November 23—Bl. Miguel Augustín Pro, Priest and Martyr

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Martyrdom is the supreme sacrifice a person can offer to God, the sacrifice of one’s own life in witness to the love of God for humanity. Today’s saint was a witness to the love of God in Mexico. Bl. Miguel Pro was born in 1891 and joined the Jesuits, being ordained in 1925 in Belgium. He was in Europe for his training because the Mexican government had oppressed religious orders causing the Jesuits to flee Mexico. When he returned to Mexico in 1926, he had to go underground to serve faithful Catholics. He was arrested and released in October 1926 but kept under watch by the government. In November 1927, an assassination attempt on a Mexican government official gave the state an opportunity to arrest Bl. Miguel and his brothers. The President of Mexico gave orders that Bl. Miguel be executed without trial. 

On November 23, 1927 he was led to a courtyard and faced a firing squad. “He blessed the soldiers, knelt, and briefly prayed quietly. Declining a blindfold, he faced his executioners with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ and shouted 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!’ Before the firing squad was ordered to shoot, Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ and shouted, … ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’ – ‘Long live Christ the King!’. When the initial shots of the firing squad failed to kill him, a soldier shot him at point-blank range.” Bl. Miguel was beatified in 1988 by Pope John Paul II. Martyrdom may not be required of us yet, but we need to be ready to witness for Christ.

*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Miguel_Pro%27s_execution_%281927%29.jpg  Grentidez, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons