Shrine of Miguel Pro – Mexico City

Programming Note: Due to a technical error, this program did not air on November 11 as originally scheduled. Please look forward to it on the new date!
Take a spiritual journey with us to Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia (Holy Family Parish) in Mexico City, Mexico, which holds the Shrine of Fr. Miguel Augustin Pro. This Jesuit martyr’s famous photograph shook Mexico; his arms outstretched for his execution by firing squad as he shouted, Viva Cristo Rey (Long Live Christ the King)!

There is much more to this holy priest’s story that will inspire you; a comedian, musician, and creative Jesuit who suffered from physical and emotional trials, yet persevered to his heroic death into eternal life.

• Hear about the shrine, including relics of Miguel Pro found there
• Discover relatable & inspiring stories from Miguel Pro’s life
• Find hope & strength for your own daily life

Photo courtesy of Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP.

Jewel for the Journey

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. – Bl. Miguel Pro

Related Quotes

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 and not let us limit our zeal to any particular person. (Miguel Pro)

By his obedience unto death, Christ communicated to his disciples the gift of royal freedom, so that they might “by the self-abnegation of a holy life, overcome the reign of sin in themselves”: That man is rightly called a king who makes his own body an obedient subject and, by governing himself with suitable rigor, refuses to let his passions breed rebellion in his soul, for he exercises a kind of royal power over himself. And because he knows how to rule his own person as king, so too does he sit as its judge. He will not let himself be imprisoned by sin, or thrown headlong into wickedness. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 908)

Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurrection.211 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. (CCC, no. 786)

The sign of the cross makes kings of all those reborn in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates them as priests, so that, apart from the particular service of our ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of this royal race and sharers in Christ’s priestly office. What, indeed, is as royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God? And what is as priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord and to offer the spotless offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart? (St. Leo the Great)

By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of God, “a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.”91 They do not, for all that, abandon their earthly tasks; faithful to their master, they fulfill them with uprightness, patience, and love. (CCC, no. 2046)