A Gypsy Blessed
Today, I thought of my grandmother (may she rest in peace), who was a Hungarian Gyspy. This lead me to search for the existence of a patron saint for Gypsies. After sifting through some false leads, like Black Sarah Gypsy Pilgrimage and KALI-SARA - QUEEN OF GYPSIES, I came across Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla. Here's a photo of him from CEFERINO JIMENEZ MALLA:
And here's some biographical information from Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla (1861-1936) :
I assume it was the Republicans who killed him. The Nationalists wouldn't have killed anyone for defending a priest or having a rosary.
Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla, pray for my grandmother and for us.
Today, I thought of my grandmother (may she rest in peace), who was a Hungarian Gyspy. This lead me to search for the existence of a patron saint for Gypsies. After sifting through some false leads, like Black Sarah Gypsy Pilgrimage and KALI-SARA - QUEEN OF GYPSIES, I came across Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla. Here's a photo of him from CEFERINO JIMENEZ MALLA:
And here's some biographical information from Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla (1861-1936) :
- "The first Gypsy to be beatified was a martyr and a Secular Franciscan.
"Ceferino was born in Fraga (Spain). He had a successful business, buying and selling horses. Ceferino and his wife had no children though they adopted one of his wife’s nieces. He attended Mass frequently and joined the Secular Franciscan Order. Always generous to the poor, he was known as a reconciler among Gypsies.
"During the Spanish Civil War, he was arrested for defending a priest who had been dragged through the streets of Barbastro and for having a rosary. As the firing squad prepared to kill him, Ceferino clutched his rosary and cried out, "Viva Cristo Rey!" (Long live Christ the King!) When he was beatified in 1997, thousands of Gypsies attended the ceremony."
I assume it was the Republicans who killed him. The Nationalists wouldn't have killed anyone for defending a priest or having a rosary.
Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla, pray for my grandmother and for us.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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