Altar Dedicated to Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J.
Bishop Raymond L. Burke of the Diocese of La Crosse (Wisconsin) placed the relics of Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J. in the altar at the Mater Redemptoris Convent and House of Formation, when the house and chapel were formally blessed and the altar dedicated on August 22, 2000.
The new house will provide a place for high school aged girls to discern if they are called to the consecrated life. The director, Sister M. Stephania Newell, OSF, says "Our purpose here is to help young women learn about the religious life and to help them discern whether it's God's will for them to devote their lives in this way. We help them discern this particularly in our life of prayers, that is, through the Divine Office and daily Mass; but also by eating with us in community. And we pray together, evening prayer, and provide time for recreation as well as spiritual formation through classes on the different kinds of prayer and devotions." Sister Newell is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George whose U.S. headquarters is in Alton, Ill. Bishop Burke invited them to the diocese to run the new program which is unique in the country.
During the homily (read the entire homily), Bishop Burke said, "The relic of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, professed religious, priest and martyr, will be placed in the base of the altar. In perfect imitation of Christ, Father Pro offered His life for love of God and the Church, on November 23, 1927, on this continent in the country of Mexico. He was executed for continuing to celebrate Mass, to hear confessions and to teach the faith, when the civil authorities forbade him to do so. His crime was his total consecration to God and His People, his consecration in Christ. In following the royal road of Christ with fidelity "to the end" he looked to the Blessed Virgin Mary for inspiration and help, especially under the title of her apparition on our continent in 1531, the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She led him to offer his life for Christ and his brothers and sisters in Christ."
The Bishop continued, "Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro had indeed chosen and followed faithfully the royal road to which our Blessed Mother directed him, the royal road of Christ the King by which he laid down his life for his brothers and sisters. Surely, he with the Virgin of Guadalupe, will be a strong and wonderful example and intercessor for the Sisters and young women who come here to do God's will by following Christ on the royal road of the Cross. Because we are truly united with Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacrifice of the Mass, we, like Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro are called to become altars of sacrifice with Him, to give our lives completely out of love of God and of our neighbor. Like our Lord Jesus Christ we are called to offer our life as a pure and holy sacrifice. It is indeed our identification of self with the altar which calls forth daily the very best we have to offer, which enables us to go beyond our self-centered and sinful tendencies in order to offer ourselves each day as a sincere gift of love to God and to our neighbor.
This site is maintained by Lawrence LeLeux and Fr. Ray Bucko, S.J.
at Creighton University