Saint Toribio Romo - Patron
of Immigrants
Toribio Romo was born on the Santa Ana Ranch in
Guadalupe, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico on April
15, 1900. He was baptized the next day by Father
Miguel Romo. He received First Communion at the age
of 7. He grew up in a small town of reverent and
humble people, where the custom was to adore Our
Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every night.
Through this influence, he developed a great
devotion to Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist and Our
Lady of Guadalupe. As a child he was an altar boy
and was known for his devotion and the conscientious
manner with which he carried out his duties.
At 13 years old, he began his studies at the Minor
Seminary of San Juan de los Lagos. He received his
minor vows in February, 1919 at that Seminary. That
same year, he entered the Major Seminary of
Guadalajara to continue and conclude his studies He
consecrated his life to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Joseph.
He was ordained deacon on Sept. 3, 1922 and on the
23rd of December of the same year he was ordained
priest by his local Bishop. The joy that Father
Toribio had so longed for had reached its peak that
day.
He celebrated his first Mass at his Parish Church at
the age of 22. in the same church where as a
seminarian he had dedicated himself to La Morenita,
the dark-skinned Virgin of Tepeyac. He dedicated his
works to the establishment of Catechism. He founded
centers, commissioned catechists and organized a
collective First Communion which was memorable.
He was transferred to Coquio, but religious
persecution had begun and he found himself along
with Fr. Justino Orona and his associate, Fr.
Atilano Cruz, living a nomad's life which paralyzed
his pastoral activities. The strong Catholic
atmosphere in which he was raised, only served to
increase his faith and to propagate devotion for the
Eucharist
When his Bishop asked him to take charge of the
parish in Tequila, he did this obediently, since it
was a parish that already had been refused by many
priests. To be the parish priest in Tequila was akin
to signing a death warrant. Toribio overcame his
natural fear, since Tequila was a place when the
military and civil authorities most hated priests.
Two days after he received his orders and his last
blessing from his Bishop, he left for Tequila to
fulfill a mandate that would lead to his martyrdom.
When the persecution forced him to hide in the thick
brush, he prayed constantly for his parishioners and
he suffered tremendously knowing what the
townspeople were going through at the hands of the
military and the reformers.
Due to the political situation in the area Fr.
Toribio had to establish as the center of his
activities an abandoned tequila factory near a ranch
known as "Agua Caliente." It was near some ravines
thick with vegetation. In one room he had a prayer
Chapel where he taught religious classes to the
people of the area and catechism to the children.
When the troops were in the area they would
celebrate Mass and other sacraments while they hid
among the heavy brush.
It was here in the ravines that he baptized hundreds
of children, united many couples in marriage and
when necessary traveled secretly at night to the
town of Tequila to minister to the sick.
He was accompanied by his older sister, Marķa and
later his brother, Roman, now a priest, who were
there to help him. Often times the two priests would
have to hide because the persecutors would be in
search of victims.
On Thursday, Feb. 23rd, he asked his brother Roman
to go to Guadalajara and try to settle urgent
business concerning his parish. At 4 a.m. Fr. Roman,
said Mass and Fr. Toribio Romo Gonzalez
concelebrated.
On Friday the 24th after celebrating the Holy Mass,
and lunch, he told his sister Marķa, "I'm going to
be very busy, I want to bring everything up to
date." He worked on this all day only stopping to
pray the Rosary and Liturgy of the Hours. All night
he continued with his work, putting in order all the
documentation for baptisms and marriages.
On Saturday the 25th of Feb. of 1928 at 4 a.m. He
awoke his sister, who had been sleeping in a chair
and said, "I'm very sleepy, I going to celebrate
Mass and later lay down." While preparing for Mass
he said, "Better I sleep for a while and later I
will be able to celebrate Mass better."
He returned to his room, removed his alb, and threw
himself upon his straw bed and covered his face with
his arm . Marķa laid down on Fr. Roman's bed and
instantly they both were in a deep sleep.
At 5 a.m. the federales, acting on the tip of an
informant, quietly arrived at the "Toma de Tequila"
(factory). They jumped over the fence and went the
room of the custodian. When he opened the door, one
of the soldiers said, "This is not the priest." They
later opened the door to the room where Father
Toribio slept, and when he pulled back his arm from
his face, he yelled, "That's the priest; kill him!"
The surprise awakened Fr. Romo immediately, and he
said, "Yes, I am the priest but please don't kill
me..." and before he could finish the sentence, he
was riddled with bullets amid insults. He staggered
to the door and a second round of bullets were fired
and this made him fall. His sister ran to take him
in her arms and in a strong voice said,
"Courage Father Toribio... Merciful Jesus , receive
him! ”Viva Cristo Rey!"
With one last glance, Fr. Toribio Romo Gonzalez said
good-bye to the sister who had guided him to the
priesthood and now to his martyrdom.
The soldiers stripped him of his clothes while they
sang vulgar songs and transported his body in a
straw cot made by the local peasants. The blood of
that future saint bathed the ravines as they drove
the rocky roads back to Tequila, where they threw
his body in front of the municipal court house. His
sister Marķa, was arrested, made to walk barefoot
and not allowed to rescue her brothers body.
An influential family pleaded with the president of
the municipality to be allowed to pick up the body,
prepare him for the wake at their home. There he was
viewed by many of the townspeople, and amid tears
and prayers, they filed by the body of their beloved
priest.
The next day he was buried. In a very emotional
ceremony he was processed to the cemetery. A cross
and a plaque were put up which expressed the
gratitude of the townspeople for his service and
loyalty to the people. On it was inscribed, "The
good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep."
Twenty years after his death, his body was laid to
rest in the place of his birth, in his parish church
of Santa Ana de Guadalupe, and in the Chapel which
he himself had built. The body of this hero of the
Catholic Church is here for the faithful to venerate
to this day.
Toribio Romo's letter
written at his ordination
Oh my brother, the Eucharist is to make one's heart
beat, but that expression falls short of the mark.
The heart skips a beat - the heart of the coldest
priest explodes with the Eucharist. I believe the
Lord will give me a long life.
After many years of ministry, aged by those many
years, I would have no better remedy nor the
sharpest spur to keep me going than to remember the
day of my ordination and my first Mass, to reach the
goal, to go up to the Altar to take bread for the
first time to say "THIS IS MY BODY'
He wrote, "To you divine, Sacred Heart of Jesus, to
you Sweet Lily of Tepeyac, my Beloved Mother and my
only sovereign, to you most chaste Saint Joseph, I
consecrate today and always my vow of perpetual
chastity. Beginning today at 7 a.m. at the feet of
my Prelate Archbishop Orozco y Jimenez, help me and
take me by the hand as I begin my walk."
For more information about Saint Toribio Romo click
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