At nightfall at a Tijuana state penitentiary, a protest is breaking out. Prisoners, mistreated and forgotten, grow increasingly violent, until the protest is a full-scale riot. Police spill onto the scene immediately. A SWAT team soon follows. None of them can quell the inmates’ anger.
But there is one person for whom the rioting prisoners drop their weapons. She is the only one allowed to come through the front gates, to cross the stark line between prison insiders and outsiders. Just her presence has a stunning effect on the men’s demeanors – she immediately softens their fury.
They call her Mother Antonia. She is their prison angel.
The Prison Angel is the true story of Mary Clarke, a woman born into the glamorous privilege of Beverly Hills, and yet most at home living with the inmates at La Mesa Penitentiary. Written by Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, The Prison Angel maps out her response to God’s call and her ministry to those who needed it most.
Mary’s road to prison ministry was extraordinary. She grew up with a heart for charity. In adulthood, while she was primarily a housewife, she was known for her prolific donations to needy communities. But her first encounter with prison ministry wasn’t until she was in her forties. By then, she had been twice married and divorced with seven children, and worked full-time running her late father’s company. A friend, a Tijuana priest, heard about her work for the poor and brought her to La Mesa to donate clothes.
The impression made by that visit to La Mesa was inescapable; she couldn’t forget the miserable conditions and the corrupt culture of violence. Mary regularly visited La Mesa for a few years, but soon realized, “I had been an outsider to suffering my whole life” It would take far more than just visiting to become an insider.
Soon after, Mary had a vivid dream: “she was a prisoner about to be executed, and Christ came to take her place” It was the answer she had needed. So she donned a homemade habit, wrote her own vows, and became Mother Antonia on her own terms (her age and divorcée status disqualified her from joining an order).
She moved into a tiny cell at La Mesa, sparsely outfitted, and immediately started her passionate service.She became known as the voice of the incarcerated, helping them with basic needs, getting them necessary medication, and putting a stop to pervasive injustices. Petty thieves and drug lords alike were deeply affected by Mother Antonia’s message of God’s truth and grace. She condemned their crimes, yet she sincerely loved them all. And she is still working at La Mesa today: in 1997, she formed her own order, the Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour, which was formally accepted by the Catholic Church.
When people who love the Lord draw close to prisoners, hope grows, and lives turn around in amazing ways. Mother Antonia’s Christ-rooted love is a reminder that God can use anyone for any need. It is He alone who can change a heart. To read this incredible true story, you can find The Prison Angel on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble. And to start spreading the hope of Christ to prisoners, there are many opportunities to get involved now, through churches and through Prison Fellowship.