Blessed Miguel Pro Prayer Card (PC-50)
Pickup available at 7118 Beech Ridge Trail
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PC-50 — Blessed Miguel Pro Prayer Card
"¡Viva Cristo Rey!" — The undercover priest who died with his arms open wide
President Plutarco Elías Calles had a plan. He would arrest the young Jesuit priest, march him before a firing squad, photograph the execution, and plaster the images across every newspaper in Mexico. Seeing their priest crumble in cowardice and terror, the Catholic faithful would lose heart. The Cristero War would end. The Church would be broken.
It did not go as planned.
On the morning of November 23, 1927, Father Miguel Pro walked from his cell to the courtyard where the firing squad awaited, with the photographer ready at hand. He knelt before his executioners, faced them without a blindfold, and cried out: "May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, You know that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies!" He rose, extended his arms wide in imitation of Christ crucified, and shouted the battle cry of the Cristeros: "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" — Long live Christ the King! After the shots rang out, Father Pro was still alive, so a soldier came forward and shot him at point-blank range.
Over 40,000 people lined his funeral procession. The photographs Calles had intended as propaganda became icons of martyrdom, circulated around the world. The Cristero movement was galvanized, not broken.
Born in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, in 1891, Miguel Pro entered the Jesuits at twenty and spent years in exile — California, Spain, Nicaragua, Belgium — as Mexico's anti-Catholic government systematically dismantled the Church. After his ordination in Belgium in 1925, he returned to a Mexico where churches had been shuttered and clergy were targets for execution. Undeterred, he served the underground Catholic community in disguise, administering the sacraments in secret. He became known as the "undercover priest" — slipping through the streets of Mexico City dressed as a mechanic, a beggar, a businessman — bringing Communion, hearing confessions, and anointing the dying while federal agents searched for him. He was arrested on false charges of an assassination attempt, without trial or evidence, and executed at thirty-six years old.
Pope John Paul II beatified him on September 25, 1988, as a martyr killed in odium fidei — in hatred of the faith. His feast day is November 23rd. His canonization cause continues.
Perfect for: Mexican Catholic communities, priests, seminarians, those facing persecution for their faith, November 23rd feast day, Catholic Action groups, and anyone who needs a joyful, courageous modern martyr walking beside them.