“Charity, Laughter, Suffering and Sacrifice”
The Life of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, S.J.
Cast of Characters:
1. 36 year old Padre Miguel Pro, S.J.
2. Toddler (if possible) Miguel Pro
3. Youth, Miguel Pro
4. Young adult Pro
5. Josefa (Miguel’s Mamma)
6. Don Miguel Pro (Miguel’s Papa)
7. Maria Concepcion (Miguel’s sister)
8. Maria de la Luz (Miguel’s other sister)
9. Padre Luis de las Piedras
10. Jesuit priests
11. Miguel’s 2 sisters as nuns
12. Miguel’s girlfriends
13. Various town folk
14. Woman Padre Miguel linked arms with on the street
15. Youth friends and students of Padre Miguel
16. President Calles
17. Roberto & Humberto Pro
18. Soldiers
19. A doctor
20. Reporters and photographers
21. Penitents being absolved
Two narrators tell the story of Padre Miguel on the stage while young people act out the different sequences of the Blessed’s life.
NARRATOR 1: Welcome to everyone. Yo espero que todos ustedes estan disfrutendo esta fiesta... Which means, “I hope that you all are enjoying this festival.”
This evening, you will hear a story, a most interesting inspiring story. It’s a story of one man’s love for God, how with true Christian joy he worked for the good of souls and how he gave his life in defense of the Catholic faith.
This story is not about politics. The political situation in Mexico was certainly complicated between the years 1890 to 1940. Many think of Mexico as a Catholic country, this is why it amazes some to hear of the great persecution against the Church that took place during that time of it’s history. During the long, dark years of religious persecution in Mexico, thousands of Catholics -- priests, religious and laity, young and old -- were harassed, tortured, killed or force to flee their home land.
With this brief background, we begin our story this evening. I promise you that there is more adventure, excitement and danger in the life of the Mexican priest, Fr. Miguel Agustin Pro than in any modern day action thriller movies. So sit back, relax, and let your hearts and imagination help you enter into the life of Padre Miguel Agustin Pro - a life of charity, laughter, suffering and sacrifice.
Scene 1: (Nativity and Baptism)
NARRATOR 2: Miguel Agustin Pro was born on January 13, 1891 in Guadalupe, Mexico to the mining family of Don Miguel Pro and Josefa Pro. He was the third child and their first son of eleven children. Miguel’s father was a mining engineer like his father before him. Senora Josefa was known by all as a loving wife and mother, and a gifted cook of fine pastries and holiday dishes. Both were quite religious as well.
(Enter center stage, Miguel’s parents and their two daughters with a baby doll of Miguel. They all walk to the priest (Fr. Luis) and he baptizes Miguel. All our joyful in the Lord.)
Just three days after Miguel’s birth, he was taken to a Franciscan monastery to be baptized. A family treasure, a small container of water from the Holy Land, was used for the baby’s baptism.
Imagine mis amigos, the same water which St. John the Baptist had once used for the baptism of Christ our Lord was used to make Miguel Agustin a member of the Church; the Mystical Body of Christ. It was a good beginning. The disciple begins with the same water as the Teacher and Lord. His life would one day end like the Lord’s as well - the disciple, suffering a sacrificial death to give glory to the Heavenly Father.
(Fr. Luis leaves the scene)
Scene 2: (Pro Home)
NARRATOR 1: His life of danger began when, still only a toddler, little Miguel managed to escape the watchful eye of his mother and everyone else’s notice.
(Enter center stage, if possible, a toddler Miguel crawling, relatives, and Miguel’s Mom).
Little Miguel managed to crawl out onto a window ledge three stories above a busy street. Just imagine how frightened his mother became. His mother rescued her little boy before it was too late. Her little Miguel was safe... for the time being. Little did she know that the end of her son’s life would be just as extraordinary.
(Exit toddler Miguel, enter young Miguel)
Scene 3: (Still at the Pro Home)
(Enter the youthful Miguel Agustin who joins the family members)
NARRATOR 2: As a boy, Miguel was outgoing, fun-loving and a practical joker. At family gatherings he was the entertainer. (Most families have a least one). Well, not only did he entertain with causing laughter, he was the family musician who played the guitar for his loved ones to dance and enjoy life.
(Show Miguel playing the guitar with family, clapping or dancing. Maybe play some guitar music in the background. Then show him acting and making-fun.)
All that was needed was an audience, and Miguel would use his gift for acting and mimicry to cause joy and laughter among family members and friends.
From childhood, laughter and high spirits were hallmarks of Miguel’s personality. He was constantly in motion, physically and mentally. He was a born clown. Miguel was truly blessed with a sunny disposition and a playfulness that enriched the family’s nightly gatherings.
(Show Miguel entertaining... all are joyful in the Lord.)
NARRATOR 1: Parent’s realize that their are limits to their tolerance of a child’s playfulness. As mentioned, Miguel enjoyed practical jokes, which he often played at the expense of his sisters Even though punishment was rare in the Pro household, Miguel was known to have received a spanking now and then.
(Show Miguel popping off the doll’s heads... Younger Miguel leaves the scene along with the sisters and mother).
One occasion for discipline came about the day Miguel destroyed his sisters’ dolls pulling the dolls heads off. We can almost hear the fury of his saintly mother Josefa, raising her voice, addressing Miguel sternly for upsetting his sisters.
(Narrator continues after Josefa scolds Miguel for destroying the dolls.)
(Then, Miguel’s Mom brings him some Cocol. Miguel happily eats the sweat bread while looking at his Mom with delight).
Miguel’s mother frequently referred to her son as her little “cocol”. Cocol was the name of Miguel’s favorite Mexican sweat bread. His mom would spoil him by making him cocol often. When Miguel grew up, he continued to use the nickname “Cocol” as a code name to allude capture from Mexican authorities.
Scene 4: (Outside the Pro Home)
(Enter older Miguel Pro. His dad is present and his sister. He tries to catch his sister’s escaped canary on the roof top of his home)
NARRATOR 2: In his teens, Miguel began smoking cigarettes without the knowledge of his parents. Once Miguel was on the roof top of his home trying to catch his sister’s escaped canary. Maybe he let the canary out of its cage as a prank. Who knows? Nevertheless, when Miguel leaned over the side of the roof to ask for help, - a shower of cigarettes fell from his pocket into the startled face of his father. The excuse he managed to manufacture on his way down from the roof was not too convincing.
(Show Miguel’s father upset at his son.)
Scene 5: (Miguel takes mission garb from Jesuit missionaries)
NARRATOR 1: What else could Miguel do to make life more interesting? Well, listen up! There’s more.
One time Miguel attended a mission in a nearby town with some visiting Jesuit priests, who also happened to be friends of his family. Secretly, he took a habit of one of the Jesuits...
(Show Miguel sneaking and taking a black cassock and putting it on.)
...he dressed himself in it and went out on his own little preaching expedition to the neighboring area.
(Show Miguel mimicking preaching in front of people who give him cigarettes, eggs, food, etc.)
And guess what? (Pause) Miguel was ACCEPTED as a genuine priest and the people gave him eggs, cigarettes and fresh cheeses. But then... he was soon caught by the real Jesuits and relieved of his ill-gotten goods. Again, imagine Miguel’s poor mother! She truly is a saint for putting up with so much from her mischievous son. Parent’s can find much consolation from Blessed Miguel’s life. Heaven awaits you for putting up with so much!
(Show Miguel getting caught by priests and taken to Mama Josefa who reprimands him once again.)
Scene 6: (Hiking the countryside of Mexico.)
NARRATOR 2: When the young and vigorous Miguel could sneak away from books and study, he found much pleasure in hiking in the hills and climbing the rocky sides of mountains and following the bush-bordered streams. He liked to take his older sisters along with him so that they could “see more of the sky,” as he liked to put it. Yet, his carefree days of freedom were rapidly drawing to a close.
(Show Miguel Pro walking along with his sisters, perhaps with a walking staff... enjoying the countryside.)
Scene 7: (Sent to Mexico City to study.)
NARRATOR 1: Miguel Agustin was to take up serious studies as well. Senior Pro made arrangements for Miguel to be enrolled as a day student in the Colegio de San Jose while living with relatives in Mexico City.
Only a few months after his arrival and enrollment in the school, Miguel Agustin Pro became seriously ill. The boy’s stomach was painfully upset.
(Show a pain-stricken Miguel, perhaps dropping his books...)
Miguel lost weight and energy. He would suffer for the rest of his life with stomach ailments, undergoing several operations to remove ulcers.
Scene 8: (Miguel Agustin grows up)
(Enter an older Miguel Pro)
NARRATOR 2: Miguel Pro was much like any ordinary young man. He was not one as we have witnessed to be singled out to be a saint as a youth. He worked as a clerk in his father’s mining office. He was of great assistance to his overworked father. Miguel was referred to by the miners by the name “el barreterillo” (“the little miner”). Later in life, Miguel would use this name too while a priest in hiding.
Young Miguel loved life. Miguel often played his guitar and led the singing of ballads and folk songs surrounded by his brothers and sisters. Never tiring of music, he often jumped to his feet, and pulled one of his sisters from her chair for a dance.
(Show Miguel playing, dancing and singing...)
Miguel Agustin was very fond of girls but he never had a sweetheart. He had many friends who were woman and he enjoyed writing to them. Once he wrote to one of his female companions:
(Show Miguel writing or talking to woman.)
“To Angelita: Man possesses the secret of greatness in his intelligence; woman in her heart. The heart is great when it loves nobly. Long live woman!”
Scene 9 (Miguel’s struggle with his faith)
(Show Miguel walking around aimlessly. Miguel’s Mom is also shown kneeling down in prayer for her beloved son.)
NARRATOR 1: Although Miguel’s family was devoutly Catholic, for a time he DRIFTED AWAY from the faith. Suddenly, he gave the impression that religion meant little to him, and he did not attend Mass as frequently as before. Senora Pro was deeply disturbed by her son’s change of attitude, but she believed it would disappear after a time, so she quietly waited and prayed.
(Show Miguel watching his sisters enter in religious sister habits)
But after two of his sisters became nuns, Miguel returned to church and began to think about his own vocation. He had gone to confession, received Holy Communion and had regained his peace of soul. Miguel told his sisters, “If what I feel now is a divine vocation, that’s exactly the way it will turn out!” He asked the superior of the convent to have the nuns pray for him, so that he might know what direction he should take.
As a result of much prayer, Miguel ever more desired holiness. He wrote, “I want to be a saint who eats, sleeps, plays practical jokes and works many miracles!” His bubbling personality, ready wit, and spontaneous jokes made Miguel attractive to all he met. His life would draw many to deep faith.
Finally, at the age of twenty he decided to apply to the Jesuit Order to become a priest. Miguel had required a deep respect, admiration and love for the Jesuit Order. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in August of 1911. Although Miguel was never the most serious student, he managed to get by quite well with his studies.
Scene 10: (On the baseball field as a seminarian)
NARRATOR 2: On one occasion while Miguel was a novice, studying for the priesthood, he helped his fellow novices celebrate a holiday by joining them in a vigorous baseball game.
When the game was over and the tired teams were returning from the grass-covered field, he climbed catlike in one bound to the top of a creaky platform behind the catcher’s box and improvised a sermon.
(Miguel and fellow novices wearing baseball caps and mitts, holding a bat or two, listen attentively to him as he speaks... mimicking a sermon...)
The perspiring athletes forgot their weariness as they listened to what nonsense Miguel Agustin might think of on the spur of the moment. The novices laughed until they had enough and began to walk away from him.
Seeing his audience slipping from his grasp, he jumped down from the perch and called after them saying: “Don’t go away, brothers! The sermon isn’t finished yet. The preacher is going to climb back up there again.”
As he spoke, he caught sight of a black cassock of one of the Jesuit fathers. The priest asked Miguel not to stop. Knowing he had to obey, Miguel Agustin climbed back on his perch and gave the sermon a second time. Although he lacked the zeal and brilliance of his first performance, the Jesuit Father was quietly amused. A bond a friendship eventually grew between the priest and the energetic novice.
(Act out the above sequence as the narrator unfolds the scene.)
Scene 11: (Revolution and Ordination)
NARRATOR 1: In 1910 the revolution had begun in Mexico.
(Show Miguel fleeing across stage.)
In 1914 Miguel was sent for safety, dressed as a peasant, on foot and by train to Laredo, Texas. From Texas he went to California, through Nicaragua and Spain. His journey ended in Belgium were he completed his studies and where he was ordained to the priesthood on August 31, 1925. He was now, Padre Miguel Agustin Pro.
(Spot light on Miguel’s back, wearing Mass vestments, elevating the chalice of the Blood of Christ... He then extents his hands in prayer like I cross. Narrator continues with a letter Padre Pro wrote to his friend, Father Santiago.)
In a letter to his good friend, (the same Jesuit priest who caught Miguel acting out a sermon on the baseball field), Padre Miguel Pro expressed his sentiments about becoming a priest. He wrote: (Another voice may be added here to portray Miguel.)
“On the 31st of August, I shall say my first Mass. What I feel, what I think, what is happening to me, Father, you will understand better than I am able to put into words. Ever since you game me this blessed cassock, even to this day, special graces and favors have not been interrupted for me...”
“You who knew me and who knows how in spite of my repugnance I was brought to the Society of Jesus can see how in me is fulfilled the letter of the law of the Psalm: ‘From the dunghill he lifts up the poor to seat them with princes, with the princes of his own people’ (Ps. 113:7).”
“How did I come to this state? What are my claims? What are my merits? Only the mercy and love of God can explain them. With what pleasure I would tell you so many things that cannot be said in this letter, but since now I cannot do so, I shall limit myself to ask for your prayers to give thanks to God and to prepare me better for the reception of SO GREAT and DIVINE a sacrament.”
What profound love Padre Pro had for the priesthood of Jesus Christ, which is so evident in the letter to his friend. It is also evident in what he said to those who were ordained with him, “At last we are priests, and that is everything.”
Padre Miguel Agustin Pro joyfully celebrated his first Mass. However, for a moment, when he saw the other newly ordained priests blessing their parents, his sensitive heart broke down. His parents were suffering persecution half way around the world; his mother was very sick, and his father was getting old. He wondered if God would ever grant them their hearts’ desire of seeing him say Mass.
There was another side of Padre Miguel Agustin Pro personality; the serious and sensible side. Yet, with his companions, he remained witty and full of mischief. He would be remembered for only two things: profound piety and contagious joy. Nothing about him gave the slightest hint of his future fame.
(Spot light off the Padre Pro in vestments...)
Scene 12: (Return to Mexico)
NARRATOR 2: Because of health problems due to stomach ulcers, Padre Miguel was sent home to Mexico where persecution of the faithful had become severe. Churches were looted and burned, the Blessed Sacrament profaned and statues smashed; clergy and religious were tortured and exiled or murdered. The rich were stripped of their property, and anyone who worked for the federal government found himself out of work and in danger. One of these was Senior Pro, who worked long and hard as an Agent of Mines for the federal government. The entire Pro family was in danger.
(Priests, nuns, and the faithful can be shown being pursued by soldiers with the Pro family as well.)
Soon after Padre Miguel arrived in 1927 the government issued and order suppressing all public worship. How were the faithful going to go to Mass? How were the faithful going to receive the holy sacraments? It’s difficult to even imagine the horror. Churches without the Holy Eucharist? Empty tabernacles? Pray that such an evil never be inflicted upon our land. Pray for vocations to the priesthood, lest we be deprived of the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist - food for our souls.
The new order of suppression in Mexico now opened the way for the arrest and persecution of ANY priest found by the police. Priests could no longer wear their priestly attire. Padre Miguel, would not let any dictator or unjust law prevent him from his priestly duties. Unknown as a priest to authorities, he ministered to the people of God SECRETLY.
(Enter Miguel Pro absolving a penitent from sin, etc. Show him perhaps serving the faithful undercover.)
Scene 13: (Undercover)
NARRATOR 1: Padre Miguel sometimes had to be clever to escape tight situations. An order was issued for his arrest and he had to go into strict hiding. He was a WANTED man so he adopted a number of disguises.
(Show Miguel as a Mechanic.)
During a narrow escape, he was barely fifty yards ahead of his pursuers. Seeing a passing girl, he linked arms with her and whispered, “Help me, I’m a priest.” The police search group passed by the “lovers” without a backward glance.
(Act out the above scene)
Scene 14: (Statue of Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Guadalupe)
NARRATOR 2: Prior to his work Padre Miguel endured courageous suffering of body. He had several operations on his stomach and endured intense physical pain. At times, any food he ate provoked an agony that felt like a blazing fire to him. Nevertheless, despite his pain, he joked about his health and told amusing stories.
(Spotlight on perhaps two statues: The Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Guadalupe. No one is in this scene.)
When Padre Miguel began his secret work of ministering to the people of Mexico as their priest, his health problems lessened miraculously. Deep devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary consoled him in such trying times and in his ministry among God’s People. With profound devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas Padre Miguel wrote: “O my Mother, you keep watch for us, wandering and exiled. You care for us... What does it matter that death takes away our existence... If in the midst of our pains, we feel your presence... I wish to stand at your side, most sorrowful Virgin, strengthening my spirit with your tears, consummating my sacrifice with your martyrdom.
Padre Miguel also wrote: “In the open heart of Jesus Christ one sees His heart burning with love for you, for me, for all men... One sees the Sacred Heart 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.”
Did Padre Miguel early on in his priesthood, know he was to embrace the cross of self-sacrifice, with arms out-stretched for the good of souls?
(Turn spot light of statues for the next scene...)
Scene 15: (Friend of Youth and Children)
(Depict Miguel with cassock and cape, instructing the children at his feet. He can give them holy cards. Then, show the young following him off stage at the end of the scene.)
NARRATOR 1: Padre Miguel Pro not only sought to serve the poor and persecuted of Mexico, but early on in his priesthood saw the great need to minister to children and the youth. Always fond of children, he enjoyed teaching then religion or catechism as it was called. His pupils were not well-educated, nor were their parents. But his knack of communicating with working people and his jovial, openheartedness, helped him to become a friend to many young people and their long-remembered teacher.
Padre Miguel was able to explain the most profound doctrines of faith to the youth. He used simple terms they could understand at once and plain examples their own experiences. The priest knew their names and won their confidence as an entertaining teacher and friend.
One of Padre Miguel’s tasks after ordination included teaching in a boy’s boarding school. Padre Miguel would often be seen running, shouting and jumping in the midst of the boys during their time of recess. Baseball, soccer, tag and games that he made up on the spur of the moment helped the boys forget their loneliness. There are always those who criticize. Some of Padre Miguel’s fellow teachers disapproved of his lively approach to teaching and familiarity with the young. Yet he did the best he could living with minor criticism, he counseled the young and by his example did much to inspire them and lead them t good habits. Like the Pied Piper, he attracted swarms of children and young people around him and led them all to Christ the King.
(Perhaps show Miguel playing games with youth, enjoying their company and then the young exit stage with him.)
...however, this is not to say that there were not times of disappointment for Padre Miguel. Seeing meager results from his constant labor among the young, there were occasions when Padre Miguel would experience discouragement and sleepless nights, such was his great love for all of them and how much he desired the salvation of their souls.
Scene 16: (Administering to the people in disguise)
(Enter Miguel Pro in disguise again.. perhaps a suit, sweater & tie.)
NARRATOR 2: Padre Miguel often used a bicycle to get around and administer the Sacrament, risking his life to see to the spiritual and physical needs of people...
(If possible, perhaps have Miguel enter on bicycle, bottom of stage. He stops and gives some food to the poor, absolves a penitent, etc.)
It is evident that Padre Miguel knew of the great dignity of the priesthood he shared with Christ which would ultimately lead him to share in the sacrifice of Christ’s passion and death. He wrote prior to his ordination: “Our Lord will concede to me the greatest and truly celestial powers to consecrate the most holy body of Christ, to open doors of heaven to poor sinners in confession, to regenerate through Baptism souls with original sin, and so many other powers that surpass all earthly and perishable honors in this valley of tears.” With these words of Padre Miguel’s before us, we see that he was truly an alter Christus, “another Christ” for his people.
(Show someone ask Padre Miguel the following question.)
When asked if he was afraid to administer the sacraments to the persecuted of Mexico, Padre Miguel responded, “Why should I be? I always carry arms.” Then he rummaged under his shirt and out he pulled a small crucifix attached to a silver chain. “These are my arms. With this I am afraid of nothing.”
(Padre Miguel shows his small crucifix to someone.)
God had special work for Miguel Agustin. He was an apostle to the sick, the outcasts, workers, the youth, and to the hunted.
Scene 17: (Padre Pro in Prayer)
(Show Miguel lie flat on the floor or kneeling, with arms outstretched.)
NARRATOR 1: To fulfill his mission among God’s people, Padre Miguel gained spiritual strength from the sacraments and a deep personal prayer life, especially from praying the Holy Rosary. He wrote of a prayer experience of his while visiting Lourdes, France: “With my arms outstretched in the form of a cross, I invoked the Blessed Virgin.”
Yet, Padre Miguel Pro also recognized how essential the prayers of others are and the unity the faithful share in prayer. He said, “I trust a great deal in the prayers of others because the more united we pray, the more easily shall we obtain from God that which we desire.”
Scene 18: (Works among God’s faithful without fear)
NARRATOR 2: Padre Miguel’s fame spread throughout Mexico. He was a priest of the people. Not only did he fearlessly administer the sacraments, he gave lectors to workers, served the poor and fed the hungry. He did all this in the midst of terrible persecution against the Church. Miguel attributed it all to the grace of God.
(Depict Padre Miguel talking to many people, absolving sinners, etc.)
Many priests out of fear of President Calles and his corrupt government abandoned their flocks in Mexico. Miguel stated: “Now, as you know, fear is not my predominant fault. I might die? What they do or what they might do to me - all that is in the hands of God. Would that I might be found worthy of suffering persecution for the holy name of Jesus.”
Padre Miguel also wrote of the prospect of his death saying: “The worse that they could do would be to kill me, but that will only happen when God’s good time arrives.
We can only hope and pray, that in our hour of trial, we will obtain the same grace to endure without fear as Padre Miguel did. As Padre Miguel put it so well, “God himself makes up for our deficiency.”
Scene 19: (Still among the people)
(Perhaps show Miguel seated and drawing or writing in a tablet...)
NARRATOR 1: Despite all the evil being afflicted on the Church of Christ, Padre Miguel remained zealous and did not lose his sense of humor. He was an ordinary man and priest. He spoke of secular matters with the young such as his like of fast cars, he wrote poetry and prayers and drew numerous cartoons.
(Then show Miguel get up and gather people, giving them directions...)
Padre Miguel also wrote of the great cooperation people shared with his work. He said: “The best part of all is that my sacred person does not have to stand in the limelight. I just pull the ropes and other generous people do the work.”
Scene 20: (The Pro Brothers)
(Enter the Pro brothers, the President, and soldiers.)
NARRATOR 2: Padre Miguel’s brothers, Humberto and Roberto were key members of the League for the Defense of Religious Liberty in Mexico. They released hundreds of religious pamphlets to the people of Mexico suffering persecution.
President Called was furious over the content of these papers which criticized his government for its persecution of the Church. He ordered the arrest of all the known active League members.
(Show an angry President Calles rounding up soldiers to pursue the Pro’s.)
Scene 21: (Explosion)
(Spot light on Padre Miguel writing a prayer in front of a statue of Our Lady.)
NARRATOR 1: Padre Miguel Pro’s last desire was for the restoration of Mexico to Christ the King. The desire he had long felt to give his life for Christ continued to grow intensely within him. In a beautiful prayer he wrote to Our Lady he said:
“What I really want in my life is the mocking and sneering of Calvary. I desire the slow agony of your Son, the contempt, the disgrace and the infamy of the cross... I want to consummate my sacrifice by your martyrdom.”
That prayer was written on November 13, 1927. Before the sun set behind the blue rim of mountains that surround beautiful Mexico City, his prayer was to be heard.
(Sound of a LOUD EXPLOSION GOES OFF...)
In a loud explosion of a bomb and the sharp rattle of gunfire about which Padre Miguel KNEW NOTHING and in which HE PLAYED NO PART, his destiny was sealed. His prayer was answered.
(Show panic on the stage with soldiers, Pro brothers, President Calles, etc. Miguel is still quiet in prayer, an innocent lamb of sacrifice.)
A bomb was thrown from a car at the newly elected president. This car had at one time belonged to Miguel’s brother. Therefore, Padre Miguel and his brothers were arrested.
(Show Miguel and his brothers taken away by soldiers of Mexico. Darkness on the whole set and dead silence for a few moments. Then, the narrator continues saying...)
A few days before Blessed Miguel Pro’s arrest, he had told the Mother Superior of a convent, “I offered my life for the saving of Mexico some time ago, Sister, and this morning at Mass I felt that God had accepted it.”
Scene 22: (Jail)
(Miguel and his brothers are seated on the floor in jail sleeping. A soldier wakes them...)
NARRATOR 2: Now, we find Padre Miguel in jail with his brothers. Padre Miguel’s cell was a damp, cold hole. The sun never entered there. A horrible smell reach it from the lavatories. There was poor ventilation and darkness.
Without a trial, the Pro brothers were ordered to be executed. They were to be shot, along with two other prisoners. The Pro brothers were not told they were to be executed. Awakened so rudely from sleep, the priest’s thought was to help Roberto and Humberto. “Be sorry for your sins,” Padre Miguel told them. “I am going to give you absolution.” He pronounced the formula and made the sign of the cross.
(Act out above scene.)
Padre Miguel then said, “Let us offer up our lives for God for religious liberty in Mexico. Let us make our offering together and may God accept it.” In the midst of imminent death, Padre Miguel remained resigned, patient and even happy. He spent his last night stretched on the floor.
(The soldiers take Padre Miguel out to be executed.)
Scene 23: (The Martyrdom of Blessed Miguel Pro)
NARRATOR 1: No court trial had taken place; no sentence had been passed. Reporters and photographers from the newspaper were invited to publicize the execution in an attempt to dissuade Catholics from their Faith. On the contrary, Padre Miguel’s death was so heroic that the photos taken produced the opposite effect. Therefore, it became a crime to possess the photos.
(Miguel is on the floor and awakens holding his head...)
November 23rd, 1927 dawned hazy and cold. Padre Miguel Pro awoke with a throbbing headache after his night on the cold, bare floor. At 9:30 a.m. the soldiers of the firing squad arrived. Photographers and reporters rushed around and persons invited to view the execution began to arrive.
(Act out the above.)
Padre Miguel was dressed in a tattered suit with a sweater and was badly in need of a shave after five days in prison. While led out to execution, a policeman responsible for Padre’s arrest asked his forgiveness with fear and trembling. He recognized Miguel Pro to be a holy man. Padre Miguel responded to the Policeman, “You have not only my forgiveness but my thanks.” He also softly told the members of the firing squad, “May God forgive you all.”
(Show the above interaction with the policeman and firing squad.)
Asked if he had a last request, thirty-six-year-old Miguel asked to be allowed to pray. He sank to his knees, made a slow sign of the cross and prayed fervently with bowed head and crossed arms. He kissed his crucifix. Then, he was ready.
(Narrator reads the execution slowly while it is acted out...)
NARRATOR 2: Padre Miguel stood up with his crucifix in one hand, a rosary in the other, turned to face the rifles and refused to be blindfolded. Slowly he raised his arms out at his sides until his body took the form of a cross. His lips moved in prayer, and he indicated he was ready. In a firm clear voice he said:
PADRE MIGUEL PRO: “Viva Cristo Rey! (Long Live Christ the King!).
NARRATOR 1: “Aim!” shouted the officer. “FIRE!”
(The sound of gun shots is heard.)
The firing squad hurled bullets at Blessed Miguel Pro. His arms fell slowly, and he fell to the ground like a tired child in his father’s arms. A doctor appeared at once and discovered the priest was still alive. A soldier ordered Padre Miguel to be killed with a rifle at point range.
(Pause as all pray in silence)
Humberto Pro as well was executed by firing squad on November the 23rd. Even to this day no one knows why Roberto’s life was spared.
Scene 24: (Burial Procession)
NARRATOR 2: Thousands of people filled the streets to watch the procession to the cemetery where Padre Miguel Pro’s body would be laid to rest. Priests came out of hiding to lead the prayers for burial and the funeral procession became a march of triumph for the martyred dead. Cheering could be heard and people came out without fear onto the balconies and threw flowers in the street as the coffins of the Pro brothers past by. It was really like a Corpus Christi procession.
(Show the entire cast come out. Have people throw flowers as a procession around the gym begins with all perhaps singing a song of praise. Or, crowd sound effect in background.)
NARRATOR 1: (All stop and gather around the body of Pro or an image of him.) In the years that followed, a constant stream of visitors came to the tomb of Father Miguel Agustin Pro. So many favors were attributed to his prayers to God. Meanwhile his fame continues to spread throughout the world.
Prior to his death, Padre Miguel had told a friend, “If I am caught, be prepared to ask for things when I am in Heaven.” He also jokingly promised to cheer up any long-faced saint he found in Heaven by performing a happy Mexican hat dance!
Padre Miguel Pro was hated and hunted by the secret police of Mexico. For this reason he was killed without a trial. That was many years ago, but he is not dead. He is with Christ the King for who he lived and died.
(Lights out for a moment of silence. Cast can come out for a bow and applause...)
THE END, or rather, the BEGINNING...
VIVA CRISTO REY!
This site is maintained by Ann Ball and Fr. Ray Bucko, S.J.
at Creighton University