, they decided to set off northwards, hoping to cross the border. After passing several farmhouses where they received help, they entered the forest, in the parish of Sant Feliu de Buxalleu. The militiamen were suspicious of their presence and carried out a series of raids to capture them, and it was raining and cold. In these circumstances, on 25 September, they resumed their march and, in four days, they reached Begudá. Exhausted, they ended up at the Devesa farmhouse, whose owners were deeply Christian people. Thanks to the help they received, they regained their strength and continued their martyr’s journey.

Asking for help in the farmhouses was also a risk and, at their last stop, they ended up at the house of one of the heads of the local committee, whom they naively asked for directions to the border. He directed them to a place known as La Ginella, where a patrol of the local Committee was waiting for them and immediately arrested them. They were then handed over to the Central Committee, located in Sant Joan de les Fonts, which was very violent and feared in the region.

The next day, the militiamen informed the Canet de Mar Committee that they had seven friars from that town and were awaiting their decision. “We have found them; this time they will not escape. We will kill them today”, said the head of the Committee. The young missionaries were already convinced that their time had come and they prepared themselves well for it.

On the afternoon of 29 September 1936, their hands were tied and they were loaded onto a bus. The sad procession set off for the place of martyrdom. Through Castellfullit and Besalú, they headed for Bañolas. They skirted the Ser and, shortly before reaching the bridge that crosses it, a bank between a small house in ruins and the bridge was the place chosen to kill them.

They took out four of them first, ordering them to stand on the bank. “You kill us because we are religious. Long live…! !”. A withering burst of machine-gun fire cut their lives short. The voice was that of Father Arribas. Minutes later, the other three MSC were martyred. One of them died clutching a crucifix tightly in his hand.

The corpses remained there. At nightfall, they were collected by order of the Seriñá Committee and taken to the cemetery, where they were buried the next day. On 30 September, two graves were opened and four bodies were placed in one and three in the other. They remained there until 30 March 1940, when they were exhumed and taken to Canet de Mar. Since their beatification on 6 May 2017, the relics of the seven martyrs can be venerated in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Barcelona. We celebrated this Memory on the 6th of November.

• Click here to download the prayer in English
• Click here to download the prayer in Spanish
• Click here to download the prayer in French

Javier Trapero

Communication officer of the MSC Spain Province