José María Fernández Sánchez and 38 companions

In 1921, the Congregation of the Mission was entrusted by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith with the mission of Cuttack, in the province of Orissa, India. Father José María Fernández Sánchez was part of the first group of four Spanish Lazarist missionaries sent to establish the Church in this difficult region. Despite the grueling living conditions in the jungle, the language barrier, and the isolation, he spent himself without counting the cost to evangelize, administer the sacraments, and train local catechists. In 1925, when the mission was erected as a vice-province, he was appointed vice-visitor. His health having deteriorated due to the rigors of the climate and his personal austerity, he was recalled to Spain in 1928. He first occupied the chair of pastoral theology and the spiritual direction at the seminary of Oviedo. In 1930, he was appointed sub-director of the Spanish province of the Daughters of Charity, a ministry he exercised with great spiritual zeal from Madrid, publishing several volumes of lectures intended for the formation of the religious sisters. The group of 38 companions who accompanied him in martyrdom reflects the diversity and vitality of the Vincentian Family of the time. It includes 32 other members of the Congregation of the Mission (16 priests and 16 coadjutor brothers or novices), who worked in various houses in Madrid and its surroundings (Hortaleza, Canillas, Valdebernardo, etc.), as well as 6 laymen, members of the Association of the Miraculous Medal of the basilica of Madrid, called the "Knights of the Miraculous Medal." These men, fathers of families and modest workers (postman, concierge, waiter, salesman, public works employee), were actively engaged in the charitable works of the parish under the direction of the Lazarist fathers.

From the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, a violent religious persecution fell upon the Catholic Church in the Republican zone. Religious communities were dispersed, and churches were closed or ransacked. On July 25, 1936, Father José María Fernández Sánchez was arrested at the 'Casa de Capellanes' (the house of the chaplains) in Madrid, alongside Father Roque Guillén Garcés and Brothers Cesáreo Elexgaray Otazua and Cristóbal González Carcedo. They were held in various prisons in the capital, notably that of San Felipe Neri. Despite constant threats and the prospect of imminent execution, they maintained an unwavering faith and encouraged one another to accept martyrdom for the love of Christ. On October 23, 1936, Father José María Fernández Sánchez, Father Roque Guillén Garcés, and Brothers Cesáreo Elexgaray Otazua, Cristóbal González Carcedo, Juan Núñez Orcajo, and Agustín Nogal Tobar were taken near the Vallecas cemetery, on the outskirts of Madrid, where they were shot. The other members of the group suffered the same fate on different dates between July and December 1936, in various locations in the Madrid region: some were executed in Hortaleza, Canillas, or Aravaca; others were victims of the mass shootings at Paracuellos de Jarama in November 1936. The six laypeople of the Association of the Miraculous Medal were arrested solely because of their faith and charitable commitment. For example, Blessed Miguel Aguado Camarillo, a father of four, was denounced by his neighbors for his daily religious practice, imprisoned at Porlier, and then shot at Paracuellos on November 27, 1936, the feast day of the Miraculous Medal.

The cause for the beatification of this group of martyrs was introduced in Madrid in November 1960. After an interruption, the diocesan process was relaunched and adapted to the new canonical norms in 2004, then validated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On March 23, 2017, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Father José María Fernández Sánchez and his 38 companions, killed "in hatred of the faith" (in odium fidei). The beatification ceremony was celebrated on November 11, 2017, at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid. It was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Francis, in the presence of numerous bishops, priests, and faithful of the Vincentian Family. During this same celebration, another group of Vincentian martyrs (Father Vicente Queralt Lloret and his 20 companions) was also raised to the altars, bringing the total number of martyrs beatified that day to 60.

The spirituality of this group of martyrs is deeply rooted in the charism of Saint Vincent de Paul: the evangelization of the poor, humble service, and active charity. Both the priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Mission and the laypeople of the Miraculous Medal bore witness to this charity even to the supreme gift of their lives. Their legacy is marked by the heroic forgiveness granted to their executioners. Contemporary testimonies highlight the serenity of the martyrs in the face of death and their refusal of all hatred. The example of the widow of the layman Miguel Aguado Camarillo, who raised her four children in the faith by teaching them to pray each evening for their martyr father but also for his assassin, strikingly illustrates the power of this testimony of Christian reconciliation. The mortal remains of several of these martyrs, exhumed after the war thanks to the meticulous research of their confreres, rest today in the crypt of the Basilica of the Milagrosa in Madrid, where they are venerated by the faithful.