Bl. Miguel Pro, SJ (November 24th)

Of the various Saints / Feast Days that remember this week: 

Nov. 18th -- The Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Nov. 18th -- Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin

Nov. 21st -- The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Nov. 22nd -- Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

Nov. 23rd -- Saint Clement I, Pope and Martyr; Saint Columban, Abbot; 

Nov. 24th -- Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, Priest and Martyr

I have chosen to write about Blessed Miguel Augustín Pro, one of the Catholic Martiyrs of the Mexican Revolution / Cristero Era.

Bl. Miguel Pro was born to a mining family in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico on January 13, 1891.  He was the third of eleven children.  Two of his sisters entered into religious life.  On August 15, 1911, he entered into the Jesuit Novitiate in El Llano.  

Events however prevented the completion of his religious formation in Mexico:  Long-time President Porfirio Diaz was ousted from power that same year, after a rigged election, and the era / chaos of the Mexican Revolution began.

In 1914, in the midst of a massive wave of anti-Clerical violence, the Jesuits were forced to close their formation houses and Miguel Pro’s formation continued at the Jesuits’ formation house Los Gatos, California.

Afterwards, he went to complete his studies in Grenada, Spain and was subsequently sent by the Jesuits to Nicaragua to teach for a number of years.  He returned to Belgium in 1925 to complete his theological studies and was ordained a priest.  His first assignment was in Belgium to work in a mining town over there.

However, he was soon asked to return to Mexico to work in the by then clandestine church in Tabasco state.  By then, the Catholic churches had been all officially closed, many of the priests had been shot, others forced to marry, the few that remained continued to serve underground.

After a failed assassination attempt in 1927 against the then pro-Revolution President Álvaro Obregón, the future Bl. Miguel Pro was arrested based on coerced testimony from an engineer from who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the plot.   He was then executed by firing squad without trial.

At his execution he refused a blindfold, he forgave his executioners and his last words were “Viva Cristo Rey!”

Though shot by a firing squad at point blank range, he was not killed in the first volley of shots from his executioners.  A soldier then came to him and fired a coup de grace to kill him.  

Fr. Miguel Pro was beatified by the future St. John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on September 25, 1988.

A relic of Bl. Miguel Pro is kept in the reliquary under the main altar at Christ Cathedral of the Diocese of Orange, CA.  In the months prior to the dedication of the new Christ Cathedral, Bl. Miguel Pros relic along those of several other saints was exposed here on evening at St. Philip Benizi Parish, Fullerton, CA.

It often surprises people to hear that in places as Catholic as Mexico or Spain, or as Orthodox Christian as Russia that the Church would have experienced such violent persecutions where its religious orders would be disbanded and priests and nuns would be shot.

Yet throughout the 20th century such waves of persecution / murder of priests, religious and faithful have occurred. 

To me, honestly, this remains a mystery.   And yet, part of being a believer is to understand that we all may be called to give testimony to our faith even at times and in places where we’d least expect it.

Viva Cristo Rey!