Last week I learned the inspiring and courageous story of Father Stanley Rother who died while serving the flock entrusted to him. He knew that remaining with his parishioners was his death sentence, yet he stayed. I met people who knew him and worked with him. I met one of his seminary classmates. I heard stories from priests who saw him pacing back and forth in a chapel in Guatemala City days before his martyrdom. A military death squad killed him in 1981.
The following text is taken from a prayer card of Servant of God Father Stanley Rother, Oklahoma Martyr:
Father Stanley Rother, born March 27, 1935, grew up in Okarche, Oklahoma, and was ordained a priest in 1963. Five years later, he received the call to serve in the Oklahoma mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.
Through the years, Father Rother learned the local Tzutuhil dialect, served the people with devotion, and was deeply loved by the parishioners. Political unrest swept the country in the 1970s and in 1980 four priests were killed in Guatemala.
In his Christmas letter of 1980, Father Rother wrote: “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.” Nevertheless, as conditions worsened, he came back to Oklahoma. After a short time, despite the danger, he returned to the mission because of his love for the people.
On the night of July 28, 1981, three men entered the rectory, tortured and shot Father Rother. Father Rother’s heart is buried in the church in Guatemala and his body is buried at Holy Trinity Cemetery in Okarche. The official Cause for Beatification of Father Rother was begun in October 2007. We now pray that the Church will declare him a martyr and a saint.
Father Rother’s parish in Santiago Atitlan, founded in 1547 by Spanish missionaries
Library turned into chapel where Father Rother was murdered in the parish rectory
Exact spot where Father Rother was murdered. A box on the floor covers the mark left by the bullet
Dona Chona, the lady who cleaned up Father Rother’s blood with a dust pan and placed it in a jar. Here she is telling us the story along with many others at San Lucas Toliman Parish
Monument where Father Rother’s blood and heart are buried inside the parish of Santiago Atitlan
Sunday Mass at Santiago Atitlan with Tzutuhil Mayas
Mass at Santiago Atitlan
After Mass at Santiago Atitlan, volcano on background
Bishop of Solola, Guatemala during a pastoral visit to Santiago Atitlan. In four years he has ordained fifty percent of the diocesan clergy and the median age of all priests is 37.
The procurator for the canonization of Father Rother (left). He was baptized by Father Rother when he was three years old
Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.
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