a year of prayer: 365 Rosaries

“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 love Thee; but increase my love. Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee; but give greater vigor 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.”


Today, November 23, we celebrate the feast day of Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro (1891-1927), modern-day martyr of Mexico. Father Pro was executed by firing squad on November 23, 1927, for defending the faith and serving his community at a time when Catholicism was forbidden in Mexico. Devoted to the Lord until his final breath, Father Pro’s last words were “Viva Cristo Rey!” (Long live Christ the King!).

Miguel was born into a prosperous and devout mining family in the Guadalupe de Zacatecas region of Mexico. From birth, he was known for being a cheerful, spirited youth who embraced his family’s faith and demonstrated considerable concern for the poor and working classes. Frequently sick throughout his childhood, and well into adulthood, Miguel learned to accept suffering, offering it as penance to the Lord. He is remembered as being adventurous, mischievous, fearless (to the point of countless accidents), and quite the practical jokester.

Miguel was especially close to his older sister, who had entered a cloistered convent. Upon seeing her faith journey, Miguel gave up his many business and romantic prospects, and dedicated himself to Christ. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at El Llano, Michoacan in 1911. Eventually, he was sent from Mexico (at the onset of the Mexican Revolution, and the persecution of Catholicism), continuing his studies in Granada, Spain. At age 36, Miguel was ordained in Belgium. Wanting nothing more than to bring the light of Christ back to his people, Miguel immediately returned to Mexico despite the danger of doing so.

Having been gone so long in study, Miguel was no longer recognized, which allowed him to serve freely. While the Church was “underground,” with Church buildings seized and closed, priests in hiding, and actively persecution of the faithful, Miguel celebrated Mass and the Eucharist secretly, in family homes and gathering places. He ministered to the people—hungry for the Lord—and offered the sacraments to small groups, hearing confessions, anointing the sick, and delivering the Holy Eucharist. Oftentimes Father Pro resorted to disguises and fake personas to avoid detection and arrest. He would come in the middle of the night dressed as a beggar to baptize infants, bless marriages and celebrate Mass. He would appear in jail dressed as a police officer to bring Holy Viaticum to condemned Catholics. When going to fashionable neighborhoods to procure for the poor, he would show up at the doorstep dressed as a fashionable businessman with a fresh flower on his lapel. It was exhausting and dangerous work, and Miguel’s stomach ailments returned. However, he persevered in his ministry without ceasing.

In a letter from that time period, he gave this faith-filled account:

“We carry on like slaves. Jesus help me! There isn’t time to breathe, and I am up to my eyebrows in this business of feeding those who have nothing. And they are many—those with nothing. I assure you that I spin like a top from here to there with such luck as is the exclusive privilege of petty thieves. It doesn’t even faze me to receive such messages as: “The X Family reports that they are twelve members and their pantry is empty. Their clothing is falling off them in pieces, three are sick in bed and there isn’t even water.” As a rule my purse is as dry as Calles’s soul, but it isn’t worth worrying since the Procurator of Heaven is generous.


People give me valuable objects to raffle off, something worth ten pesos that I can sell for forty. Once I was walking along with a woman’s purse that was quite cute (the purse not the woman) when I met a wealthy woman all dolled up.


“What do you have there?”


“A lady’s purse worth twenty-five pesos. You can have it for fifty pesos which I beg you to send to such-and-such a family.”


I see God’s hand so palpably in everything that almost—almost I fear they won’t kill me in these adventures. That will be a fiasco for me who sighs to go to heaven and start tossing off arpeggios on the guitar with my guardian angel.”

Father Pro got his wish. Eventually the authorities learned of his activities, and actively set to capture him. For some time, however, Father Pro managed to avoid capture. Along with his two brothers, he was then falsely accused of attempting to assassinate the president of Mexico via a failed bombing attempt. A wanted man, Miguel was turned over to the police, and sentenced to death without trial. His younger brother was spared at his pleading, but his second brother received the same sentence.

The day of Miguel’s martyrdom was well documented in photographs, as President Calles had news photographers present, expecting the Pros to die in a cowardly fashion. From the pictures we know that his last request was to be allowed to kneel and pray, which the executioners allowed him to do. As he was about to be shot, he forgave his executioners, refused a blindfold, and fell to the ground, shouting “Long live Christ the King!” The initial shots, however, did not kill him, and he was spared with a point-blank shot to the temple.






Following his death, there was great public outcry. His funeral became a rallying public demonstration of the Catholic faith, despite government prohibition. Tens of thousands of the faithful lined the streets to honor his body as it passed.



Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro was beatified in 1988 by Pope John Paul II. 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.”


Selected Quotations of Blessed Miguel:

“We ought to speak, shout out against injustices, with confidence and without fear. We proclaim the principles of the Church, the reign of love, without forgetting that it is also a reign of justice.”

“Does our life become from day to day more painful, more oppressive, more replete with sufferings? 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.”

“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 vigor 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.”





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. Amen.


Day 327 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Courage of our convictions; Lives built on strong faith.
Requested Intentions: End to husband’s addictions; Son’s employment (M); Freedom from financial burdens (M); Healing after a miscarriage (E); For healing of friend; successful resolution of legal matter (A); For unity between estranged friends (E); For a son, falsely arrested (C); Successful employment (J); Successful employment (L); For a healthy child (L); Recovery from stomach illness of a friend (A); Employment and financial security (E); Conversion of sons (L); Freedom from financial stress, employment (C); Spiritual growth and family peace (A); Freedom to immigrate (D); End to debt (N); Restoration of a marriage (J); Complete recovery of son (P); Recovery of parish priest, health of mother, conversion of son (J); Successful employment, end to depression (J); Successful immigration and employment (S); Conversion of an unloving daughter (M); Recovery of husband, health of mother, economic freedom (R); Freedom from depression, restoration of family relationships (N); Restoration of a relationship (J); Healing of friends from cancer (J); Complete healing of a friend with pancreatic cancer (J); Healing of a father following stroke (S).