María Pilar Gullón Yturriaga and 2 companions

At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, faced with an influx of wounded and a lack of qualified personnel, the local Red Cross of Astorga organized accelerated courses to train volunteer nurses ("damas enfermeras"). María Pilar, Octavia, and Olga decided to enroll. Their motivation was purely charitable: to care for the war wounded, without distinction of ideology or side.

On October 8, 1936, after completing their training, the three young women were sent as Red Cross volunteers to the military health post at Puerto de Somiedo, located in a mountainous area on the border between León and Asturias, very close to the front line. Their initial service was to last eight days, but faced with the gravity of the situation and the humanitarian emergency, they chose to extend their commitment.

On the morning of Tuesday, October 27, 1936, the health post suffered a violent attack by Republican militias. Although they had the opportunity to flee to save their lives, María Pilar, Octavia, and Olga refused to abandon the wounded and decided to stay by their side to continue assisting them. The wounded soldiers were shot on the spot by the attackers, and the medical staff—including the commander, the doctor, the chaplain, and the three nurses—were taken prisoner.

After a long and painful forced march, the three nurses were taken to Pola de Somiedo. Despite their status as members of the Red Cross, they were handed over to the local war committee, and then to the militiamen. Throughout the night of October 27 to 28, they were held captive in the militiamen's barracks, where they suffered severe abuse, torture, and repeated rape. Their executioners promised them freedom on the condition that they renounce their Catholic faith and apostatize, but they categorically refused, persisting in prayer and exclaiming several times: "Viva Cristo Rey!" (Long live Christ the King!).

On the morning of October 28, 1936, around noon, they were stripped of their clothes and dragged into a meadow on the outskirts of the town. Three female militiamen volunteered to carry out the execution. María Pilar, Octavia, and Olga were shot while they continued to proclaim their faith. Their bodies, treated in an ignominious manner, were abandoned before being buried in a mass grave dug by villagers who had been forcibly requisitioned.

The reputation of their martyrdom spread rapidly throughout the ecclesial community. In January 1938, their bodies were exhumed from the mass grave. Due to the low temperatures of the mountain, the bodies were found in a state of near-incorruptibility, which allowed for their formal identification. On January 30, 1938, with the special authorization of Pope Pius XI, their remains were transferred with great honors to the Cathedral of Astorga. In 1948, at the request of the National Assembly of the Red Cross, they were placed in a mausoleum specially erected in the Saint John the Baptist chapel of the cathedral. In 2006, the diocesan process of beatification was officially opened in the Diocese of Astorga, under the impetus of a canonical foundation created by the descendants of María Pilar Gullón and the Bishop of Astorga. The diocesan inquiry was closed in 2007 and the acts were transmitted to Rome. On June 11, 2019, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing their martyrdom in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith), thus opening the way for their beatification.

The beatification ceremony for María Pilar Gullón Yturriaga, Octavia Iglesias Blanco, and Olga Pérez-Monteserín Núñez was celebrated on May 29, 2021, in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Astorga. The solemn Mass was presided over, in the name of Pope Francis, by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The following day, May 30, 2021, during the Angelus prayer at the Vatican, Pope Francis paid tribute to the three new blesseds:

"Yesterday, in Astorga, Spain, María Pilar Gullón Yturriaga, Octavia Iglesias Blanco, and Olga Pérez-Monteserín Núñez were beatified. These three courageous laywomen, in imitation of the Good Samaritan, dedicated themselves to caring for the wounded of the war without abandoning them in moments of danger; they took risks and were killed in hatred of the faith. Let us thank the Lord for their evangelical witness."

Their liturgical feast is set for November 6, the day of the obligatory memorial of all the martyrs of the religious persecution of the 20th century in Spain.

The spirituality of the three nurses of Somiedo is rooted in a faith lived out daily through parish involvement and works of charity. Their martyrdom is the culmination of a life of selfless service. By choosing not to flee in the face of danger so as not to abandon the wounded, they embodied the evangelical figure of the Good Samaritan. Their refusal to apostatize under torture and the forgiveness they granted their executioners before dying constitute a heroic testimony of fidelity to Christ. The Bishop of Astorga, Mgr Jesús Fernández González, emphasized that they represent a "model of the Christian lay vocation," showing that charity and human compassion must prevail even in the midst of the darkest conflicts. Their memory remains alive in Astorga, where a street bears their name ("Calle de las Enfermeras Mártires de Somiedo"), and their mausoleum in the cathedral remains a place of reflection and prayer for the faithful.