Ángeles Lloret Martí and 16 companions

The Congregation of the Sisters of Christian Doctrine, whose motherhouse and novitiate are established in Mislata (near Valencia), has as its primary mission the teaching of the catechism and the education of children and adults, particularly among the poorest classes, workers, and peasants. Under the leadership of Mother Ángeles de San José, the sisters courageously continued their mission of evangelization despite legislative difficulties and social tensions. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936, a violent religious persecution was unleashed in the Valencia region. Aware of the extreme danger to her community, Mother Ángeles made quick decisions to protect her sisters. She ordered them to remove their religious habits and disperse. For the elderly or sick nuns, or those who had no family with whom to take refuge, she rented an apartment at number 7 Maestro Chapí Street in Valencia. There, she formed a clandestine community with her councilors (Mother María del Sufragio and Mother María de Montserrat) and other sisters who had come from various communities. In this refuge, they lived in great poverty, sustained by constant prayer. Their final testimony of charity was particularly heroic: using requisitioned wool brought by the militiamen, the sisters knitted sweaters for their own persecutors. This manual labor became the concrete expression of their forgiveness and evangelical love.

The martyrdom of the community took place in two stages in the autumn of 1936: The martyrdom at Llosa de Ranes (September 26, 1936): Two of the religious sisters, Mother Amparo (Teresa Rosat Balasch) and Sister María del Calvario (Josefa Romero Clariana), who had taken refuge separately, were arrested and imprisoned in Carlet. They were shot on the night of September 26, 1936, at the Barranco de los Perros (the Ravine of the Dogs), near Llosa de Ranes. The martyrdom at Paterna (November 20, 1936): The other fifteen sisters, including Mother Ángeles de San José, were arrested in their apartment on Maestro Chapí Street on November 19, 1936. They were taken in a minibus to the riding arena of Paterna (picadero de Paterna), a few kilometers from Valencia. They were shot there at one o'clock in the morning on November 20, 1936. Before dying, they forgave their executioners and offered their lives to God. Their remains were exhumed in May 1940 and transferred to the Mislata cemetery, then deposited on December 12, 1968, in a pantheon in the church of the General House of Mislata, where they rest today.

The cause for beatification was instructed by the Archdiocese of Valencia. The decree formally recognizing their martyrdom in hatred of the faith (in odium fidei) was promulgated on July 6, 1993, by Pope John Paul II. Mother Ángeles de San José Lloret Martí and her 16 companions were solemnly beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 1995, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. As this is a martyrdom formally recognized by the Church, no miracle was required for their beatification.

The spirituality of Mother Ángeles and her companions is deeply rooted in trust in Divine Providence, simplicity, and fraternal charity. Their clandestine community life in Valencia transformed persecution and suffering into a path of union with God. The act of knitting clothes for their future executioners remains a striking symbol of Christian love pushed to the extreme and of unconditional forgiveness. Today, the Congregation of the Sisters of Christian Doctrine continues its educational and pastoral work in Spain, but has also expanded into Colombia and Peru. The 17 martyrs are venerated as the patronesses and models of fidelity for the institute.