Luis Magaña Servín

About Luis Magaña Servín

Luis Magaña Servín was a tanner from Arandas, Jalisco. Born on August 24, 1902, he attended the parish school and worked with his father in the family leather business. He belonged to the Catholic Association of Young Mexicans and the association of Nocturnal Adoration.

The diocesan account describes a workshop producing leather goods for everyday use, including footwear and riding equipment. It also remembers his close collaboration with the parish priest, Amando J. de Alba. Later witnesses recalled his catechism teaching and his encouragement of younger parishioners. He participated in the local Catholic workers’ association.

He married Elvira Camarena Méndez in 1926. Their son Gilberto was born the following year. Their daughter María Luisa was born after her father’s death.

A parish priest’s recollection, reproduced in the diocese’s 1997 bulletin, describes the disruption in Arandas before Magaña’s death. Justino Ramos recalled that government troops arrived after the January 1927 uprising and kept the priests under surveillance. He continued ministering at night in disguise until a warning of arrest prompted him to leave in December.

The 2007 diocesan bulletin describes Magaña supporting the Cristeros with supplies while remaining outside their armed ranks.

In February 1928, federal troops occupied Arandas. When soldiers failed to find Luis at home, they detained his brother Delfino. The diocesan narrative says Luis presented himself to the commander and offered to take his brother’s place. Delfino was released, and Luis was shot in the church atrium alongside José Refugio Aranda.

The 2007 bulletin acknowledges conflicting recollections: most witnesses named Delfino, while others identified Luis’s brother José Soledad.

He died on February 9, 1928.

José Guadalupe Navarro Rivas, later a priest, recalled witnessing Magaña’s execution while working at a haberdashery beside the parish church. His account, published in the 1997 bulletin, describes soldiers bringing a prisoner into the atrium. He remembered hearing Magaña’s acclamation of Christ the King immediately before the shots.

He was beatified on November 20, 2005, at the Jalisco stadium in Guadalajara. The ceremony, presided over by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, recognized thirteen Mexican martyrs, including ten laypeople and three priests.

His family also preserved his name across generations. The obituary of his nephew Jose Luis Magaña, a son of Delfino born in 1929, records that he was named after his uncle.

His remembrance also continues at the Xaverian seminary in Arandas. Reporting on a November 2024 gathering there, Alvaro Aguado identified Magaña among three local martyrs whose relics the seminary preserves. Participants shared biographies of Xaverian martyrs and martyrs from Los Altos de Jalisco.