That’s Gonna Cost You
This story was part of a collaboration with the podcast Dead Friend Saints. Listen to our conversation with Claire, where we dive deeper into the life and martyrdom of Blessed Miguel Pro.
This is a prayer written by Fr. Pro that we shared on Dead Friend Saints:
My Mother, let me pass my life at thy side, accompanying thy deep sorrow and grief. Let me feel in my soul the sad flood of tears from thy eyes and the abandonment of thy heart.
I do not wish, on my journey through life, to taste the joys of Bethlehem, adoring in thy virginal arms the Child God; I do not desire to enjoy in the lowly cottage of Nazareth the sweet presence of Jesus Christ; I do not long to accompany thee in thy glorious assumption midst angelic choirs.
In my life I wish for the scoffing and mockery of Calvary; I desire the slow agony of thy Son; the contempt, the ignominy, the infamy of the Cross; I long to stand at thy side, virgin most sorrowful, strengthening my spirit with thy tears, consummating my sacrifice with thy martyrdom, sustaining my heart with thy sorrow, loving my God and thy God with the immolation of my being. Amen.
- Fr. Miguel Pro
Our main source for this story, the excellent The Life of Father Pro by Rev. M.D. Forrest, M.S.C. Fr. Forrest corresponded with Fr. Pro’s sister and father in writing this book.
We have already done a story on Blessed Miguel Pro, but here are some more pictures we dug up this time around.
The Pro Family. Standing: Edmundo, Miguel, Ana Maria (Anita)
Sitting: Maria de la Concepcion (became a nun), Roberto, Senora Pro, Humberto (executed with Miguel), Senor Pro, Maria de la Luz (became a nun)
Left: prison photo taken at 1 AM on the day of his execution
Right: Disguised as a chauffer (taxi driver?) giving a retreat
Left: Praying before the martyrdom
Right: his body after the shot to the head
For the curious, the full quote from the immature Miguel Pro that earned him a slap from his father was, “Women are always a nuisance. It’s a good thing they are sometimes hanged!”