Maria Angeles: A Spanish-Maguindanaon on the Road to Sainthood

-


Maria Angeles Rodriguez de Rivera Chicote, was a Philippine-born Spanish laywoman who was among the martyrs of the religious persecution during the Spanish Civil War which started in 1936.  She died on October 28, 1936 in Malaga, Spain.  Recognizing her martyrdom, the Diocese of Malaga on September 27, 2016, opened her cause for beatification, alongside 67 other martyrs, including Fr. Jose Vera Medialdea.  Maria Angeles is notably the the second Filipino-born martyr of the Spanish Civil War, following Blessed Jose Maria of Manila.

Short Biography 

In the distant land of Cotabato in Maguindanao, far from her ancestral Spain, a child, who would one day bear witness to the cause of faith was born in 1884. The daughter of a Spanish Infantry Colonel stationed in the Philippines, Manuel Rodriguez de Rivera and Carolina Chicote Beltran, Maria Angeles Rodriguez de Rivera Chicote had two other siblings - an older sister Carolina who was born in Manila and a younger sister Carmen who was born in Aranjuez, Spain.   

When the Philippine Revolution against Spain broke out in 1897, the family decided to return to Spain, for safety and settled in Marbella.  

In Marbella, the family members were very pious and religious and were daily church goers.  This could have influenced Maria Angeles' youngest sister Carmen to become a nun.  More so, Maria Angeles became a pillar of the Catholic community because of her deep religiosity and service to the disadvantaged. She served as the president of the Catholic Action and head catechist in her parish.  Her close friendship with her parish priest, Fr. Jose Vera Medialdea, further underscored her commitment to the Church but such association also earned her the ire of Marxist sentimentalists.

Memorial at the Cemetery of San Rafael
(Malaga) where the remains of 2,840
victims exhumed from a common
grave were laid to rest

The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 brought immense challenges and difficulties.  Due to her prominent status and her association to the Church, Maria Angeles was arrested by Marxist forces and was imprisoned in Marbella.  She was later transferred to the prison ship "Marques de Chavarri" in Malaga.  Under a guise of a release, she was taken from the ship, subjected to severe torture and executed by firing squad at the San Rafael Cemetery in Malaga on October 28, 1936.  Documents show that around 4,471 people where shot by right-wing firing squads in the cemetery during the civil war and the early years of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.  

Initially buried in a common grave, her remains were later transferred to the crypt of the Cathedral of Malaga, to honor her bravery and sacrifice.   

The life and martyrdom of Maria Angeles offer a powerful reflection on how one can be brave and remain steadfast in faith in the face of persecution, even death.  

Her life also tells us that holiness is often forged not in grand gestures but in daily acts of fidelity, service and love - until the ultimate witness of martyrdom.  

Maria Angeles chose not the path of safety, but of truth.  In a time when religious identity could mean death, she remained loyal to the Church, to her mission and to Christ.  Her quiet leadership as a catechist and president of Catholic Action, her willingness to serve even under threat, and her calm embrace of suffering speak of a soul so deeply anchored in the Gospel.

From her life, we learn that faith is not passive; it is active, daring and transformative.  Her martyrdom challenges us to live our beliefs with integrity, no matter the cost.  In remembering her, we are reminded that even in the darkness of persecution, grace abounds.  Her witness invites us to find strength in our convictions, and to trust, as she did, in the triumph of truth and love over fear. 


The Cathedral of Holy Incarnation, Diocese of Malaga


References:

Maria Angeles Rodriguez de Rivera Chicote.  Accessed April 2025.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_%C3%81ngeles_Rodr%C3%ADguez_de_Rivera_Chicote

Martyrs of the Religious Persecution during the Spanish Civil War (1934, 1936-39). Accessed April 2025. http://newsaints.faithweb.com/martyrs/MSPC62.htm 2025.  

Photos: Not mine.  CTTO.


 n Rafael Cemetery, Málaga (Spain)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Popular Religiosity and Festivals: And They Danced with Joy before the Lord: The Subli Festival of Bauan, Batangas

-
Image
More than a dance form, Subli is a religous ritual that venerates the Holy Cross Dance has always been an essential component of worship of people of various religious and cultural traditions. Man of times past up to the present, uses a variety of movements of his body – hands, hips, arms, legs and head in rhythmic successions and  combinations as a form of prayer, to express worship and reverence to God. In the historic town of Bauan, Batangas exists a traditional religious dance form called the “subli” which people perform to venerate the santo patron – the Mahal na Poong Santa Cruz . The ceremonial worship dance is usually presented during the town’s fiesta which is traditionally held every May 3.  It has also been tradionally practiced that every May 1 and 2 each year, the towns of Alitagtag and Bauan celebrate the Anubing Sublian Festival to pay homage and reverence to the Mahal na Poong Sta. Cruz .  The festival highlights the dancing of the Subli.  Short ...
Read more

Lipa City: The Little Rome of the Philippines

-
Image
Lipa Cathedral interior I was born and grew up in a city where it is not uncommon to see nuns garbed in habits of various shades of blue, grey, brown and white and seminarians and religious brothers garbed in their cassocks, clerical shirts or religious habit, in any given day, attending church services in the different churches, shrines and monasteries in the city and its outskirts. On Sundays, all churches are full to capacity of people coming from all walks of life fulfilling their Sunday obligation. On a typical Wednesday, the Redemptorist shrine of Divino Amor welcomes throngs of devotees of Our Lady of Perpetual Help coming from different places. Every 12th of the month, there is a penitential procession from the Cathedral going to Carmel and there are also liturgical activities in Carmel every first Saturday of the month dedicated to the Blessed Mother. Welcome to the city of my birth, Lipa City, the "Little Rome of the Philippines." With its elevation of 1,025 feet ab...
Read more

Laureana "Ka Luring" Franco: The Holy Catechist of Manila

-
Image
Laureana "Ka Luring" Franco: The Holy Catechist of Manila Ka Luring Franco (1936 - 2011) God indeed reveals Himself to the humble in the lowliest of disguises. And Ka Luring was sensitive to that fact - she found God and recognized Him revealing Himself in the faces of the the little children she so loved catechizing and the poor she so selflessly helped and served; that she herself became a reflection of that God she found among God's poor, which she so perfectly radiated with stunning simplicity and overflowing joy. Laureana Franco gave up her job in a government office in order to pursue her true calling and first love, the teaching of catechism to children. From then on, Ka Luring spent the rest of her years pursuing in what for her, was her real vocation and mission in life – that of being a catechist.  She has earned the title, "The Legendary Catechist of the Archdiocese of Manila” because of her commitment to the ministry of catechizing children. She knew so ...
Read more