"¡Viva Cristo Rey!" ...

   "They will live with Christ in heaven, 

who lived on earth according to the words 

and ways of Christ." - St Nicetas of Remesiana

"I believe, O Lord, but strengthen my faith…

Heart of Jesus, I love Thee; but increase my love. 

Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee;

but give greater vigor to my confidence. 

Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but enclose it

in Thee that it may never be separated from Thee.

Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine; but take care of

my promise so that I may be able to put it in practice

even unto the complete sacrifice of my life."

Bl Miguel Agustin Pro

Jesuit priest, Martyr

Mexico ~ 1891-1927

Feast Day – November 23

Image above: Triumph of Christianity ~ Gustave Dore

 

"We ought to speak, shout out against injustices,

with confidence and without fear. 

We proclaim the principles of the Church, the reign of love,

without forgetting that it is also a reign of justice." 

 Bl Miguel Pro

Click here: Fr Miguel Agustin Pro, martyr - YouTube
Click here: Padre Pro, A Modern Martyr | Catholicism.org

Bl Miguel Pro, pray for us!

MORE on Bl Miguel Pro...

In the 1920s the churches in Mexico were closed and priests went into hiding. Fr Pro spent the rest of his life in a secret ministry to the sturdy Mexican Catholics. In addition to fulfilling their spiritual needs, he also carried out the works of mercy by assisting the poor in Mexico City with their temporal needs. He adopted many interesting disguises in carrying out his secret ministry. He would come in the middle of the night dressed as a beggar to baptize infants, bless marriages and celebrate Mass. He would appear in jail dressed as a police officer to bring Holy Viaticum to condemned Catholics. When going to fashionable neighborhoods to procure for the poor, he would show up at the doorstep dressed as a fashionable businessman with a fresh flower on his lapel. His many exploits could rival those of the most daring spies. In all that he did, however, Fr. Pro remained obedient to his superiors and was filled with the joy of serving Christ, his King.

Falsely accused in the bombing attempt on a former Mexican president, Miguel became a wanted man. Betrayed to the police, he was sentenced to death without the benefit of any legal process.

At the time of the killing, Mexico was under the rule of the fiercely anti-clerical and anti-Catholic President Plutarco Elías Calles who had begun what writer Graham Greene called the "fiercest persecution of religion anywhere since the reign of Elizabeth."

On the day of his execution, as Fr. Pro walked from his cell to the courtyard and the firing squad, he blessed the soldiers, knelt and briefly prayed quietly. Declining a blindfold, he faced his executioners with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ and shouted out, "May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies!" Before the firing squad were ordered to shoot, Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ and shouted the defiant cry of the Cristeros, "Viva Cristo Rey!" -"Long live Christ the King!" When the initial shots of the firing squad failed to kill him, a soldier shot him point blank.

Calles had the execution meticulously photographed, and the newspapers throughout the country carried them on the front page the following day. Presumably, Calles thought that the sight of the pictures would frighten the Cristero rebels who were fighting against his troops, particularly in the state of Jalisco. However, they had the opposite effect. The Cristeros became more animated and fought with renewed enthusiasm, many of them carrying the newspaper photo of Pro before the firing squad.  Miguel Pro's last request prior to execution was to be allowed to kneel and pray. Pro himself refused a blindfold.  A Crucifix in the right hand, a rosary in the other.

 

He blessed and forgave the firing squad.

November 24, 1927, at the front of the Jesuit church of the Holy Family, a multitude accompanied the remains of Father Pro.  Father Mendez Medina cried out, "Make way for the martyrs of Christ the King!" Although Calles had forbidden any public demonstration, the people acted in open defiance. Never had the city seen such an enormous turnout for a funeral. As the martyrs' caskets left the house, a great and unanimous cry soared from the hearts and mouths of thousands:.. "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" Thousands thronged the streets and balconies, throwing flowers, praying the rosary and singing. It was a triumph - a glorious witness to the heroism of martyrs for Christ the King.