Dreams about the priesthood

Blessed Oblate Martyrs of Spain

A few days ago we celebrated the feast day of the 22 Oblate Martyrs of Spain. They were martyred for their Catholic Faith and particularly for their commitment to the religious life and the priesthood. Interestingly 17 of those Oblates were young seminarians (in the Oblate Congregation we call them scholastics) who were preparing to be ordained priests. Recently a painting was commissioned which presents them dressed in white. It is a reference to the image from the Book of the Revelation where we read: “Do you know who these people are, dressed in white robes, and where they come from?” I answered him: You can tell me my lord.” Then he said: “These are the people who have been through the great persecution, and because they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lam, they now stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his sanctuary, and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will never hunger or thirst again; neither the sun nor scorching wind will ever plague them, because the Lamb who is at the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to the springs of living water, and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

The Oblate martyrs are standing in a field of wheat. We should remember Jesus’ words from Luke’s Gospel: “The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.” Looking at this new painting we can say: “The harvest is still plentiful but workers that we repreparing for the harvest were cut down in their youth.”

As we pray the Novena of the Immaculate Conception let us also turn to those young Oblates who dreamed about becoming missionary priests but were martyred before they had a chance to be ordained, to share their passion for the Oblate missionary way of life with the young men today.

This is a YouTube clip presenting the story of those Oblate Martyrs.