Barbastro, Spain. The events of that October 25 are still very much alive in the memory of many people, but thirty years have passed since 1992. Rome seemed to dress up to welcome the beatification of the fifty-one missionary martyrs of Barbastro (Huesca – Spain), who had embraced death giving clear testimonies of faith, forgiveness, joy and love for their vocation.

Thousands of people have since visited the Museum of the Martyrs, located in the same house where the blessed missionaries were imprisoned, and their testimony continues to impact many young people and adults of all latitudes.

The community of Barbastro, composed today of three priests and a missionary brother, will celebrate with the faithful and the local Church the anniversary of the Beatification. On Saturday, the 22nd, a solemn Mass will commemorate the event, after which the new era of the Archconfraternity of the Heart of Mary, which will be present once again in the city, will be presented. On the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th the Christian community will prepare for the feast of St. Anthony Mary Claret.

The Diocese of Barbastro-Monzon, marked by its martyrdom experience, already has 78 blessed martyrs and has just initiated the process of beatification of another 250 witnesses to the faith. All of them are notable, as their bishop (D. Ángel Pérez) recalled at the beginning of this pastoral year, for their spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness, a trait very present also in the Blessed Claretians.