During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, persecution of the Catholic population was rampant. 

But the war was especially brutal on the clergy. 

Nearly seven thousand priests and nuns were murdered and the worst year was 1936, immediately after a military coup. 

In Valencia, Mary Therese Farragut and her husband, Vincent, had one son and six daughters. All of the girls became religious sisters, five of them joining the Capuchins. 

Four of the daughters were together in the Capuchin Monastery of The Poor Clares when it was attacked by an atheist mob. 

Sisters Mary Jesus, Mary Veronica, Mary Felicity, and Mary Malagros, all of them siblings, sought refuge in the home of their mother, where they were joined by Sister Isabelle. 

For a time, they were safe, wearing civilian clothes, practicing their faith in secret, and keeping to themselves as they went about their daily lives. 

But a neighbor reported them to the local militia, and they were taken from their home and imprisoned. 

On Sunday, October 22, 1936, they were taken out to be executed. It was the Feast of Christ The King. 

Their mother asked to be shot last so she could give her daughters strength in prayer as they were led to their deaths, and that last wish was the only one granted. 

One by one they were martyred, each saying, just before they were shot: “Long Love Christ The King”. 

After their mother was murdered, one of the executioners said: “This was truly a Saint.” 

Martyrs of Valencia and The Spanish Civil War, please pray for us.