The word “catholic” comes from the Greek term katholikos, which means “universal” or “whole.” The beauty of the Catholic Church is that it encompasses people of all cultures and backgrounds.

Every year, the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 – October 15. This month, we want to celebrate the Hispanic saints who played a vital role in the Church and continue to make a lasting impact through their legacy.

Here are 7 Hispanic saints who you should get to know this Hispanic Heritage Month:

7 Hispanic Saints To Get To Know During Hispanic Heritage Month

St. Juan Diego

St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) was a member of the Chichimeca people before his conversion through the efforts of missionary Franciscan friars who evangelized Mexico. He is most recognized because of the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. One morning, when Juan Diego was on his way to Mass, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill. She asked him to tell the Bishop to build a chapel on that hill. When Juan Diego went to the bishop, he asked for a “sign” that these apparitions were from heaven.

The sign that Our Lady gave to Juan Diego was Tepeyac Hill flowering with Castilian roses, which Juan Diego then gathered and placed in his tilma (mantle) and took to the bishop. When he opened his tilma to the bishop, the image of Our Lady Guadalupe was imprinted on it. Because of this miracle, the Bishop approved the building of the chapel on Tepeyac Hill.

Today, the tilma now hangs in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. St. Juan Diego was canonized in 2002 by St. John Paul II, becoming the first Indigenous saint from the Americas.

St. Rosa of Lima

St. Rosa of Lima was born Isabel Flores de Oliva to Spanish colonists in Lima, Peru. Because of her great beauty, she was given the nickname “Rosa,” which she took officially during her confirmation.

As a child, she was extremely devoted to the Blessed Sacrament and had an immense desire to become a nun. As she grew older, she also grew more beautiful, attracting prominent suitors. Her parents were adamant about her marrying, but she wanted to dedicate her entire life to Christ and take a vow of chastity, which her parents disapproved of.

To repel suitors, Rosa cut her hair short and would rub peppers on her face for it to blister and deform. To stop this, her parents conceded to her not marrying on the condition that she would continue to live with them in a separate room, where she could live a prayerful life. Rosa joined the Third Order of St. Dominic, living a penitential life and caring for the sick and hungry in her community.

She died at the young age of 31 after battling illness for a long time. Her feast day is on August 23, and she’s the patron saint of Latin America and the Philippines. (Source: 1. 2.)

St. Jose Sanchez del Rio

St. Jose Sanchez del Rio was only 14 years old when he was martyred for his faith in Mexico in 1928.

Jose was born on March 28, 1913, in Sahuayo, Michoacán, to a very Catholic family. Growing up, he had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of Guadalupe. He grew up with religious persecution in Mexico; the government had written anti-clerical laws into its constitution that prevented priests from wearing cassocks in public, deported non-Mexican priests, and restricted Catholic practice. These laws became known as the “Calles Laws” after the president who established them.

When Jose was 12 years old, the Cristero War broke out as a response to the persecution. Jose pleaded with his mother to let him join the religious rebellion, but both she and the leading general refused. After much pleading, they allowed him to join, and he became flagbearer of the troop, holding flags of Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Unfortunately, Jose was captured during a battle where he gave up his horse so the general could continue leading. During his captivity, he was tortured for his faith and had the bottoms of his feet cut off. He was forced to march to the cemetery where the soldiers told him to shout “Death to Christ the King” in exchange for his freedom. Instead, Jose boldly shouted, “Viva Cristo Rey” (Long Live Christ the King). He was shot after uttering those words and joined heaven as one of the young martyrs of the Church.

Jose was canonized on October 16, 2016, and is buried in his hometown in the Church of Saint James the Apostle. (Source: 3. 4)

St. Pedro de Jesús Maldonado

St. Pedro de Jesus Maldonado was one of the 25 Mexican martyrs of the Cristero War canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2000. Pedro was born on June 15, 1892, and little is known about his life before he entered the seminary. In 1914, his seminary shut down because of the Second Mexican Revolution, and he finished his studies in the United States, where he was ordained a priest.

Years later, he returned to Mexico, where he served in secret during the Cristero War until its end in 1929. Although the war was officially over, the anti-clerical sentiments were far from gone. On Ash Wednesday 1937, after hearing Confessions, Fr. Pedro was captured by a group of drunken armed men and brutally beaten by city officials.

He was struck in the head by a pistol and fell to the floor covered in blood. In his fall, he dropped the pyx of hosts he was carrying. One of his attackers, seeing “the mess he caused,” told him to “eat it,” unknowingly allowing Fr. Pedro to receive his final Communion before he died. St. Pedro de Jesus’ feast day is on February 11, the day he died, and he is considered a patron saint of the Knights of Columbus, having been a member of the group during his life. (Source: 5)

St. Martin of Porres

St. Martin of Porres was born in Lima, Peru, as the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave. He inherited his mother’s dark complexion, something that drove his father away for 8 years before he acknowledged Martin as his son. During that time, Martin, his mother, and sister grew up in poverty. When he turned 12, his mother set him up to be an apprentice to a barber-surgeon, where he learned to cut hair and tend to wounds (a fascinating combination).

He had a desire to join the Dominicans but felt unworthy because of his skin color and social status. So he applied to be a lay helper. Still, after years of seeing his dedication, the Dominicans offered him the opportunity to become a professed Dominican too, something that brought a lot of joy to Martin.

During his ministry as a Dominican, he worked to found an orphanage that cared for slaves who were being brought to the Americas from Africa. He also asked for alms and became a great fundraiser, raising thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls in his city so that they could marry or enter a convent if they wished. He was also in charge of his priory’s infirmary where he tended not only to the sick friars but also the slaves of Lima.

When St. Martin died, his body was found incorrupt 25 years after. The people took this as an additional sign of his holiness and God’s good will towards him. (Sources: 6. 7. 8)

St. Laura Montoya

St. Laura Montoya Upegui was born on 26 May 1874 in Jericó, Antioquia, Colombia. When she was 2 years old, her father died in combat, leaving her family in poverty. Because of their financial need, her mother sent Laura away to live with her grandmother. During this time, Laura felt orphaned and unloved, but found comfort in offering her sufferings up to God.

When she was 16, Laura’s mother wanted her to help with the family’s finances and told her to become a teacher. Laura hadn’t grown up with an education applied to study at the “Normale de Institutoras” of Medellín to become an elementary school teacher.

After her graduation, she began to teach throughout Antioquia. Her teaching was not limited to academic knowledge; she also taught her students about Christ and the Gospel. During her years as a teacher, she felt a tug in her heart to become a religious sister and teach the Indian population of Latin America. She saw how they were often neglected and seen as “savages,” but she wanted to bring them Christ’s love and treat them with their God-given dignity.

On 14 May 1914, she and four other young women left their hometown and headed to Dabeiba to live among the native Indians. Together, these women became a new religious community known as the “Missionaries of Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena” or the “Lauritas”.

She served there until she died in 1949. Today, her Missionary Sisters do work in 21 countries throughout the world. (Source: 9)

St. Teresa of Los Andes

St. Teresa de los Andes was born in Santiago de Chile on 13 July 1900. Her full name was Juana Enriqueta Josefina Solar but was simply known as “Juanita”. Her family was well-off and gave her and her siblings the best Catholic education that they could find. She was instructed by French nuns who introduced her to St. Thérèse’s “The Story of a Soul,” which deeply impacted Juanita when she was 14 years old.

Because of this, Juanita felt called to become a Carmelite nun. She fulfilled her desire after writing a heartfelt letter to her father, who granted her permission when she was 19 years old.

She joined the convent and took the name Teresa de Jesús. She lived happily in the convent for 11 months, radiating the joy of God and his Blessed Mother around her. Things, however, took an unexpected turn for the worse. Teresa became sick with Typhus and had no hope for recovery. Her superiors gave her special permission to make profession of vows, something that brought great joy and comfort to her. She died only 5 days after professing her vows, having offered all her suffering to God. She was only 20 years old at the time of her death, becoming the first Chilean to be a saint. (Sources:10. 11)

*Sources are marked throughout the text in numbered links for additional reading.

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Keep Learning: Recommended Catholic Books About The Saints

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A Saint a Day: A 365-Day Devotional Featuring Christian Saints (True Stories of Faith)

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Image: Photo by Emmanuel Acua on Unsplash