Martyrdom of Blessed Miguel Pro - November 23, 1927

November 23 is the anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Miguel Pro. Following is the Wikipedia entry on Pro's arrest and execution:

An assassination attempt by bombing against Álvaro Obregón (which only wounded the ex-president) in November 1927 provided the state with a pretext to capture Pro and his brothers Humberto and Roberto. A young engineer who was involved and confessed his part in the assassination testified the Pro brothers were not involved. Miguel and his brothers were taken to the Detective Inspector's Office in Mexico City.

On November 23, 1927, Fr. Pro was executed without trial. President Calles gave orders to have Pro executed under the pretext of the assassination, but in reality for defying the virtual outlawing of Catholicism.[5] Calles had the execution meticulously photographed, and the newspapers throughout the country carried them on the front page the following day. Presumably, Calles thought that the sight of the pictures would frighten the Cristero rebels who were fighting against his troops, particularly in the state of Jalisco. However, they had the opposite effect.

Fr. Pro and his brothers were visited by Generals Roberto Cruz and Palomera Lopez around 11 p.m. on November 22, 1927. The next day, as Fr. Pro walked from his cell to the courtyard and the firing squad, he blessed the soldiers, knelt and briefly prayed quietly. Declining a blindfold, he faced his executioners with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ and shouted out, "May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies!" Before the firing squad were ordered to shoot, Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ and shouted the defiant cry of the Cristeros, "Viva Cristo Rey!" -"Long live Christ the King!". When the initial shots of the firing squad failed to kill him, a soldier shot him point blank.

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Pro

The heart of the problem...

As long as the Republican Party is run by people that don't believe in the platform and who aren't willing to articulate and fight for the beliefs of the base, then conservatives can expect defeat after defeat. It's time to demand new leadership.

The definition of insanity...

...is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

If the Republican Party isn't going to be a home for conservatives anymore, we're going to need a new party.

Feast of Pope Saint Leo the Great

"The envoys had been well chosen to satisfy that punctilious pride which insisted that only men of the highest dignity among the Romans should be sent to treat with the Lord of Scythia and Germany (Attila). Avienus, who had, two years before, worn the robes of consul, was on of the ambassadors. Trigetius, who had wielded the power of prefect and who, seventeen years before, had been dispatched upon a similar mission to Gaiseric the Vandal, was another. But it was not upon these men, but upon their greater colleague that the eyes of all the barbarian warriors and statesmen were fixed. Leo, Bishop of Rome, had come on behalf of his flock, to sue for peace from the idolater....We cannot withhold a tribute of admiration from the high temper of this Roman Bishop, who in the ever-deepening degradation of his country still despaired not, but had the courage and endurance to work for a far-distant future...The barbarian king had all material power in his hand....The Pontiff had no power but in the world of intellect...Leo's success as an ambassador was complete." [Hodgkin: Italy and Her Invaders, Vol. II, 1880]

Lukewarm Catholics

"All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics." ~Pope Saint Pius V

Hard to argue with this following the result of the 2012 election with pro-abortion zealot Barack Obama getting somewhere north of 52% of the “Catholic” vote.  Disgraceful.