For the Triumph of the Immaculate

u A Constituent Assembly opened in 1917 to give the
country a new constitution. It was evidently drawn up in
the revolutionary spirit of the hour. In the assembly debates,
the clergy was called abject, guardians of ignorance,
corruptor of morals, etc.
One of the constituents approved that churches be
burned, sanctuaries confiscated and even that a few
monks be hung. Another added: “If the ropes to hang the
tyrants are lacking, we will braid some out of the guts of
the priests.”
The new constitution resumed and intensified the
non-religious clauses of the preceding ones which had
not been strictly applied: compulsory lay education for all
and interdiction of cults outside of sanctuaries. It forbade
religious vows and communities. It deprived Mexican
citizenship to whoever did not accept this constitution.
Father Ledit remarks that the Mexican constitution of
1917 inspired the writers of the soviet constitution the following
year in Russia. This meant that Lenin’s Bolshevik
clan, while waiting for a chance to throw itself upon Russia,
a Russia sinking fast in military defeat and interior
collapse, were keeping abreast of
what some comrades of the same
type of demonism were accomplishing
in Mexico.
In 1920, a coup d’etat occurred:
General Alvaro Obregon had President
Carranza assassinated and
took his place. It was not the end
of the persecution, quite the opposite.
Obregon, an impious man
without scruples, had already distinguished
himself in that regard.
In 1912, he had desecrated a ca- Alvaro Obregon
thedral (in Guadalupe) using it as
quarters for his troops. As mayor of the city of Mexico in
1916, he had assembled all the priests, declared them
prisoners and subjected them to horrible treatment.
After becoming president of all Mexico, he governed
by applying the persecution clauses of the new constitution
with vigor. The red flag was raised on the steeple
of the cathedral of Morelia; an image of Our Lady was
slashed in the interior of a church that was ransacked,
while the police frightened away the Catholics who wanted
to hold a ceremony of reparation by firing gun shots in
the air. The bishop’s palaces of Guadalupe and Mexico
were bombed.
The Catholics were suffering because of this persecution
against their priests and the desecration of the
sanctuaries.
There is, however, one sanctuary that the government
did not dare touch, a church which it did not attempt to
close: the basilica of the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe. The
government was aware that if it touched the basilica, the
furor of the population would flare up, defying the police
and all of their strength. The people would defend the
Madonna, allowing themselves to be massacred rather
than to surrender.
It was a great thorn in the side of Masonry and of
their man in the presidency. In all evidence, the devotion
of the population for this splendid and rich basilica was
hanging on the presence of the miraculous picture, a gift
from the Virgin Mary herself. Its preservation throughout
these nearly four centuries was in itself a miracle.
The crowds continued to flow to the national sanctuary,
finding at the feet of their Madonna, a source of hope in
these years where hell seemed to triumph in their beloved
country.
The Masons did not cease to suggest to the persecutors:
“Get the venerated image out of the basilica and
you will soon see the fervour of the population for this
sanctuary fail; you will then be able to confiscate it with
its precious treasures.”
Easily said but how do you take an image out of a
busy church, an image that weighs close to a ton, due to
the rich frame of pure gold?
An anarchist named Luciano Perez was appointed
to undertake the task. He thought it would be sufficient
to plant a time bomb in the centre of a huge bouquet
of flowers and deposit the bouquet in a good place, destroying
the picture forever without taking it out of the
basilica. It would be a total victory!
The anarchist put his plan into execution on the
14 th (or 24 th ) of November, 1921. As the faithful always
brought an abundance of bouquets, often very large
ones, to Our Lady, it was not hard to place the bouquet
with the bomb close to the frame. The explosion took
place at the minute indicated: a tremendous explosion
drew a crowd of anxious Catholics towards the basilica.
What did they see as they entered? Fragments of
broken glass were scattered on the floor; pieces of the
marble altar sown in all directions; the heavy crucifix
surmounting the altar was lying, twisted, amongst other
debris. But raising their eyes towards the beloved and
venerated picture, they saw it in its ordinary place and
examining it closer, observed it had suffered no harm.
There was not even a crack in the glass of the frame.
The sorrow which had gripped the hearts of the
people at the sight of the damage was forgotten. Relief
prevailed and was expressed
in sincere prayers of gratitude. The
material havoc in the basilica could
be repaired but the destruction
of the celestial image, which was
beyond all human achievement,
would have been irreparable.
Plutarco Elias Calles
Hell, which hoped to triumph
over the devotion of the Mexicans
for their Virgin of Guadalupe,
served only to add a new miracle
to the history of the marvellous picture.
Even to martyrdom
In this same month of November 1921, the presidency
passed into the hands of Plutarco Elias Calles, who
28 MICHAEL August/September 2011 www.michaeljournal.org
had been designated by Obregon. The name of Calles
will remain in the religious history of Mexico, spurned as
that of Nero or Diocletian in the history of the Church
under the Roman emperors.
Born of a Jewish father and a Mexican mother, Calles
had been a school teacher. He had also participated in
the persecution of priests under the presidency of Obregon.
But he went much further than his predecessor.
He had sworn to destroy the Catholic Church in Mexico.
He put bishops in prison, uttered insults against the
Pope and declared himself the personal enemy of Christ.
“The Church has only one thing to do: disappear…
We must uproot from Mexican soil all outworn religious
ideas… We must undertake the terrible struggle against
the past, against all the things which we must cause to
disappear forever from the surface of the earth… The
government is determined to execute its program without
taking the slightest notice of the caretaker’s wincing
or the protests of the lazy monks. Three times in my life
I have met Christ on my path and three times I insulted
Him.”
The implementation of laws of June 24, 1926 added
even more severe interdictions to anti-religious laws
that had already been promulgated and punished the
infractions even more seriously. The religious cult came
to be forbidden not only in sanctuaries but even in private
homes. The various states of Mexico had to set a
limit to the number of priests allowed, according to the
population. In certain areas, not more than one priest
was allowed per 3,000 residents; elsewhere only one
per 5,000; still elsewhere only one per 30,000 or even
50,000! Holy water was forbidden. Images or statues
had to be placed high enough or enclosed in nooks, so
the faithful could not kiss them and many other absurd
regulations. A bishop from Tabasco received
the order to marry or to leave the
country; he left.
Because of the impossibility
of exercising their ministry, the
priests received the order from
their bishops, approved by Pope
Pius XI, to suspend the exercise
of the cult, beginning from July
31, 1926. The faithful rushed to
the churches to receive the sacraments
of Penance and the Eucharist
for the last time. Churches
were draped with black as a sign
of mourning. The tabernacles
were emptied and the doors remained
open.
Viva Cristo Rey!
Long Live Christ the King!
Lay people organized themselves to continue certain
religious practices in the churches without a priest:
prayers, hymns, rosaries, pious readings, and catechism.
The priests who continued their ministry in hiding did
so at their own risk. To be caught would mean prison
or even death. In Mexico, 10,000 police agents traveled
through the streets hunting recalcitrant priests.
By November 1, 1926, Calles was boasting before
Congress of having already closed 120 colleges and
42 Catholic churches, filling prisons with priests caught
celebrating Mass, and of having more than 500 priests
killed.
It was an era in which the Church in Mexico had to
go underground, martyrs were numerous. The bishops,
apart from a few who were able to hide, had to flee or
were deported.
Faced with this satanic outburst, Pope Pius XI was
consoled to learn about the heroic fidelity of thousands
of Mexican Catholics, who were made to choose between
apostasy and cruel chastisements, often even put
to death for their faith. The Pope wrote on November 18,
1926:
“It is impossible for us to delve into individual cases.
We insist in letting you know one thing, the members of
Catholic associations are so unafraid of suffering, that
instead of fleeing, they seek danger and rejoice when
they have to suffer ill treatments on the part of their adversaries.
It is a magnificent spectacle that is given to the
world, to angels and men! These are facts that are worthy
of eternal praise. Numerous are the Catholic leaders,
the women and young people who were arrested and
dragged by soldiers through streets, shut up in filthy prisons,
severely punished and chastised.
Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro
“Furthermore, some of these
young people and adolescents, and
tears come to our eyes as we report
this, voluntarily met death with
their rosary in hand, the invocation
of Christ the King on their lips. To our
virgins enclosed in prisons, the most
indignant outrages were done, and
this was made known in order to intimidate
others and make them fail in
their duty…”
One of the most famous martyrs
was Father Miguel Pro, a Jesuit
whose cause was introduced in Rome
to the Sacred Congregation of Rites in
1952. (Editor’s note: Fr. Pro was de- u
Prayer Execution Death Funeral