José Isabel Flores (1866–1927)

Biography

Upon ordination he was assigned to the parish of Teocatliche and then to Zapotlanejo in the state of Jalisco, where he remained for twenty-seven years, until religious persecution began in the country. His parishioners admired his exemplary poverty, his life of purity and chastity, his obedience to superiors, as well as his exquisite sense of charity so that they never heard criticism or murmuring from him. His pastoral action was characterized by his dedication to everyone, without class distinctions. If some people had a special place in his heart, it was the sick, and because he paid more attention to them than to his own health, he contracted a painful infection that resulted in the amputation of part of his jaw. When he was secretly preparing to celebrate mass at a ranch, Father José Isabel was betrayed and taken to the priest's house, which had been converted into a barracks, where they kept him hanging by his armpits for three days without giving him anything to eat or drink. In the town's pantheon, he was first martyred with a rope around his neck to raise and lower him until the commander himself slit his throat. He was beatified by John Paul II on November 22, 1992 and canonized on May 21, 2000.