Mexico's Campion - Fr Miguel Pro SJ

Today, November 23rd,  is the feastday of Blessed Miguel Pro, Mexican, Jesuit and Martyr for the Faith.

There are many heroic figures who died for their Faith in the 20th century but Miguel Pro must surely rank up there with St Maximilian Kolbe, St Teresa Benedicta and, of course, Blessed Titus Brandsma.

Fr Pro came from a large but relatively wealthy Mexican family.

He joined the Jesuit Seminary and, one year later, Mexico was embroiled in one of the most savage persecutions of Holy Mother Church.

Priests were executed in the streets, religious disbanded and many of the prominent Catholic laity disappeared never to be seen again.

Churches were desecrated and defiled being turned into stables much as in England and Wales in the times of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

Fleeing from the anti Catholic government, Fr Pro completed his studies in Europe only returning to Mexico in 1926 suffering from a severe gastric complaint.

The persecutions were still in full flow but this did not cause the young priest to pause for thought.

He threw himself into the spiritual fight against the regime of President Calles.

He ventured into areas occupied by the authorities and visited houses fearlessly to bring the Sacraments to the young and old, the living and the dying.

Before long the police and militia targeted him as public enemy number one. And her had many escapes, often adopting a number of disguises to fool his pursuers.

On one occasion when being shadowed by the police, Fr Pro grabbed the arm of a young woman and embraced her as they walked up the street, throwing the police off the scent in the process.

A series of bomb attacks aimed at the Calles Government resulted in Fr Pro and two of his brothers, Humberto and Roberto being caught up in the dragnet following the blasts, innocent, as they were, of any involvement.

Without any trial, the authorities swiftly executed Fr Pro, only 36 years of age.

He was taken from his cell and marched into the prison yard where he refused a blindfold.

In the true style of a martyr he blessed the firing squad before declaring his innocence before Almighty God.

Kneeling in prayer he held his Rosary in one hand and a crucifix in the other, and then, standing against the bullet pocked wall, he spread out his arms to form a cross and cried out : "Viva Cristo Rey"

He fell as the rifle shots cracked out and a soldier delivered the coup de gras to the broken body.

That is very much a paraphrased version of a short but intensely spiritual life on earth, one that closely resembles that of St Edmund Campion in his final years.

Fr Pro was, by all accounts, a great wit but his humour never strayed into realms of immodesty.

In particular, I like the prayer that he wrote, it is a prayer for the sick and the troubled.

It is not a sweet, prayer couched in flowery words; it is not a prayer for the faint hearted.

But it comes straight from the heart of Blessed Miguel Pro and, as such, must surely be heard by Jesus Christ, Christ the King!

    Prayer of Bl Miguel Pro

Does our life become from day to day more painful, more oppressive, more replete with afflictions? 

Blessed be he a thousand times who desires it so.

 If life be harder, love makes it also stronger and, only this love, grounded on suffering, can carry the cross of my Lord  Jesus Christ.

Love without egotism, without relying on self but enkindling in the depth of the heart an ardent thirst to love and suffer for all those around us: a thirst that neither misfortune nor contempt can extinguish…..I believe, O Lord; but strengthen my faith….Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee; but give greater vigour to my confidence.

Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but, so 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.

Viva Cristo Rey! Happy Feastday Bl Miguel Pro!

Blessed Michael Augustine Pro

One of my favourite Saints, Bl Miguel Pro, Priest and Martyr was born on 13th January 1891. As a child he was possessed of a mischievious sense of humour and this continued even through his priestly vocation as he was apt to play good natured practical jokes on those around him.
He became a Jesuit novice in 1911 and was ordained in Belgium in 1925. The following year, despite suffering from chronic ill health, he returned covertly to his native Mexico where the Church was under a bitter and violent persecution. His childhood exploits stood him in good stead as he travelled, in the course of his ministry, in a variety of disguises, very much the modern Campion.
He was finally apprehended and executed by firing squad. Seconds before the shots rang out he prayed the Rosary for  his accusers and murderers to be forgiven. At the moment of death he cried out: "Viva Cristo Rey" - Long live Christ the King!

Graham Greene in his book 'The Lawless Roads' describes the course of events:-

"In July 1926, Father Miguel Pro landed at Veracruz. He was twenty five years old and a Jesuit. He came back to his own country from a foreign seminary much as Campion had returned to England from Douai. We know how he was dressed when, a year and a half later he came out of prison to be shot, and he may well have worn the same disguise when he landed (the equivalent of Campion's doublet and hose): a dark lounge suit, soft collar and tie, a bright cardigan. Most priests wear the mufti with a kind of uneasiness, but Pro was a good actor.
He needed to be. Within two months of Pro's landing, President Calles had begun the fiercest persecution of religion anywhere since the reign of Elizabeth. The Churches were closed, Mass had to be said secretly in private houses, to administer the Sacraments was a serious offence. Nevertheless, Pro gave Communion daily to some three hundred people, confessions were heard in half-built houses in darkness, retreats were held in garages. Pro escaped the plain clothes police time again and again. Once he found them at the entrance of a house where he was suposed to say Mass; he posed as a police officer, showing an imaginary bag and remarking, 'There's a cat bagged in here' and passed into the house and out again with his cassock under his arm.
Followed by detectives when he left a Catholic house, and with only fifty yards' start, he disappeared altogether from their sight round a corner - the only man they overtook was a lover out with his girl.
The prisons were filling up, priests were being shot, yet on three successive first Fridays Pro gave the Sacrament to nine hundred, thirteen hundred and fifteen hundred people.
They got him, of course, at last (they had got him earlier if only they had known it, but they let him go). This time they made no mistake, or else, the biggest mistake of all. Somebody had thrown a bomb at Obregon's car in Chapultepec Park - from another car. The evidence, since then, points to Government comlicity. All the assailants escaped but the driver, who was shot dead. A young Indian called Tirado was passing by, fled at the explosion and was arrested. He was tortured without effect: he persisted in declaring himself innocent.
The police pounced on those they feared most - Pro and his two brothers, Humberto and Roberto, and Luis Segovia Vilchis, a young engineer and Catholic leader. No evidence was brought against them; they were not tried by the courts. The American Ambassador thought he could do more good by not intervening and left next day with the President and Will Rogers, the humorist, on a Pullman tour; one South American Ambassador intervened and got a reprieve - timed too late to save any but Roberto.

He prayed for his enemies before being executed

Pro was photographed by the official photographer, praying for his enemies by the pitted wall, receiving the coup de grace; the photographs were sent to the Press - to show the firmness of the Government - but, within a few weeks it became a penal offence to possess them, for they had an effect that Calles had not foreseen."

Thousands thronged the streets for the funeral of Bl Miguel Pro

BLESSED MIGUEL PRO - ORA PRO NOBIS

Dedicated to my good friends Professor Robin Whatley and his wife, Caroline



The prayer below was composed by Bl Miguel Pro; it is a hard prayer to say with conviction but it is especially beneficial to those with a serious illness....

Does our life become, from day to day, more painful, oppressive, more replete with afflictions? Blessed be He a thousand times who desires it so. If life be harder, love makes it also stronger, and only this love, grounded on suffering, can carry the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Love without egotism, without relying on self, but enkindling in the depth of the heart an ardent thirst to love and suffer for all those around us: a thirst that neither misfortune nor contempt can extinguish….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 vigour to my confidence. Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but so 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 Pro