On 22 May 2026, during the Audience granted to His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV authorised the said Congregation to promulgate a number of Decrees, including the martyrdom of the Servants of God Francisco Gonz\u00e1lez de C\u00f3rdova and 79 Companions, priests, religious, seminarians and lay faithful, killed between 1936 and 1937 out of hatred for the faith, within the territory of the Diocese of Santander (Spain), in the context of the same persecution. Among this group of martyrs from the Iberian Peninsula are three Discalced Carmelite religious, namely Athanasius of the Sacred Heart (Gregorio Aguinagalde Aguirreche), a professed priest; Ruperto of the Cross (Ruperto Andueza Larraya), a professed religious; and Maximino of the Virgin of Carmel (Maximino S\u00e1ez Mart\u00ednez), a novice religious, of whom we present brief biographical notices below.<\/p>\n
ATANASIO OF THE SACRED HEART<\/strong><\/p>\n (Gregorio Aguinagalde Aguirreche) Professed Priest OCD \u2013 Martyr \u2013 1870\u20131936<\/strong><\/p>\n He was born in R\u00e9gil (Guip\u00fazcoa) on 12 March 1870. He made his temporary profession on 27 June 1886 and his perpetual profession on 30 June 1889. He died in Santander on 30 December 1936.<\/p>\n On 27 December, \u2018Red\u2019 emissaries took him away from the house where he was staying in Santander, after the community had been expelled from the convent on 13 August 1936. Fr Atanasio never hid the fact that he was a priest and a Carmelite. Taken from the house, he was imprisoned, and there he spontaneously confessed to being a Carmelite religious and encouraged those imprisoned with him. On 30 December, he was taken out of prison together with Fr Arco, a Jesuit, and, as happened to others, it is believed that he was taken to Cabo Mayor and, after being shot, thrown into the sea.<\/p>\n RUPERT OF THE CROSS<\/strong><\/p>\n (Ruperto Andueza Larraya) Professed member OCD \u2013 Martyr \u2013 1897\u20131936<\/strong><\/p>\n He was born in Garroes (Navarre) on 27 March 1897 and made his temporary profession on 1 December 1926. He died in Santander on 18 November 1936.<\/p>\n He was sacristan at the convent in Santander. After being forced to leave the convent due to the revolution, he was taken to a house. On 17 November 1936, he was taken prisoner by militiamen, making no secret of the fact that he was the sacristan of the Carmelite convent. On the evening of 18 November, he made his confession to Father Augusto, who had also been arrested there, and was taken away by the militiamen. It is presumed that the same fate befell him as the others: he was shot at Cabo Mayor and thrown into the sea.<\/p>\n MAXIMINO OF OUR LADY OF CARMEL<\/strong><\/p>\n (Maximino S\u00e1ez Mart\u00ednez) OCD Novice \u2013 Martyr \u2013 1916\u20131936<\/strong><\/p>\n He was born in Burgos on 16 December 1916 and began his novitiate on 20 November 1935. He died on board the ship Alfonso P\u00e9rez off the coast of Santander on 27 December 1936.<\/p>\n Assigned by obedience to the residence in Reinosa (Santander), he was caught up in the military uprising of 18 July 1936. He was 18 years old. He hid in a house for a few days, but the owners, fearing discovery and consequent reprisals, told him to find another place. He wandered the streets for who knows how long and was arrested by the \u2018Reds\u2019 as a suspect and spy. He was imprisoned for a while and then released, but was later arrested again and never released, being taken to Santander and imprisoned on the ship Alfonso P\u00e9rez. Following a bombing raid by the Nationalist air force and in retaliation, angry mobs stormed the ship on 27 December 1936, and he fell victim to the gunfire of the outlaws. He had recently turned 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 22 May 2026, during the Audience granted to His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV authorised the said Congregation to promulgate a number of Decrees, including the martyrdom of the Servants...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-notizia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n