Saint Who?
Saints Who Grew Up in Poverty
Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
Martyr († 1936)Feast: May 4
Ceferino was born into a tribe of the Romani people (so-called “Gypsies”). The family moved from village to village in Spain and southern France, selling baskets and trading cattle. In the winter, they would rent a cottage or get permission to live on some farmer’s lands. The boy often went hungry, and he also felt homeless.
He was married in a Romani ceremony at twenty (the marriage was regularized later by the Church). Not long afterward, his own father abandoned the family, and Ceferino became responsible for his mother and siblings. He and his wife also adopted his niece, who was to be their only child. The family settled down, and Ceferino built a successful horse-trading enterprise. Stabilized by his faithful prayer life and with a reputation for honesty, he was often called upon to serve as a mediator in local disputes.
Widowed in 1922, Ceferino joined the Third Order of Saint Francis. During the Spanish Civil War, Ceferino tried to prevent the arrest of a priest. The soldiers asked if he had a weapon. “Only this,” he replied, showing his rosary. He was taken to prison. He was offered freedom if he would stop praying the rosary, but he refused. He was shot, rosary in hand, on August 9, 1936.
Compassionate Father, grant that we,
like Blessed Ceferino, may find stability of life through honesty, generosity, and devotion to the Virgin Mary.
