Nelson Lemus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador
Between Aguilares and El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador
Nelson Rutilio Lemus Chávez | |
|---|---|
| Martyr | |
| Born | 10 November 1960 El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador |
| Died | 12 March 1977 (aged 16) Between Aguilares and El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 22 January 2022, Plaza Divino Salvador del Mundo, San Salvador, El Salvador by Gregorio Rosa Cardinal Chávez |
| Feast | 12 March |
| Attributes | Palm |
Nelson Rutilio Lemus Chávez (10 November 1960 – 12 March 1977) was a Salvadoran Catholic who was active during the 20th century unrest in the country.
He was an active participant in his local parish and was often involved in helping others to read the Bible.[1][2] He was also the one that would ring the church bells for Mass and helped his local parish priest.[3] Lemus was slain in 1977 on a dirt road amidst sugarcane fields en route to Mass alongside Manuel Solórzano and the Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande García after three Salvadoran soldiers ambushed them.[1][4][5]
Lemus was beatified in 2022 in San Salvador alongside his two companions and the slain priest Cosma Spessotto.[6][2][7]
Nelson Rutilio Lemus Chávez was born on 10 November 1960 in El Paisnal in the San Salvador department as the eldest of eight sisters and one brother; his mother was a housewife and his father worked at the local post office. He was epileptic since his childhood.[3]
His parents had been threatened several times due to their participation in the Delegates of the Word movement in their local parish. Lemus, meanwhile, secured a position to ring the church bells for Mass and he often helped his parish priest in his duties around the church.[1][3] He also contributed to several pastoral activities at the parish and would help others to read the Bible. His sister, Dinora Lemus (who was nine when her brother was murdered), recalled later how her brother had "the gift of helping" and was diligent in his studies at school. In his free time, Lemus liked to raise a piscuchas on occasion with his friends.[3]
Lemus was picked up on 12 March 1977 after he delivered firewood to his godmother and accompanied the Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande García and his companion Manuel Solórzano to attend evening Mass and then to recite the novena to Saint Joseph. But three Salvadoran soldiers ambushed them on a dirt road amidst a sugarcane field (around a kilometer from Aguilares) and riddled their white and black Volkswagen with machine-gun fire around 5:00pm.[5] Solórzano attempted to shield both men as ten bullets riddled him and tore his arm off.[4] Lemus himself has five bullet holes in his head while Grande had been shot eighteen times since he was the main target. News about the three deaths did not come until sometime between 5:30 and 6:00pm. The Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez presided over their funeral Mass at the archdiocesan cathedral.[3][2]
