In the heart of Spain, ravaged by civil war, two Vincentian missionaries offered their lives for Christ and for the people: Father Tomás Pallarés Ibáñez and Father Vicente Vilumbrales Fuente. Their witness, marked by humility, fidelity and pastoral love, continues to illuminate the path of today’s missionaries.
Father Tomás Pallarés Ibáñez was born in Iglesuela del Cid (Teruel) on 6 March 1890. He entered the Congregation of the Mission in 1906, professed his vows in 1908 and was ordained a priest in 1915. From his early years, he showed a deep spirit of sacrifice, a solid doctrinal formation and a heart full of charity. In the Canary Islands, in Madrid and then in the Seminary of Oviedo, where he became vice-rector, he was a true spiritual father to the young seminarians: an example of humility, balance and silent dedication. His ministry was marked by fidelity to the Vincentian call: ‘to evangelise the poor and form good priests,’ as St. Vincent de Paul taught.
Father Vicente Vilumbrales Fuente, born in Reinoso de Bureba (Burgos) on 5 April 1909, entered the Congregation in 1926 and took his vows in 1928. Ordained a priest in 1934, he lived his mission with enthusiasm among the young people of the Apostolic College of Guadalajara, where he was persecuted and died a glorious death in 1936, together with his confreres. His short life was full of zeal, serenity and trust in God: a life given entirely to the service of the Gospel.
Both shared the same vocation: to follow Christ, evangeliser of the poor, and to bear witness to him even to the point of martyrdom, in the silence of daily fidelity. Their lives reflect the spirit of the Common Rules of the Congregation, which invite missionaries to ‘be filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ and follow in his footsteps’.
Almighty and eternal God,
who granted your martyrs the grace to die for Christ,
help us in our weakness,
so that, as they did not hesitate to give their lives for You,
we too may remain steadfast in professing Your name.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
