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Blessed Miguel Pro's feast day is November 23rd.

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Father Miguel Pro: Heroic Mexican Martyr

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BTTT on November 24, 2004, Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro.

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American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

God calls each one of us to be a saint.

November 23, 2006

Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro

(1891-1927)

¡Viva Cristo Rey! (Long live Christ the King) were the last words Father Pro uttered before he was executed for being a Catholic priest and serving his flock.

Born into a prosperous, devout family in Guadalupe de Zacatecas, he entered the Jesuits in 1911 but three years later fled to Granada, Spain, because of religious persecution in Mexico. He was ordained in Belgium in 1925.

He immediately returned to Mexico, where he served a Church forced to go “underground.” He celebrated the Eucharist clandestinely and ministered the other sacraments to small groups of Catholics.

He and his brother Roberto were arrested on trumped-up charges of attempting to assassinate Mexico’s president. Roberto was spared but Miguel was sentenced to face a firing squad on November 23, 1927. His funeral became a public demonstration of faith. He was beatified in 1988.

Comment:

In 1927 when Father Miguel Pro was executed, no one could have predicted that 52 years later the bishop of Rome would visit Mexico, be welcomed by its president and celebrate open-air Masses before thousands of people. Pope John Paul II made additional trips to Mexico in 1990, 1993 and 1999. Those who outlawed the Catholic Church in Mexico did not count on the deeply rooted faith of its people and the willingness of many of them, like Miguel Pro, to die as martyrs.

Quote:

During his homily at the beatification Mass, Pope John Paul II said that Father Pro “is a new glory for the beloved Mexican nation, as well as for the Society of Jesus. His life of sacrificing and intrepid apostolate was always inspired by a tireless evangelizing effort. Neither suffering nor serious illness, neither the exhausting ministerial activity, frequently carried out in difficult and dangerous circumstances, could stifle the radiating and contagious joy which he brought to his life for Christ and which nothing could take away (see John 16:22). Indeed, the deepest root of self-sacrificing surrender for the lowly was his passionate love for Jesus Christ and his ardent desire to be conformed to him, even unto death.”

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Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro

Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro
Priest and Martyr
Optional Memorial
November 23rd
[In the diocese of the United States]

Photo

(1891-1927) Miguel, one of eleven children, was born in Guadalupe, Mexico. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1925 in Belgium, having been forced to flee Mexico because of religious persecution. He returned the next year to minister to his native people. He had a great love for the Mass, devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and apostolic zeal for ordinary working men. Despite the fierce persecution of the Mexican Government as well as his own debilitating illnesses, Fr. Pro continued his ministry to the faithful. He was captured, imprisoned and martyred for his Catholic Faith in 1927 under charges of sedition.

Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

Collect:
God our Father,
you gave your servant Miguel Agustin
the grace to seek ardently your greater glory
and the salvation of your people.
Grant that through his intercession
and following his example
we may serve you and glorify you
by performing our daily duties with fidelity and joy
and effectively helping our neighbor.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.

For readings please see Clement I, Pope and Martyr