Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J.
A Life of Joy,
Courage, and Devotion
Most
people in the United States think of Mexico as a deeply Catholic country with a
strong faith dating back to the appearance of Our Lady in Guadalupe in
1531. Few Americans know about the
terrible persecutions endured by the Mexican people at the hands of atheistic
governments at the beginning of the twentieth century or of the many courageous
Catholics who were martyred for the faith during this period. Although he never joined any resistance
movement, Blessed Miguel Pro was one of the most important martyrs. His ministry and heroic sacrifice ultimately helped
bring an end to the oppression.
In
her book, Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th–Century
Mexican Martyr, Ann Ball has written a very concise yet inspiring biography
of this Mexican hero. She provides a solid
overview of Bl. Miguel’s life with enough incidents to bring his personality
and ministry to life without overwhelming the reader in details. Ball is especially good at describing incidents
that show his many strengths and charisms. That, in fact, is what inspired her to write the
book. “In my initial research on his life and martyrdom, I was captivated by
his happy nature and spirit of joy combined with a deep seriousness of thought,
his consuming zeal for souls, his passion for justice, his dedication to
obedience and his strong devotion, as well as his sublime heroism.”[1] Another helpful feature in the book is the
inclusion of samples of Bl. Miguel’s own writing, especially some of his
prayers and poetry. In that way, we can
hear his own voice and better understand what motivated him.
Although
his life was short, it was one of great service and discipleship. Miguel Pro was born in 1891 in Mexico
and entered the Jesuits in 1911. Along
with all the other Jesuit seminarians he had to flee Mexico in 1914, as the
political situation and persecution of the Catholic Church worsened. He continued his formation in the United
States, Nicaragua, and Spain, and was eventually sent to Belgium where he was
ordained in 1925 and began to serve as priest.
Due to chronic ill health (and probable ignorance of his superiors
regarding the severity of the political dangers in Mexico) he was allowed to
return to Mexico in June, 1926. Less
than a month later, new anti-religious laws were enacted and the Bishop of
Mexico had to withdraw all the priests from the churches. Their sacramental, catechetical, and
charitable activities then had to be carried out totally underground with the
constant risk of arrest and torture. Bl.
Miguel was arrested and released several times and had many near escapes from
capture on other occasions. In November,
1927, he was caught for the last time and quickly executed based on obviously
false charges.
Pro’s
creativity, joyful outlook, and charismatic personality were great gifts that
helped him gain converts. They also allowed
him to avoid capture in numerous instances during his underground ministry. For example, he often used disguises to avoid
arrest by blending in with the population that he was serving. He seemed to have two distinct sides of his
personality or different charisms which complemented each other. He was known for great wit, readiness to
laugh at himself, and ability to maintain a lighthearted attitude even in the
face of great problems or suffering. Yet,
Pro was very seriously devoted to God, had a very deep prayer life, and worked
hard to grow in holiness. Even in the
seminary, he was teased about wanting to become a saint.[2]
Another
aspect of his spirituality was his great devotion to the Blessed Mother and his
desire to embrace the cross and sacrifice everything for God, which he often
recorded in his prayers and poetry. For
example, in one of his prayers, he wrote,
Let me live my life at your side, my
Mother, and be the companion of your bitter solitude and your profound
pain. Let my soul feel your eyes’ sad
weeping and the abandonment of your heart . . . For my life, I covet the jeers
and mockery of Calvary; the slow agony of your Son, the contempt, the ignominy,
the infamy of His Cross. I wish to stand
at your side, most sorrowful Virgin . . . loving my God and your God with the
immolation of my being.[3]
Bl.
Miguel’s desire to give all for God included the hope and anticipation of
martyrdom. In a prayer, he wrote, “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.”[4] In fact, he grew so confident that his life
would end in martyrdom that he was able to share it and joke about it with his
friends. “Before his death Bl. Miguel
told some friends that he believed that offering of his life would be accepted
and that martyrdom would be his key to Heaven . . . his friends should get
their petitions ready, because from Heaven he would deal out favors as if they
were a deck of cards.”[5]
Throughout
his ministry, Blessed Miguel was known for his dedication to helping the poor (bringing
food and clothing to the hungry, finding parents for orphans, etc.) and his
complete trust that God would provide.
. . . time and again he referred to
Divine Providence and the deep pockets of “mi
Padre Dios.” “I haven’t a centavo, nor do I believe myself able to find
one, since nobody cares to give anything . . . Each day I feel the direct
action of God upon us, for it is only through Him that these poor ones
exist. This auxiliary work is my
favorite. What? Who gives me the rice, beans, sugar, corn,
etc.? . . . mi Padre Dios - - because
in an infinite number of cases and without my having asked anyone for anything
and right when all had run out, I have received the gift of supplies without
knowing who sent them.”[6]
Perhaps
the greatest testimony to Bl. Miguel’s profound trust in God’s mercy and his
desire to reveal that love to all people can be found in the last minutes of
his life.
As Fr. Pro walked from his cell to the
prison courtyard, he blessed the firing squad and then knelt and prayed
silently for a few moments. Refusing a blindfold, he stood, faced the firing
squad, and with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other, he held his
arms outstretched in the form of a cross and in a loud, clear voice cried 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!" As the soldiers
lifted their rifles, he exclaimed in a loud voice, "Viva Cristo Rey!"
- "Long live Christ the King!"[7]
This
courage in the face of death, devotion to God’s will, and attitude of love and
forgiveness toward those responsible for unjustly taking his life, helped
inspire increased internal resistance as well as widespread international
protests to the Mexican government’s persecution of Christians. So, even in the manner of his death, Bl.
Miguel Pro served his people and spread the faith.
Overall,
Ball’s book does a remarkable job of painting an inspiring, yet down-to-earth
portrait of Blessed Miguel Pro’s life.
However, one topic that is not covered, and therefore, may leave many
readers with nagging questions, is why
such great oppression would occur in a devoutly Catholic country. In the Introduction, the author makes it
clear that she will make no attempt to address this issue. “Study as much you like, the political
situation of Mexico was, and is, complicated.
In this brief work there is not space to include a definitive rendering
of all the political motivations and actions in Mexico between 1890 and 1940.”[8] She does provide some references to other
books on the topic, but even a brief summary would have helped the reader of
Ball’s book better understand Bl. Miguel’s life in context. For example, another source provides some
insight into how Mexico’s revolution to gain independence from Spanish control
turned into hostility toward the Church by many of the secular leaders.
Its intellectual roots lay not in
Catholicism but in the thinking of the European philosophers of the late 18th
century who regarded the Church as the mother of oppression. For those who
thought about the revolution more deeply, more than as just an attempt to free
Mexican life from Madrid’s control, as likely as not the view of the Catholic
Church was that it was, and always had been, a partner in tyranny.[9]
Ann
Ball was a high school teacher and the author of several books, including a two
book series, Modern Saints: Their Lives
and Faces, for which she spent a decade researching the lives of saints.
She was also the author of several children’s books. (Ms. Ball died in 2008.) Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th–Century
Mexican Martyr (ISBN-13: 978-0895555427) is available on Amazon in print and
e-book format.
[1] Ann Ball, Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th–Century
Mexican Martyr, (Charlotte: TAN Books, 1996), ix.
[2] Ibid, 21.
[3] Ibid, 109.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid, xi.
[6] Ibid, 58.
[7] “Blessed Miguel Pro Juarez,” Catholic News Agency, November 23, 2016
[Note: future date shown on web site],
accessed March 25, 2016, http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=397
[8] Ball, Blessed Miguel Pro, xv.
[9] Owen F Campion, "'Viva
Cristo Rey!': Blessed Padre Pro, Jesuit, martyr, Mexican," The Priest 65, no. 12, December 2009:
14-18, ATLA Catholic Periodical and
Literature Index, EBSCOhost, accessed March 15, 2016, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0c2b77d3-1525-46ef-bf45-36e1e67e747f%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4202
Bibliography
Ball, Ann. Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th–Century
Mexican Martyr. Charlotte: TAN Books, 1996.
“Blessed Miguel
Pro Juarez.” Catholic News Agency.
November 23, 2016 [Note: future date
shown on web site]. Accessed March 25, 2016. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=397
Campion, Owen F.
"'Viva Cristo Rey!': Blessed Padre Pro, Jesuit, martyr, Mexican." The Priest 65, no. 12 (December 2009):
14-18. ATLA Catholic Periodical and
Literature Index, EBSCOhost. Accessed March 15, 2016. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0c2b77d3-1525-46ef-bf45-36e1e67e747f%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4202
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