In 1927 the enemies of the Catholic Church dominated Mexico.
The ministers of Jesus Christ were persecuted, imprisoned, and shot without mercy. Among these martyrs was the aged Fr. Matthew Correa.
He was in the house of a friend, in one of the most radical districts, when he was called to a poor Indian who wished to receive the last sacraments. Despite the danger he ran, the priest wished to fulfill this duty of charity. Taking the Blessed Sacrament with him, he went with his friend to the sick man’s house.
They deliberately chose the least frequented paths, yet even so the soldiers of Calles surprised them and, seeing that the priest carried the Blessed Sacrament, tried to tear it from him by force in order to profane it. But Fr. Correa was quicker than the soldiers, for he immediately consumed the sacred Host and said:
— Kill me if you wish; but Jesus you shall not profane.
After cruelly mistreating the poor priest, they took him to the city of Valparaíso, where they put him in prison. Accused of complicity with the Cristeros who were fighting in the surrounding regions, they kept him there until General Ortiz took him to Durango.
They arrived there on February 4, and already on the 6th the priest was to be judged by the General in person.
Several other prisoners were to be shot. Turning to Fr. Correa, the General said:
— First hear the confession of these bandits, for they will soon pay for their crimes.
The priest heard their confessions and prepared them for a good death.
When he had finished, the General said to him:
— Now tell me what these scoundrels told you.
Rising with noble firmness, the priest replied:
— Never — that, never!
— You will not tell?
— No, never!
— Then you will be shot with the others?
— Shoot me; but the seal of confession I will never violate.
The infamous General ordered him to be killed with the other prisoners; and thus the great martyr sealed with his own blood his Faith and his sacred ministry.
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