translated from Portuguese. You can read the original text here.
The Siege of the Alcázar of Toledo stands as one of the most epic chapters of the Spanish Civil War, which, between 1936 and 1939, saw a brutal confrontation between the Nationalist and Catholic forces on one side, and the Republican and Social-Communist Popular Front on the other. The siege began on July 21, 1936—just days after the outbreak of the Civil War—and lasted until September 27, when the besieged were finally rescued by the army of General Francisco Franco.
The Alcázar was a medieval fortress and home to the Military Academy, located in the city of Toledo, within territory controlled by the Popular Front. To escape the massacres initiated by Communist and Anarchist militias—the armed wing of the Republican government—about 1,800 people took refuge within the fortress walls, under the protection of Colonel José Moscardó, the Academy’s commandant. They included young cadets, members of the Civil Guard, and around 500 civilians—elderly men, women, and children. The Republican forces vastly outnumbered them in both troops and firepower. Food and ammunition were scarce, and the Nationalist army was far away. Yet the defenders resolved to hold out to the bitter end.
Their heroic spirit is symbolized by a famous episode. The Communist Popular Militia captured Colonel Moscardó’s 17-year-old son, Luis, who had been outside the Alcázar. The militia’s commander, Cándido Cabello, called the colonel and threatened to execute his son unless the fortress surrendered. He gave him ten minutes to decide and handed the phone to the boy. Colonel Moscardó spoke these moving words to his son:
— “Commend your soul to God and die like a patriot, shouting ‘Long live Christ the King’ and ‘Long live Spain!’”
— “I will, Father,” Luis replied. He was executed two days later.
The colonel then turned to the Red commander and said:
— “You can save the ten minutes you offered me. The Alcázar will never surrender.”
The siege lasted 72 days, during which the defenders endured a barrage of infantry assaults, aerial bombardments, artillery fire, tear gas attacks, and relentless rifle shots. Inside the fortress, survival depended on small rations of horse meat and stale bread. Water came from the putrid cistern inside the stronghold.
In the final phase of the siege, red miners from Asturias dug three tunnels beneath the Alcázar, planting powerful explosives under its walls. But even this desperate attempt failed. Only part of the building collapsed, and the rubble fell outside the perimeter—ironically forming an even greater obstacle to the attackers.
Finally, on September 27, 1936, Nationalist forces succeeded in breaking the siege and liberating the heroic defenders of the fortress.
To General José Enrique Varela, commander of the victorious army, Colonel Moscardó, saluting smartly, repeated what had been the besieged garrison’s daily bulletin from the very beginning:
“Nothing new at the Alcázar, my general.”
In the days that followed, Moscardó would often repeat:
“Todo fue un milagro en el Alcázar” – “Everything was a miracle at the Alcázar.”
And if a miracle occurred, it was because these soldiers and civilians—men and women brought together within the Alcázar by a mysterious design of Providence—did all they could in the struggle, supporting and encouraging one another, and above all, entrusting themselves with immense faith to the aid of Our Lady. Our Lady of the Tabernacle (Nuestra Señora del Sagrario), patroness of Toledo, did not fail them. Colonel Moscardó had converted the infirmary into a chapel, placing a statue of the Blessed Virgin there. When the mines exploded and that section of the fortress collapsed in a cloud of dust, the statue remained untouched. Around it, a few women prayed unharmed, while the debris formed yet more insurmountable barriers to the attacking militia.
But the greatest help the besieged received from Heaven was not material—it was the grace of fortitude, the unshakable determination to fight to the end, rejecting any dishonorable surrender. The sacrifice of Colonel Moscardó’s son instilled supernatural courage in the defenders of the Alcázar, who from that moment swore to fight until victory or death. And for them, victory came.
The Alcázar remains a historical symbol of that spiritual fortress into which we too must retreat in order to withstand the terrible siege of our time—a siege that is above all psychological and moral. We are attacked by an enemy that seeks to destabilize our minds, destroy our inner defenses, plunge us into confusion, and subject us to the masters of chaos. Yet there exist spiritual families—friends of the Cross and of the fight—who do not flee from the battle.
In his Letter to the Friends of the Cross, so fitting for reflection during Lent, Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort writes:
“Friends of the Cross! You have joined yourselves as crucified soldiers to fight against the world—not fleeing from it, like religious men and women, for fear of defeat—but as brave and valiant warriors who enter the battlefield, never retreating or turning their backs to the enemy. Courage! Fight with strength! Be deeply united in spirit and heart. This unity among you is far stronger and more formidable against the world and hell than any external force of a nation united against the enemies of a state.”
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, in his commentary on Montfort’s Letter, invoked precisely the enduring spirit of the Alcázar as the key to deeply understanding it.
The Alcázar can also be an association, a cultural center, or a small group of lay Catholics—men and women united by their love for God and the Church, their devotion to Divine Providence and to the Blessed Virgin. Above all, the spiritual and moral Alcázar is our own heart: an unassailable fortress, if Our Lady has a place within it. In that case, on the day we stand before the judgment of God, we may be able to repeat not the words of Colonel Moscardó, but those of Saint Paul (2 Tim 4:7–8):
“My General, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me.”
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| Alcazar of Toledo. |
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| Our Lady of Tabernacle. |