Catholic Blesseds, Saints, Solemnities & Holy Days

Stanley Rother seemed an unlikely candidate for martyrdom. Born in 1935 on a farm in Okarche, Oklahoma, he was a quiet, practical young man who struggled academically in seminary and nearly gave up his priestly vocation twice. Yet this humble farm boy from the American heartland would become the first martyr born in the United States and a powerful witness to radical Christian love in one of the world's most dangerous places.

Ordained in 1963 for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Father Rother served briefly in parishes before volunteering for mission work in Guatemala in 1968. Assigned to the remote highland parish of Santiago Atitlán, he immersed himself completely in Mayan culture, learning the Tz'utujil language so fluently that locals said he was the only priest who could hear their confessions in their native tongue. "This is Christ's priesthood, not mine," he would say, embodying a servant's heart that won the deep love of his parishioners.

Father Rother's mission coincided with Guatemala's brutal civil war. As violence escalated in the 1970s, he witnessed horrific atrocities against the indigenous people he served. Many of his catechists and parishioners were murdered by government forces who suspected them of supporting leftist guerrillas. Rather than flee, Father Rother chose to stay with his people, knowing the danger was increasing.

His commitment to the poor and oppressed marked him as a target. In 1981, his name appeared on a death list, prompting his archbishop to order him home for safety. After three months in Oklahoma, Father Rother felt called to return to Guatemala, writing: "The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger... I am not afraid to die, but I am afraid to leave my people alone."

On July 28, 1981, three masked gunmen entered the rectory and shot Father Rother in the head. His parishioners, convinced he had died as a martyr, kept vigil over his body and insisted his heart remain buried among them when his body was returned to Oklahoma.

Father Rother was beatified on September 23, 2017, becoming the first U.S.-born martyr to be beatified.