On Nov. 23, 1927, Fr. Miguel Agustin Pro was executed by a firing squad in Mexico City.
"As Fr. Pro was being taken out to be shot — his only crime being that he was a Catholic priest — in one last act of defiance he stretched out his arms in the shape of a cross and shouted ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’ [Long live Christ the King!]"
Welcome to "North American Sanctity," a series on holy men and women, boys and girls, saints and those on the road to sainthood, from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Some will be familiar, others less so; but all are inspiring!
By Kimberly Bruce
Nearly 100 years ago, Pope Pius XI, alarmed by the rise of dictatorships across the European continent, established a new feast for the Universal Church in honor of Christ the King.
“When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state,” the Holy Father wrote. “Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ."
Universal feast
Today, the feast of “Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe,” is celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, just before the holy season of Advent. The date this year is Nov. 24.
By happy coincidence, the eve of Christ the King, Nov. 23, is the feast of Bl. Miguel Agustin Pro, a humble Mexican priest who was martyred for the faith two years after the 1925 encyclical.
“As Fr. Pro was being taken out to be shot — his only crime being that he was a Catholic priest — in one last act of defiance he stretched out his arms in the shape of a cross and shouted ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’ [Long live Christ the King!]," recalled Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Jesuit priest
Miguel Agustin Pro, born Jan. 13, 1891, in Guadalupe Zacatecas, Mexico, was the eldest child in his large family. A happy, loving, and devoted son, he entered the Jesuit novitiate at the age of 20 knowing that he wanted to be a priest after one of his sisters entered the convent.
Soon after Miguel entered the novitiate for the Society of Jesus, he was exiled to the United States because of the Mexican Revolution and the government’s persecution of Catholics. He then travelled to Spain, Nicaragua, and Belgium where he was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1925.
Miguel suffered for years with an intense stomach illness. He underwent several surgeries which did not prove helpful. Because of this, he was allowed to return to Mexico in 1926 even though it was dangerous to be identified as a priest. Fortunately, being newly ordained, he was not readily known as a priest in his home area.
Disguises
Father Miguel went about bringing the Sacraments to Catholics in his community in various disguises so as not to be recognized as a priest. He even organized “Eucharistic stations” in certain homes, “where the Body of the Lord could be secretly received daily during the years of persecution,” said St. John Paul II at the beatification Mass in 1988. The Holy Father spoke of his “tireless evangelizing zeal”:
Neither the sufferings of serious illnesses, nor the tireless ministerial activity frequently carried out in painful and risky circumstances, managed to stifle the radiant and communicative joy that was born from his love for Christ…The deepest root of his dedication to others was his passionate love for Jesus Christ and his ardent desire to identify with him, even in his death. He expressed this love in a particular way in the Eucharistic cult. The daily celebration of the Holy Mass was the center of his life, as well as a source of strength and fervor for the faithful.
Martyrdom
Trouble came for Fr. Miguel when a bomb went off in a car, previously owned by one of his brothers, causing the attempted assassination of former Mexican president Álvaro Obregón.
Father Pro and his two brothers were immediately sentenced to death without trial despite confession to the crime by the true culprit, Luis Segura.
President Elias Calles, a ruthless persecutor of Catholics, wanted to make an example out of the Jesuit priest, Fr. Pro, and planned to hold a public execution of him the next day.
Father Pro was brought into the prison yard the morning of Nov. 23. Upon seeing the firing squad, he immediately asked for a few moments to pray. Refusing to be blindfolded, he held his Rosary, stretched out his arms in the form of a cross, and when the order to fire was given, yelled, “Vivo Cristo Rey! Long live Christ the King!” He was killed in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith).
Father’s brother, Humberto, along with Luis Segura, were executed later that morning. Father’s other brother, Roberto, was spared from execution at the last moment.
Salvation of souls
Blessed Miguel Pro was not unlike St. Faustina who, in surrendering her own will to God’s, offered her prayers, sufferings, and sacrifices for the salvation of souls. On the Feast of Christ the King, Oct. 25, 1936, she recorded:
During Holy Mass, I was so enveloped in the great interior fire of God’s love and the desire to save souls that I do not know how to express it. I feel I am all aflame. I shall fight all evil with the weapon of mercy. I am being burned up by the desire to save souls… I do this through prayer and sacrifice.” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 745).
We, too, are called to be our “brother’s keeper” (Gen 4:9) aiding souls in the attainment of Heaven. How we do this varies according to our vocation, gifts, and abilities. We all, however, can offer our prayers and sacrifices to God for the benefit of others’ souls.
Blessed Miguel Pro, “a cause for joy for the universal Church” said St. John Paul II, serves as another holy example for us of one who laid down his life for his friends (1 Jn 3:16) believing that one day they would be reunited together in the glory of Heaven.
Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, pray for us!
Next in the series: St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Dec. 9.
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