Manuel Pardo Requiescat in Pace

After 27 years on Death Row, Manuel Pardo was executed by the State of Florida on December 11, 2012, at 6PM EST, when the Governor of Florida and the Courts refused to grant a stay of execution. On the day before his execution, Manuel took the time to write me a farewell letter, which I print out here:

December 10, 2012

Dear Ken,

Hola Amigo, I hope this letter finds you in the best of health with your family. I am doing OK, Thank God and thanks for having been blessed with your friendship. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for me especially your precious friendship.

My daughter Lxxxx and godson were here today and we had a nice visit but as always it’s rough to see them cry and not be able to hug & kiss them. At least tomorrow after the first two hours when I have my last meal (I asked for Spanish food) they will give me a one hour of contact visit from 10AM-11AM when I’ll be able to kiss and hug my daughter, sister, godson, nephews, etc. So thank God I will be able to have closure with them. Then they bring me back to the cell then at 4PM take me to another cell by the Execution Chamber, and at 6PM send me to God’s Eternal Kingdom. I’ve made my peace with God, have him in my heart, and pray hard to protect Mxxx and give her strength to carry on and have a long, healthy, happy life!

I want to thank you again my brother in Christ for all you have done for me especially your precious friendship. Please keep in touch with Brother Dale [Recinella, author of Now I Walk on Death Row]. He will be with me tomorrow at the end for spiritual support. God bless you always tu Amigo Siempre,

Manuel

God bless you always, Ken! Thank you!

Desert Prison Ministry thanks you for your prayers of support for Manuel. I continue to need your support for my work with men in prisons. I will now need to drive to another prison in Tennessee. Needs: money for books, stamps, gas money, clerical supplies, and money for monthly allowances to prisoners in need. Blessings for each of you for what you do! Benedicite!

ST NICHOLAS FEAST DAY & PRISONERS

Dear Manuel, amigo, camerado, In the Eastern Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches, the Feast of Saint Nicholas is a big day. One of the parishioners dresses up as Nicholas would have appeared, in a Bishop’s hat and long beard, and passes out candy and fruit to the children. We know that Nicholas was, indeed, a holy man famed for miracles and kindness, and that he was chosen as bishop for his home town of Myra, near the sea, in what is now Turkey. We also know that under the brutal persecution by the Emperor Diocletian he was tortured and imprisoned for his adherence to the faith. When Diocletian died and Constantine became Emperor, one of Nicholas’s famous miracles was appearing in a dream to Constantine and pleading for three prisoners condemned to die. The next day, Constantine freed the three prisoners and sent them to Bishop Nicholas with a request that Nicholas pray for the peace of the world. More churches have been dedicated to Saint Nicholas than any other saint, four hundred of them in England alone. He is the patron saint of prisoners and captives and many miracle of his intervention on their behalf have been recorded. Saint Nicholas, I ask you to come to the aid of Manuel, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and bring him peace of heart and mind. St. Nicholas, pray for Manuel and for all prisoners on death row in America! Manuel, again, I don’t know if this has time to reach you, but again, please know that many are praying for you. In Christ Our Savior, Ken