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~ Ar-Az ~
ARRIOLA URANDA, MANUELA [in religion: MANUELA OF THE SACRED HEART] and 19 COMPANIONS (1936) professed religious and laypersons; martyrs (uti fertur)
Among the atrocities committed on churchpersons during the Spanish Civil War, the murder on 10 November 1936 of twenty-three members of the Sisters Adorers, Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity (in Spanish, Hermanas Adoratrices, Esclavas del Santísimo Sacramento y de la Caridad) stand out prominently. This is not only because of the large number killed in a single execution, but also because of the physical state of the victims: infirm women for the most part, along with the handful of fellow sisters who attended to their needs. Here is one case stemming from the Spanish Civil War where the motive for the killing was indisputably religious in nature and not political. When the religious persecution worsened in Madrid after the July coup of Franco's forces, residents of the congregation's generalate on Princesa Street were forced to seek refuge with families and friends. However, not all the sisters were able to do so, either because of debility or the absence of relatives. To accommodate them, the superior general, Mo. Diosdada Andía, rented the second floor at #15 Costanilla de los Ángeles Street around the beginning of August 1936. They were put under the direct care of the congregation's secretary general, Mo. Manuela Arriola Uranga. As the months passed, sisters from Guadalajara, Alcalá, and Almería who were in the same quagmire opted to stay there. There were also those, like Mo. María Dolores Hernández San Torcuato and Sr. Borja Aranzábal de Barrutia, who freely forwent the sanctuary offered by their relatives in order to be at the service of and in fellowship with this community. Mo. Manuela herself could have been spared from the slaughter that was to befall them, but she refused to abandon the other religious: “If I die as a martyr, is this not my duty?” At one point, twenty-five Sisters Adorers resided in that floor. Numbered among the professed religious (choir and coadjutor sisters) were six hijas de casa, former students of the sisters who, having distinguished themselves for their personal qualities and after completing a period of probation, were attached to the congregation as lay affiliates. Living conditions at Costanilla de los Ángeles were very spartan. Due to lack of furniture, they used wooden boxes for chairs and tables. They also had to make do with their sparse provisions. The Sisters Adorers, nonetheless, persevered in the observance of the common life, especially the perpetual adoration of the eucharist, a spiritual practice of the congregation. In the absence of a monstrance, the species were kept in a pyx kept in a small wooden watch case. This was then reserved in a hollow at the chimney that was covered by a marble slab. In moments of emergency, like periodic air raids or frequent searches of the floor carried out by members of the popular militia, Mo. Rosaura López Brochier took the wooden box and hid it close to her chest. It was common knowledge among neighbors that the women of the second floor were consecrated religious. Aware of this, members of the Popular Front regularly surveilled their residence, apparently looking for anything incriminating that would justify their haling before any of Madrid's numerous checas, quasi-judicial bodies formed by parties of the Popular Front to render sentences against "enemies of the people". The responsibility for heartening the religious during those dismal days fell on the able shoulders of Mo. Manuela. “Sisters, let us not be preoccupied with what will happen to us. Let us trust in our good Lord. We belong to Him and He will give us strength to suffer for His love, until martyrdom if necessary.” Two other sisters distinguished themselves during this period. Sr. Blasa Pérez de Labeaga García was totally deaf but she endeared herself to her co-sisters with her patience and resignation. Sr. Lucila González García, the oldest among the residents, was suffering from a heart ailment when she was brought to the Costanilla community. It is said that she passed long moments of prayer before the eucharist, offering herself as "a victim for the conversion of sinners". Madrid was frequently bombarded by planes of Franco’s forces during the civil war. During such occasions, the sisters descended to the main door and lobby of the building for safety. On November 9, at about 5:30 in the afternoon, a powerful blast shook Preciados Street. As they were in the habit of doing, the sisters went downstairs, leaving Sr. Lucila, however, who was very sick at that time. Upon gathering at the lobby, a miliciano entered the building and detained them. He argued that another miliciano had just been fatally shot from the floor where the sisters lived. An irate mob of milicianos swiftly forced their way into the building. One group went upstairs and forcibly brought down the debilitated Sr. Lucila on a chair. All the religious were then carried off to the dreaded checa on Fomento Street (which was once a convent of the Society of Mary Reparatrix) under the jurisdiction of the Federación Anarquista Iberica. The twenty-three were:
What transpired during the hours that followed are unknown. During the early hours of the following day, the twenty-three Sisters Adorers were machine-gunned at the farthest corner of the East Cemetery. The beatification process for these martyrs was formally initiated on 26 November 1952. However, only the cases of Manuela Arriola, Francisca Pérez de Labeaga; and Lucia González García were considered and investigated. In 1992, after nearly forty years of inactivity, the process was revived with the inclusion of the twenty other martyrs. However, by the time the positio for the cause was published in 1995, three of the hijas de casa (Cecilia del Campo, Felipa Gutiérrez, and Magdalena Pérez) were dropped from the list due to the inability of the promoters of the cause to locate any document pertaining to them. [on-line publication date: December 2003]
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