St. José Sánchez del Río was born in Sahuayo de Morelos, Mexico in 1913. He was a Mexican Cristero. At the age of 14 he was tortured and put to death by government officials when he refused to renounce his Catholic faith.
Often pictured on horseback, Argentinian priest St. José Gabriele del Rosario Brochero was known for his service to the poor and sick; St. Solomon Leclercq was a French priest killed during the French Revolution for refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the new government.
St. Manuel González García was a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop; St. Lodovico Pavoni, an Italian priest, founded the Sons of Mary Immaculate; and St. Alfonso Maria Fusco, also an Italian priest, founded the Sisters of St. John the Baptist.
Pope Francis acknowledged that weariness in our prayer lives is "inevitable." But that, with the support of our brothers and sisters, the Lord can succeed in us.
"The 'battle' of perseverance cannot be won without prayer. Not sporadic or hesitant prayer, but prayer offered as Jesus tells us in the Gospel: 'Pray always, without ever losing heart,'" he said.
"This is the Christian way of life: remaining steadfast in prayer, in order to remain steadfast in faith and testimony."
The mystery of prayer, Pope Francis said, is to keep "crying out, not to lose heart, and if we should grow tired, asking help to keep our hands raised."
We are members of the Body of Christ, the Church, so even if we grow weary, we are not alone, the Pope said.
"Only in the Church, and thanks to the Church's prayer, are we able to remain steadfast in faith and witness."
At the end of the Mass, Pope Francis led pilgrims in the Angelus, noting in his message the World Day against Poverty taking place Oct. 17.
"Let us join forces, moral and economic, to fight together against poverty that degrades, insults and kills so many brothers and sisters, by implementing standard policies for families and for work," he said.
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Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.