Christopher Magallanes was born in 1869 in the province of Guadalajara, Mexico, of devout parents who were poor farmers. As a youth, he worked as a shepherd, but felt called to be a shepherd of souls. He entered the seminary at nineteen and was ordained at the age of thirty.

He worked as a parish priest in his hometown of Totatiche for two decades, and there also opened a carpentry business to help provide jobs for the local men.

Christopher Magallanes lived under a very anti-Catholic government in Mexico, one determined to weaken the Catholic faith of its people. Churches, schools, and seminaries were closed; foreign clergy were expelled. Christopher Magallanes established a clandestine seminary at Totatiche, Jalisco. He and the other priests were forced to minister secretly to Catholics during the presidency of Plutarco Calles (1924-28).

When, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the atheistic Mexican government launched a merciless persecution of the Catholic Church, a new constitution banned the training of priests.

Fr. Christopher was arrested on his way to say Mass, imprisoned and condemned to be shot without trial.

Christopher Magallanes shares his feast with 21 other priests and three laymen martyred between 1915 and 1937.

His last words were, “I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may serve to unite my Mexican brethren.”

He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 21, 2000.