We were up for an early breakfast
and departure on the bus by 07:30, headed out of Mexico City entirely toward
San Miguel del Milagro, about two hours to the east in the state of Tlaxcala.
We could feel our ears popping as we left the huge bowl in the midst of the
mountains in which is Mexico City – I think Roberto might have said at one
point that we topped out at about 10,000 feet above sea level. And that was
going through a pass between Monte
Tlaloc to the north and two mountains to our south that had all our attention.
It was a beautiful, albeit hazy, day, perfect for viewing Popocatepetl (“The
Smoking Mountain”) and Iztaccihuatl (“The White Woman,” also called La Mujer Dormida, “The Sleeping Woman,”
because from a certain aspect it looks like a sleeping woman). Both of the
mountains, respectively the second and third highest in Mexico, are volcanoes;
Iztaccihuatl is dormant, but Popocatepetl is very active. We slowly rounded
them to the north, and were graced with seeing Popocatepetl belch out several
clouds of steam.
We were able to sleep in about a
half-hour later, getting to breakfast about 07:00 then to the bus for an 08:00
departure. We went directly to the Church of Sagrada Familia, just having time along the way for Morning Prayer. This Church
of the Holy Family contains the shrine and relics of Padre Miguel Augustin Pro,
a priest-martyr of the Mexican government’s brutal persecution of the Church in
the 1920s which gave birth to the Cristeros
rebellion (more later) [LINK].
In secret, Padre Pro went around celebrating the Sacraments when they were
forbidden by the government, but was eventually captured and executed on trumped-up charges without
even the benefit of a trial. His execution was filmed pour discouragement les autres (Okay, I know it’s French, but that
paraphrase of Napoleon’s famous statement is what came to mind) and gives us
the iconic shot of him standing cruciform, a crucifix in one hand and a Rosary
in the other, before the firing squad. He was beatified in 1988 – and so is
properly “Blessed Miguel Pro”
although common parlance tends to retain the simpler “Padre Pro” – and I am
certain he will be canonized one day. Incidentally, the effect of the
government’s attempted use of his public, recorded execution was exactly the
opposite of what they desired.
It was a beautiful, albeit hazy, day, perfect for viewing Popocatepetl (“The
Smoking Mountain”) and Iztaccihuatl (“The White Woman,” also called La Mujer Dormida, “The Sleeping Woman,”
because from a certain aspect it looks like a sleeping woman). Both of the
mountains, respectively the second and third highest in Mexico, are volcanoes;
Iztaccihuatl is dormant, but Popocatepetl is very active. We slowly rounded
them to the north, and were graced with seeing Popocatepetl belch out several
clouds of steam. 
