Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 companions

The life of these seven religious was entirely devoted to the formation and education of future missionaries within the Pequeña Obra (Little Work), the minor seminary of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart congregation in Canet de Mar. This seminary then hosted about 65 young boys preparing for religious and priestly life. The priests provided instruction in the humanities, Latin, drawing, and music, while the coadjutor brothers attended to the material needs of the house (kitchen, vegetable garden, farm).

In July 1936, the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War was accompanied by violent religious persecution. On July 21, the parish church of Canet de Mar was set on fire by militiamen. Faced with imminent danger, the superior of the community, Father José Fernández, ordered the religious to put on civilian clothes, consume the consecrated hosts, and hide the sacred objects. That same day, the local revolutionary committee ordered the evacuation of the seminary. The religious and the children were then held under surveillance in a residence near the Sanctuary of Mercy.

On August 3, 1936, a sympathetic guard warned the religious that the local committee had decided to execute them by firing squad. To attempt to save their lives, the community divided into several groups. The seven youngest religious—the future blesseds—decided to flee together through the mountains toward the French border.

Thus began an arduous Way of the Cross lasting nearly two months. Without suitable clothing or footwear, they traveled approximately 140 kilometers through forests and mountains, facing cold, rain, and storms. They occasionally received help from Christian peasant families at various farmsteads (masías), notably at Hostalric (Can Pons), Sant Feliu de Buixalleu (Can Pages), and Begudà (Can Devesa).

On September 28, 1936, exhausted and soaked by incessant rain, they arrived near Begudà. Seeking directions to cross the border, they naively asked for the way from a local inhabitant who turned out to be a leader of the local revolutionary committee. Betrayed, they were immediately arrested in Sant Joan les Fonts and locked up for the night in the local school, where they spent their final hours in prayer.

The following afternoon, September 29, 1936—the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel, the protector of their congregation—they were taken by bus near the Pont de Ser, in Serinyà (Girona). Lined up against a ruined stone wall, the militiamen ordered them to turn their backs. Father Antonio Arribas Hortigüela courageously refused and cried out: "Los cobardes mueren de espaldas, y nosotros no somos ni cobardes ni ladrones. Nos matáis porque somos religiosos. ¡Viva... !" A burst of machine-gun fire prevented him from finishing his cry of "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" (Long live Christ the King!). The first four priests were shot, and then the three remaining brothers were executed before them. One of them died clutching a crucifix in his hand.

The diocesan informative process for beatification was opened on July 14, 1995, in Canet de Mar, under the episcopate of Msgr. Jaume Camprodon, Bishop of Girona. The diocesan inquiry closed in 1999 and the file was transmitted to Rome.

On July 8, 2016, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing their martyrdom in hatred of the faith (in odium fidei).

The beatification ceremony was celebrated on May 6, 2017, in the Cathedral of Santa Maria in Girona (Spain). It was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, acting as legate for Pope Francis. During the Regina Caeli on May 7, 2017, Pope Francis publicly honored the memory of these "faithful and heroic disciples of Jesus."

The spirituality of these seven martyrs is deeply rooted in the charism of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, founded in France by Father Jules Chevalier. This charism invites one to contemplate and manifest the merciful love of God revealed in the Heart of Christ. Faced with the hatred and violence of persecution, they responded with fidelity to their vows, communal prayer (notably the rosary which they recited together during their flight), and the forgiveness granted to their executioners.

Their bodies, initially buried in two mass graves at the Serinyà cemetery, were exhumed on March 30, 1940, and transferred to Canet de Mar. Since their beatification on May 6, 2017, their relics have rested in the Martyrs' Chapel of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Barcelona, where they are offered for the veneration of the faithful. They are the first members of the congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart to be raised to the altars as blessed.