Mela y Miguel

My family connection to Mexico's martyr

Dear friend,

The story I’m about to tell you, I almost didn’t.

However, remembering that my God died with a pierced heart, I have decided that this letter is the story I should share today.

Miguel

His full name was José Ramón Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, and he was born on January 13, 1891 at Guadalupe Zacatecas in the heart of Mexico, to Josefa and Don Miguel. His father was the second in the family to become a mining engineer. ¹

When he was still very small, his family moved to Mexico City. Miguel used to sit on the steps of the family home as the fruit vendors passed by, calling out their deal of the day. One fruit vendor passed by the Pro family house regularly, and she grew quite fond of Miguelito. At one point, she gave him a large amount of little fruits that are a Mexican delicacy, tejocotes. These round, golden globes can fit in the palm of your hand.

Miguel dug in and gorged himself on the fruits, becoming seriously ill. The fruit vendor sat by his bedside when she heard what had happened, and begged Our Lady of Guadalupe to deliver Miguel from his illness. After several days, the fever broke, but he developed a more severe fever, measles, and whooping cough. A doctor informed the family that Miguel would likely be dead soon. Don Miguel scooped up his son from his bed, holding him before an image of La Virgencita.² “My Mother! Give me back my son!”

After a moment of suffering in silence, Miguelito vomited all over his father and awoke from what had seemed like a nightmare. He continued to suffer from digestive issues and stomach pain for the rest of his life.

Still, he maintained such a sweet tooth that he earned the nickname Cocol, after his favorite sweet bread made with anise seeds.

The Pro family was a musical family, and they would enjoy and play music often in the evenings. The five oldest children played string instruments; Miguel played guitar and mandolin. He loved to go outside the house to hear the traveling musicians who would pass by on the street. After his father forbade his son from leaving his schoolbooks and setting one foot in the street for this pastime, Miguel grabbed a book and walked on his knees the next time the musicians came around! Known for his clever mischief, he also enjoyed poetry, and would write and recite poems for family members as gifts.

Revolution

The children assisted their father in his mining office, and the miners greatly appreciated the help the youth provided on busy paydays. Josefa founded a hospital for the mining families, involving her children in this work. In 1904, the mayor forbade the hospital patients from receiving the last sacraments there, and declared that the hospital was too exclusive in nature. After such political obstacles ran counter to their mission of assisting the poor, the Pro family withdrew.

Miguel’s older sister entered religious life, and a year later he announced to his family that he’d decided to enter the Society of Jesus religious order of brothers and priests. He did so in 1911 at Michoacan, receiving the religious habit on August 15.

By 1914, the violence and anti-Catholic sentiment of the Mexican revolution reached such a height that Miguel and his fellow Jesuits fled for their lives. Remarkably, on their way, Miguel found his mother and younger siblings hiding in a little shack. They did not know the whereabouts of their father who, because he had worked for the government, was a marked man. The Jesuits spent a few days with the family, but continued onward in obedience of their superiors’ orders to leave the country. They went on to Texas, passing through San Antonio. His travels included California, eventually Spain, France, and Belgium, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1925.

Just six months after his ordination, his stomach pains had become so serious that they affected his ability to eat. Father Pro’s superiors had him undergo surgery, which was unsuccessful in solving the problem. Worse, Father Pro received word while recovering that his mother had died. For his second surgery, doctors informed him that they could not risk using anesthesia. Remarkably, he asked for a book of Canon Law (Church law) to read during the operation! Finally, after a third operation, his superiors sent him to Mexico, hoping that time in his homeland would restore his health.

The Mexican Revolution is generally defined as having taken place between 1910-1920, ending with the election and start of Álvaro Obregón’s presidency. However, the reality on the ground for the people is that the death and conflict did not end with those political activities — especially for those who practiced the Catholic faith.

The year that Father Pro returned to Mexico is now regarded as the start of the ‘Cristero War’— a period of heightened conflict from 1926-1929 between the anti-Catholic Mexican government and the Catholic citizens. Obregón selected the openly anti-Christian Plutarco Calles as his successor.

Now, Calles is sometimes called “a monster,” but history and life are not comic books; these were real people. Calles came from a troubled family with a background of alcoholism. His parents never married, and thus he was seen as an ‘illegitimate child.’ His uncle had been a staunch atheist and instilled in him the value of a secular education. It should not surprise us that Calles is known for his enforcement of the Anti-Clerical Laws that had been formally part of the Mexican Constitution of 1917.

Just twenty-three days after Father Miguel Pro returned to Mexico, President Calles enacted what was informally known as the Calles Law. Part of this declaration included:

• A ban on Catholic Mass or other such acts of worship

• Vowed religious individuals such as nuns, monks, and priests were not allowed to wear their religious clothing in public.

• Religious orders such as the Jesuits were outlawed.

• Religious education was no longer allowed.

• Clergy were denied the right to vote.

• Catholic properties were to be used however the local authorities deemed appropriate.

Pro dressed as a mechanic

In this situation, Father Pro decided to conduct his ministry clandestinely, signing letters by his childhood sweet bread nickname Cocol, and dressing up in various disguises. For example, he dressed as a mechanic to minister to cab and bus drivers. He was a beggar, an office worker, you name it! He often walked the city streets in a dress suit and a hat. I remember reading a story about how Father Pro was dressed in this outfit, being chased by police while Father rode in a cab. He was able to exit the cab, swiftly approach a lady walking along and tell her that he was a priest, and she permitted him to walk arm in arm with him — confusing his pursuers.

Father Pro dressed as a police officer at times, allowing a narrow escape when the police cracked down on his celebration of Mass in families’ homes. After his quick change of clothing, he would even scold the officers, asking why they hadn’t been able to catch that rascal Pro! Using this disguise, he also managed to minister to those in prison.

In November 1927, General Obregón and some friends were attacked using a homemade bomb. The car used by the assailants was registered under the name of Humberto Pro, forcing Father Miguel and his brothers into hiding despite their innocence. Father Pro joked with his friends that they should get their prayer petitions ready, because after his martyrdom he would deal out favors like a deck of cards!

Mela

My great-grandmother who has passed on from this life, Mela, was orphaned by the circumstances of the long Mexican revolutionary period. Her father had been a government worker, and he was shot during the conflict. At that time, there were so many bodies of the dead — hung on trees, lying in fields — that disease spread quickly and easily. Because of this, Mela’s mother died.

Therefore, my great-grandmother was a homeless orphan during the revolution, beginning at the age of approximately four years old. She lived barefoot, begging for food. Some people would shoo her away, calling her ‘dirty.’ In the winter, she kicked the frozen river to make a crack in the ice for water to drink.

Mela took refuge in the church buildings, receiving Communion without knowing what it was — except that it was food. She often hid under the pews until it was time for the doors to be locked, so that she would have a safe place to sleep.

The Calles Law created an opportunity for these sanctuaries to be picked apart, stone by stone, tile by tile, by anyone who wished.

According to her daughter, my grandmother; when Father Miguel Pro was imprisoned, some of the prison guards did not agree with the contemporary anti-Catholic sentiment. Late at night or early in the morning, these guards would let Father Pro go free for a while to continue his ministry, and he would return to his cell later on.

As an orphan, Mela had an astounding amount of independence and fearlessness. As a poor, barefoot girl, no one paid her any mind. So, she was the prime candidate to bring Father Pro his disguise. She brought him a straw hat and old clothes so that he blended in with the countryfolk, and she would take him to a rural village where he would minister to the people incognito. Then, Father Pro would return to his prison cell as if nothing had happened.

My great-grandmother remembered Father Pro as a selfless person who always thought of others’ needs before his own. He was the one who taught her about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of the Eucharist, ‘officially’ providing her with Holy Communion.

My family recently passed on to me a small prayer book which Father Pro gave to my great-grandmother. According to my grandmother, he told Mela, “This is a treasure for me. I don’t want anyone else to own it. I don’t know when I’ll be gone.” Mela didn’t know how to read or write, but this relic was precious to her because of the role model who had entrusted it to her.

She saw him before he was escorted to the place of his execution, which occurred on November 23, 1927.

The soldiers wanted to blindfold him, but he refused the blindfold. He blessed them, knelt, and briefly prayed.

Then, Father Pro stood with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other, and said, “May God have mercy on you. May God bless you. Lord, thou knowest that I am innocent.”

He extended his arms in cruciform, and shouted, “WITH ALL MY HEART, I FORGIVE MY ENEMIES.”

The firing squad took aim, and Father Pro let out the defiant cry of the Cristeros, “¡VIVA CRISTO REY!” (LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING!)

Then, the gunshots.

To ensure his death, he was shot at point blank range.

President Calles had the entire execution documented by a photographer and published on the front page of newspapers in an effort to scare the Cristeros and those who resisted Calles’ rule, but it only united them. In fact, about 40,000 people were part of Father Pro’s funeral procession. Another 20,000 awaited at the gravesite.

Ruler

My grandmother once told me that she was having a conversation with someone during an intensely political period in the U.S.A. when this question was posed: Who is the ruler of the world today?

As I reflected on this, I thought about the dialogue Jesus had with his disciples at the Last Supper, before his arrest, torture, and execution:

I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.³

Jewish rabbinic tradition held that the whole world was under the power of the angel of death (sar-ha-olam, ‘prince’ or ‘ruler’ of the world). In a Christian context, this angel is Satan — meaning ‘adversary.’ I admit that amid all the suffering, lies, division, manipulation, and death in the world today, it is quite difficult to fight against hopelessness.

To grow in hope, let’s consider Jesus’ words in context:

1. He tells his disciples this during the time of Passover, which is tied to the angel of death in the Exodus story.

2. Jesus is acknowledging the angel of death as his Enemy rather than any one human person or group. This aligns with his disciple Paul’s later letter to the early Christians, “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood...”⁴

3. In Jesus’ trial, Pontius Pilate asks him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He replied, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.”

 So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”⁵

4. The word Gospel, evangelium, means ‘glad tidings’ or ‘good news.’ At the time of the early Christians, this word was used to proclaim a king’s victory. Christians adopted this word to proclaim Jesus’ victory over sin and death; a king whose reign conquers with God the Father’s love.

Christians who were anointed at baptism with chrism oil ought to recall that we were anointed into the death and resurrection of the Christ, the anointed one. That is why we are called Christians, called to live as our king did; not arriving with trumpet blasts and assertions of earthly power, but with the fragile humility of an infant, and then of a poor, young man who kneels down to wash feet.

This is what Father Miguel Pro did, and it is why he proclaimed Christ’s kingship at his own death. The Catechism of the Catholic Church professes:

Christ King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." For the Christian, "to reign is to serve him," particularly when serving "the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder." The People of God fulfills its royal dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ.⁶

Father Pro once reflected on the Sacred Heart of Jesus,

In the open heart of Jesus Christ, one sees his heart burning with love for you, for me, for all men. But one sees it surrounded with thorns, and in their center, the cross. This fire of love must light up our poor hearts too, so that it can communicate itself to others—but surrounded with thorns to keep us on our guard against petty self-interests, and surmounted by a wide-armed cross to embrace all who surround us.

What a challenge! It is impossible without Love.

May we choose not to embrace fear but to be brave, como Mela y Miguel, and live with Love. Heaven help us!

Angela

1. Much of the biographical information related to Miguel’s early life I have based off a fine biography by Ann Ball, Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th Century Mexican Martyr.

2. A colloquial nickname for the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.

3. John 14:30-31

4. Ephesians 6:12

5. cf. John 18:28-40

6. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 786