the costly price of christian love

SAINTS JOURNEYING WITH US
u AN ON-LINE PUBLICATION OF THE HAGIOGRAPHY CIRCLE
vol. 1, no. 4
VICTORIA DÍEZ BUSTOS DE MOLINA:
THE MOST ELOQUENT LESSON
OF A MARTYRED EDUCATOR
1903-1936
I
t’s her. It is her!” the young girl
cried. “She did not see me, but it is
her.” “Yes, Mamma,” affirmed
another, “her hands were clasped
and her eyes were cast downward… just like
in church. She must have been praying...
she was pale and alone.”
They came upon hearing the news. One
by one. Two by two. Some came with their
mothers. In groups of three and four. The
curious onlookers mixed with the
sympathetic crowd hoping to catch a
glimpse of the woman detained in the
makeshift cell. She was alone, separated
from the seventeen men who shared in the
obscurity of her tomorrow. Indeed, they
knew her… she was their teacher.
GIFTED CHILD
Victoria Díez Bustos de Molina was born
on November 11, 1903 in the ancient city of
Seville. She was the only child of José Díez
Moreno and Victoria Bustos de Molina.
They were a good Christian couple, morally
upright and supportive of each other. The
man of the house supported the family with
his work in a commercial house in the city.
José, however, was virtually shut off from
his wife and daughter: he was deaf. It was
quite a lonely life for him - and for the two
women who consequently shared in his
loneliness.
VICTORIA DÍEZ BUSTOS DE MOLINA
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SAINTS JOURNEYING WITH US
The teachers of Victoria quickly noted
her intelligence and talents. The young
woman, known for her liveliness, affability
and capacity to sacrifice, was also gifted
with a talent for painting. On the same
time, Victoria was remembered for her
outstanding piety. Striving constantly to
live in the presence of God, she nourished
her spirituality with the sacraments, regular
meditation and involvement in Catholic
Action.
The teaching profession did not
immediately attract this future educator.
The situation of her family and her own
vivacious character made Victoria
uncertain: “I do not know what God wants
of me but I know that I do not have the
vocation of a teacher.” Her parents had the
last say, however, and acquiescing to their
desires, Victoria enrolled at the Escuela
Normal de Maestras of Seville in 1919.
was formed by a fast growing number of
intelligent and educated women who sought
to make a difference in an increasingly
secularized Spanish educational system.
They had to struggle against the social
forces of evil within the field of education
and culture. Some of these women lived
together as a group while others remained
with their families to be as leaven to their
communities.
“I believe that I will only be happy by
belonging to the Teresianas. How good God
is who gives to each of us in the measure we
desire!” At the same time that she entered
the Internado Teresiano in 1926, Victoria
decided to join the pious union. She
became a member of the Institucion
Teresiana on August 3, 1928. On July 9,
1932, she made her final commitment.
TO GO TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
DISCIPLE OF PEDRO POVEDA
After graduating brilliantly in 1923,
Victoria proceeded to take up higher
studies. During its course, she underwent a
crucial discernment process. From within
her heart, Victoria felt an ardent desire to
consecrate herself to Christ. The biggest
obstacle to its realization, however, was her
dedication to her parents. It was not only
because she was an only child but also
because of their dependence on her owing to
her father’s physical handicap. Her
problem was how to be consecrated to
Christ without leaving her parents alone.
Providence intervened in November
1925. Victoria attended a lecture entitled
The Pedagogical Character of St. Teresa
and of her Works at a newly inaugurated
Academia, a sort of residence for women
studying in the Normal School. The
members of the Institución Teresiana
managed the foundation. The lecturer,
Joséfa Grosso, was one of its members.
Victoria left the lecture hall convinced that
she had found what she was looking for.
The Institución Teresiana, a pious
association founded by Fr. Pedro Poveda,
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Victoria, a woman of faith, lived her
Teresian mission as a simple public school
teacher. Education was to be her was of
proclaiming the truth of God’s love. To
speak of Christ during those days was risky,
but she was not afraid. For her, Jesus Christ
was “en primera fila,” over and above
everything else.
Just a few months after brilliantly
passing the civil service examinations in
1927, Victoria received her first assignment
to teach in the village of Cheles, in the
province of Badajoz. Doña Victoria decided
to accompany her daughter while Don José
remained in Seville.
Since the village was near the border of
Portugal, Victoria found herself in an
unpleasant situation: “They say that since
this village was founded by Portuguese, it
inhabitants speak Portuguese fluently. If
that is so, then I am in a fix…” But that was
not important for her: “As for me, I will
conform myself with the will of God. It does
not matter to me if I have to go to the ends
of the world as long as it is for His glory and
the salvation of all people.”
VICTORIA DÍEZ BUSTOS DE MOLINA
Victoria described Cheles: “It is an
apathetic and indifferent town but it is not a
bad one. No one has yet undertaken the
formation of its girls; no one has guided
them.” Within the year that she spent there,
Victoria was able to bring Christ closer to
her students and to the people as well. In
July 1928, she was officially transferred to
work in Hornachuelos, a small town in
Cordoba.
UNCELEBRATED TOWN
Hornachuelos was an ancient and
dormant town, uncelebrated by Andalucian
poets and minstrels. It was a Spanish town
like any other, save for some antique
buildings. Its people were Catholics, at least
by name. Only a few women regularly
attended Mass. Complying with the new
laws of Spain at that period, the local
government had prohibited the teaching of
catechism and ordered the removal of
crucifixes from all classrooms.
One would ask: why would such a
brilliant teacher like her choose to continue
living in such an apathetic town? It was not
professional concern alone that moved her
heart to remain in Hornachuelos. “I have
asked the Lord to send me to a place where I
would be loved less and known little by
people. And after incessant prayer, I
obtained from heaven what I had been
asking for.” With such words, Victoria Díez
explained her raison d’etre in
Hornachuelos.
In anti-clerical Spain, every effort was
used to eradicate all traces of religion from
the educational system. Victoria, who
refused to go with the tide, became an
absolute contradiction. She chose to partake
in the poverty and ignorance of her students
and their families. Instead of being a part of
the babble of protesting rebellious voices
and living a life of nonchalance, she chose to
empathize with her adopted people.
During the celebration of Book Day, the
local authorities decided to distribute free
reading materials to the students. The
mayor entered Victoria’s class and while he
spoke to the girls, she browsed over some of
the reading materials he brought along.
Horror was etched at her face when she saw
the title of some of the pamphlets: “God
Does Not Exist And Has Never Existed”,
“Why Do the Bourgeoisies Believe In God”.
When they were going to distribute the
materials, Victoria firmly refused to
participate. She did not want to be
responsible of the degradation of her
students. The mayor was surprised with her
courage and ordered the books removed.
EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATOR
After her classes were dismissed, after
the slow had been tutored, and after the
classroom had been prepared for the
morrow’s lessons, Victoria could be seen
with the youth of Hornachuelos. She
believed in the power of the youth to
transform society and she did whatever she
could to make this felt by them. With the
permission of Fr. Antonio Molina Ariza, the
parish priest, she organized the Student
Catholic Action in that town. It was, for her,
an effective way of bringing the Gospel into
their hearts.
She knew that organizing a youth
association for them was not enough. She
tried to develop a cordial yet respectable
relationship with her students. “I liked her
and she liked me, too,” commented one of
them. “She was exceptional in school. In
fact, we all respected her.” This respect was
neither brought about by threats nor by
intimidation. It was a reciprocal response
of her students to the respect she had shown
them as persons. She trusted her students
and placed her hope in them.
But her work did not end there. Most of
her students were poor. Victoria wanted to
alleviate their sufferings, even just a little.
One witness testified: “Señora Gamero
Cívico, one of the better-off residents of the
town, gave her pieces of linen cloth and
fabrics for the girls in school and, out of
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SAINTS JOURNEYING WITH US
these, she would make overcoats for the
girls.” She fed them, gave them money for
the medicine of their mothers, provided
their shoes… These were some of the ways
of showing her love for her students.
EVEN IF MY BLOOD RUNS COLD
Victoria felt that Hornachuelos was
challenging her to a greater self-giving.
Thus, she made a deal with Christ: “Ask me
the price, ask whatever you want from me in
exchange for the salvation of this town…
even if my blood turns cold.” She dared to
make a covenant, and she never faltered or
vacillated. Subsequently, when Cordoba
was entangled in the civil war, she was sure
that her time had come.
The townspeople appreciated her
presence in Hornachuelos, even by those
who did not share her beliefs. Among them
was Arturo, who was a teacher of a
neighboring school for boys. He was a
Socialist, but he was a very good friend of
Victoria: “She was an admirable woman
even if our ideas are very different.”
There were also those who saw her work
as a contradiction to the animosity they
were sowing against religion. She was, for
them, a nuisance, an obstacle to their plans,
one who had to be weeded out: “We have to
kill her, otherwise, she will lead the people
away from our goal.”
IN A MAKESHIFT PRISON
The first gunshots of the chaotic civil
war were fired in Hornachuelos on July 20.
Fr. Molina hastily emptied the tabernacle
and, with Victoria and his sisters, consumed
some of the species and transported the
remaining to his house. On that same day,
members of the revolutionary committee
apprehended him. Wagging tongues
speculated his lot and of the other detainees. Victoria, whom he considered as his
“coadjutor”, would carry on the work he
abruptly left behind. The parish church was
later ransacked and burned. Those were
days of fear and anxiety.
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It was eight in the evening of August 11.
Victoria was giving a class in religion to a
group of women. Two armed men brusquely
presented themselves and requested that
Victoria join them. Her declarations were
needed. Calmly she bade farewell to her
mother.
The house of Francisco Gamero Civico
had been transformed into a temporary
detention center. She was the only woman
among those who were detained. Some of
these men, in fact, had been there for
twenty-two days. Among them was Fr.
Molina.
Victoria managed to slip a small note for
her mother through her young students who
were peering at her cell. “Do not be afraid,
Mother. I will be here until they get my
declaration. Right now, I am in the house of
Don Paco.”
Doña Victoria lost no time and rushed to
her daughter’s side. Except for an embrace,
a kiss and a profound gaze, no words were
exchanged between them. They somehow
felt the same presentiment. After she left
the makeshift prison, Doña Victoria gave
way to her feelings and wept.
AND A WOMAN LED THEM
At about two in the early hours of the
following day, Victoria and her companions
were awakened. “The Fascists are coming.
We are going to transfer you all.” It was a
deception. The eighteen captives were
forced to walk to their “new prison”. It was a
walk that would bewilder any one… a
march of twelve kilometers.
They were lonely figures silhouetted by
the ominous darkness, carefully watched by
forty milicianos with rifles at hand. Fatigue
and hunger exacerbated the suffering of the
ill-fated detainees. One of them fell along
the way. The milicianos forced another
captive to carry him throughout the walk.
No one must be left behind.
Victoria kept her composure. Ironically,
it was she who encouraged and inspired the
men to go on: “Take heart! I see the heavens
VICTORIA DÍEZ BUSTOS DE MOLINA
open. The prize awaits us! Let us go!
Forward!” Some of the men cried
uninhibitedly. Victoria consoled and
encouraged them throughout their terrible
Via Crucis.
Finally, after three hours, they reached
their destination. The abandoned mine of El
Rincon was clearly not a penitentiary. A pit
of 180 meters deep awaited the prisoners.
Above it was a big stone. A mock tribunal
was established; the judgment was quick
and unanimous – death.
FINAL TESTIMONY
One by one, the men were positioned on
the stone and shot, falling perfectly into the
pit below. Victoria watched these men
killed one after another- her parish priest,
the relatives of her students, friends she
made after nine years of faithful service in
Hornachuelos. Surely, she watched with a
stout heart.
The teacher was summoned. Gathered
around her in a semi-circle, they tried to
coax her: “Just say ‘¡Viva la Republica!’ or
‘¡Viva el Comunismo!’ and we will save your
life.”
“Give me a minute to think,” she replied.
Victoria knelt on the stone and opened
her arms in the form of a cross. One of her
fists was closed. The milicianos thought
that they have won her over. Not so. With
her eyes raised to the skies, Victoria spoke:
“No, no and no! I say what I feel: ¡Viva
Cristo Rey! Viva mi Madre!”
A volley of gunfire broke the stillness of
the night. Down fell the body of the valiant
teacher to the pit that hungrily awaited her.
The brutal deed was done. The assassins
left. Some people testified that they heard
the moans of some of those in the pit hours
after they were shot, but no one dared
approach them for fear of their own lives.
Soon, only an eerie silence deafeningly
pervaded the spot.
The young girls of Hornachuelos had
lost their teacher but not her shining
example. Her most important lesson was
not lectured though in their classroom; it
was given in the lonely nocturnal landscape
of El Rincon. The testimony of Victoria
would live on.
*****
THE DECREE ON THE MARTYRDOM OF
VICTORIA DÍEZ BUSTOS DE MOLINA
WAS PROMULGATED ON 6 JULY 1993.
SHE WAS BEATIFIED ON 1 OCTOBER
1993.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cimino, Maria. Un Dono Totale: Vita di Vittoria Diez. Milan: Editrice Ancora, 1966.
Fernández Aguinaco, Carmen. Victoria Díez: Memoria de una Maestra. Madrid: Narcea, 1993.
Grosso Sánchez, Ma. Josefa. Veo el Cielo Abierto. Madrid: Institución Teresiana, 1957
COPYRIGHT 2002 © THE HAGIOGRAPHY CIRCLE.
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