Thanksgiving Day [USA]

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A Bidding Prayer 

 GOOD Christian People, I bid your prayers for Christ’s holy Catholic Church, the blessed company of all faithful people; that it may please God to confirm and strengthen it in purity of faith, in holiness of life, and in perfectness of love, and to restore to it the witness of visible unity; and more especially for that branch of the same planted by God in this land, whereof we are members; that in all things it may work according to God’s will, serve him faithfully, and worship him acceptably.

Ye shall pray for the President of these United States, and for the Governor of this State, and for all that are in authority; that all, and every one of them, may serve truly in their several callings to the glory of God, and the edifying and well-governing of the people, remembering the account they shall be called upon to give at the last great day.

Ye shall also pray for the ministers of God’s Holy Word and Sacraments; for Bishops (and herein more especially for the Bishop of this Diocese), that they may minister faithfully and wisely the discipline of Christ; likewise for all Priests and Deacons (and herein more especially for the Clergy here residing), that they may shine as lights in the world, and in all things may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

And ye shall pray for a due supply of persons fitted to serve God in the Ministry and in the State; and to that end, as well as for the good education of all the youth of this land, ye shall pray for all schools, colleges, and seminaries of sound and godly learning, and for all whose hands are open for their maintenance; that whatsoever tends to the advancement of true religion and useful learning may for ever flourish and abound.

Ye shall pray for all the people of these United States, that they may live in the true faith and fear of God, and in brotherly charity one towards another.

Ye shall pray also for all who travel by land or sea; for all prisoners and captives; for all who are in sickness or in sorrow; for all who have fallen into grievous sin; for all who, through temptation, ignorance, helplessness, grief, trouble, dread, or the near approach of death, especially need our prayers.

Ye shall also praise God for rain and sunshine; for the fruits of the earth; for the products of all honest industry; and for all his good gifts, temporal and spiritual, to us and to all men.

Finally, ye shall yield unto God most high praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all his saints, who have been the choice vessels of his grace and the lights of the world in their several generations; and pray unto God, that we may have grace to direct our lives after their good examples; that, this life ended, we may be made partakers with them of the glorious resurrection, and the life everlasting.

And now, brethren, summing up all our petitions, and all our thanksgivings, in the words which Christ hath taught us, we make bold to say,

OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

from The Book of Common Prayer 1928 USA

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We Gather Together

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Tennessee Ernie Ford and the San Quentin Prison Chorus

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New Fukushima Earthquake Woes: 7.4 (Japanese Measurement)

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Jesus, we trust in Thee.
Our Lady of Akita, pray for us.

7.4 Earthquake after revision.... depth of 25 kilometres.

The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/21/japan-earthquake-73-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-fukushima/

YahooNews: https://www.yahoo.com/news/7-3-magnitude-quake-hits-japan-fukushima-residents-212232100.html

RT: https://www.rt.com/news/367714-fukushima-reactor-cooling-earthquake/

Our Lady of Akita, Japan

Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa, pray for us.

Lord of all compassion:

We pray for all of those caught up in the midst of tragedy or disaster.

For those who have lost life and those working to save life,

For those who are worried for people they love,

For those who will see their loved ones no longer,

Lord, have mercy.

For those in need of the peace that passes all understanding,

For all who turn to you in the midst of turmoil,

For those who cry out to you in fear and in love,

Lord, have mercy.

For those in confusion and those in despair,

For those whose tears are yet to dry,

For those in need of your unending love,

Lord, have mercy.

Amen.

Adapted from the Diocese of Lincoln, 

Church of England

Our Lady of Akita, pray for us.

Christ the King of Poland

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It is very moving to read that the Catholic bishops of Poland in the presence of the President of Poland formally recognised the Lord Jesus Christ as King of Poland.  

Chrystus Królem Polski

Jezu ufam Tobie.

Prayer of Saint Edmund the Martyr

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Into Thy hands, O Lord, and into the hands of Thy holy Angels, I commit and entrust this day my soul, my relations, my benefactors, my friends and enemies, and all Thy Catholic people. Keep us, O Lord, through the day, by the merits and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all Thy Saints, from all vicious and unruly desires, from all sins and temptations of the devil, and from sudden and unprovided death and the pains of hell. Illuminate my heart with the grace of Thy Holy Spirit; grant that I may ever be obedient to Thy commandments; suffer me not to be separated from Thee, O God, who livest and reignest with God the Father and the same Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

St. Edmund
The Raccolta
1957

That we may be delivered from every sling and arrow,

St. Edmund, pray for us.

Earthquakes and the need for our prayer

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We need to pray for divine protection for central Italy especially the ancient city of St. Benedict, Norcia.  Great tectonic movements are causing our world to shake violently and shift unexpectedly.  

From today through the remainder of this week, I feel the risk is great that Italy will experience more severe earthquake activity and at the very least there will continue to be tremors related to the previous quakes.  Please pray for God's mercy for the region.

It is a great tragedy that all of the churches in Norcia have been destroyed.  May God bless and be with the monks of St. Benedict who are living in tents and caring for those who have not evacuated from the area.

Obviously with the terrible quake in New Zealand, we need to implore the Divine Mercy to calm the tremblous earth beneath our feet.  May the Peace of Christ touch the Earth and calm the hearts of men and the world herself.


Note: A reader has notified me of special concern for the western coast of Oregon in the United States, and so I ask you include this area in your prayers to the Lord. May God's peace abide with us all.

UPDATE:  Our world remains greatly unsettled, but it would appear that Our Gracious Lord has granted us mercy and grace not to see the worst of earthquakes materialise.  But now that the Jubilee of Mercy has closed, may I suggest we take up the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary and redouble our preparations for the return of her Son the Just Judge of the living and dead.

A Prayer of Blessed Miguel Pro

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The following was written by Blessed Fr. Miguel Pro, SJ shortly before his execution:

Does our life become from day to day more painful, more oppressive, more replete with afflictions? Blessed be He a thousand times who desires it so. If life be harder, love makes it also stronger, and only this love, grounded on suffering, can carry the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. 

Love without egotism, without relying on self, but enkindling in the depth of the heart an ardent thirst to love and suffer for all those around us: a thirst that neither misfortune nor contempt can extinguish... 

I believe, O Lord; but strengthen my faith... 

Heart of Jesus, I love Thee; but increase my love. Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee; but give greater vigour to my confidence. 

Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but so enclose it in Thee that it may never be separated from Thee. 

Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine; but take care of my promise so that I may be able to put it in practice even unto the complete sacrifice of my life.

A Prayer of St. Isidore of Seville

Here we are before thee, O Holy Ghost.
We feel the burden of our infirmities,
but we are united all together in Thy name:
come to us, help us, enter into our hearts:
teach us what we should do,
the path to follow,
do for us what Thou askest us to do.
Be the only one to propose and guide our decisions,
because only Thou, with the Father and the Son,
hast a name that is glorious and holy.
Do not allow us to offend justice,
Thou, who lovest order and peace,
Let not ignorance lead us astray,
Let not human sympathy bias us,
Do not let people or office influence us.
Keep us intimately close to Thee
with the gift of Thy Grace,
so that we may be only one thing with Thee,
and nothing may separate us from the Truth.
Gathered in Thy Holy Name,
may we be good and firm,
so that all we do may be in one accord with Thee,
awaiting that the faithful fulfillment of our duty
may lead us to the eternal good. Amen.

Novena for the USA's Nov. 8th Election

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Most Holy Trinity: Our Father in Heaven, who chose Mary as the fairest of your daughters; Holy Spirit, who chose Mary as your Spouse; God the Son, who chose Mary as your Mother, in union with Mary we adore your majesty and acknowledge your supreme, eternal dominion and authority.

Most Holy Trinity, we put the United States of America into the hands of Mary Immaculate in order that she may present the country to you. Through her we wish to thank you for the great resources of this land and for the freedom which has been its heritage.

Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on the Catholic Church in America. Grant us peace. Have mercy on our president and on all the officers of our government. Grant us a fruitful economy, born of justice and charity. Have mercy on capital and industry and labor. Protect the family life of the nation. Guard the precious gift of many religious vocations. Through the intercession of our Mother, have mercy on the sick, the tempted, sinners – on all who are in need.

Mary, Immaculate Virgin, our Mother, Patroness of our land, we praise you and honor you and give ourselves to you. Protect us from every harm. Pray for us,that acting always according to your will and the will of your divine Son, we may live and die pleasing to God. Amen.

O Mary, the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the United States, pray for us.

Mother Angelica on Voting

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Our Lady of America, pray for us.

By thy Holy and Immaculate Conception, 

Oh Mary, deliver us from evil.

There are two items on the internet highlighting the teaching on voting of Mother Angelica: 

 Lifesite News 

  EWTN on Facebook 

Mother Angelica, pray for us.

An Hymn of Saint Michael the Archangel

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1. Holy Michael, great Archangel,

Nerve thine arm and bare thy sword,

Lead us with thy dazzling legions,

In the battle for the Lord:

Sure defence and trusty safeguard,

Let thy mighty strength afford.

2. Not with flesh and blood we wrestle,

Not as man with man contend,

But against the powers of darkness,

Who on craft and lies depend:

Treachery and shame and violence,

All the cause of Hell befriend.

3. Through God’s threefold fair creation,

Through the earth, the sea, the sky,

Wander Satan’s loathly spirits,

Luring souls of men to die:

Cast them down, O Prince of Angels,

By the power of God Most High.

4. All who pouring out their life blood,

More than conquer in the fight,

All who in th’ unequal combat,

Fall beneath the oppressor’s might:

Christ the King’s great Standard-Bearer,

Lead into the Holy Light!

The English Catholic Hymn Book
W. Knott  & Sons, 1955
Revised and Augmented ed.
Tune: Regent Square

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

"The Prayer of the Body"

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An Excerpt from the Chapter "The Prayer of the Body"

Before Christ died he literally gave us his sacramental body in his own hands. Day after day he is born in the consecrated hands of the priest ; in a man's hands he is lifted up and offers himself to the Father. It is fitting, then, that so often our offering of self through the body must be made literally with our hands.

Caryll Houselander

What an expression of himself a man's hands are. When he comes to die, what a story his hands tell. They have taken on the shape and colour and texture of his work. They are the story of his life. When Madame Curie lay dead, the most beautiful testimonial to her life's work was in her hands lying simply on the coverlet, scarred with burns of radium.

Long before Christ gave us his body in his own hands they were hardened by toil, beautiful with the line and muscle and sinew of the hands of an artisan, and hollowed out by the wooden mallet to cup the chalice and hold the nail. But in the consummation of his self-giving, these hands which had given   in so many ways were helpless, fastened back, immovable, to a plank.

At that moment his body was broken, the heart was broken, the flesh and blood separated. Every day the suffering of the Lord's body is shown in the breaking of the bread.

Sooner or later, our prayer of the body too becomes the helpless hands, the falling away of self, the breaking of the bread.  Sickness, old age, death ; these must come, and when they come it seems that our service is ended. There is exhaustion which makes it first an effort, then an impossibility, to lift the hand up to make the sign of the cross; no more liturgical acts in daily life, gestures and symbols that worship God and give Christ's love to men.

Everything falls away from us, even memories— even the weariness of self. This is the breaking of the bread, the supreme moment in the prayer of the body, the end of the liturgy of our mortal lives, when we are broken for and in the communion of Christ's love to the whole world.

But it is not the end of the prayer of the body. To that there is no end. Our dust pays homage to God, until the endless morning of resurrection wakens our body, glorified.

Caryll Houselander

The Risen Christ

Sheed and Ward, New York

1958

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Sheen: A Lesson in Political Power

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As I have considered the many signs of brutal bigotry in the emails of Hillary Clinton campgain officials especially the bigotry revealed against serious Catholics together with John Podesta's plan to create fake "Catholic" organisations as part of a plan to foment revolution within the Catholic Church, I have longed for the clear voice of the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen.  We no longer have his faithful voice, nor do we have the voice of Mother Angelica who would have told us exactly what a Catholic's duty was in such an election.  But we do have the record of Bishop Sheen's teachings, videos, audio recordings, and his remarkable books.

In the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen's 1947 work "Characters of the Passion", the Servant of God wrote about politics with a striking insight that is still true today.  This is as close as we can come to having Bishop Sheen speak to our day and situation.  The following quotes are taken from the third chapter entitled "Pilate: A Lesson in Political Power":

“Those who have their finger on the pulse of contemporary civilization have probably noted that there are two contradictory charges against religions today. The first is that religion is not political enough; the other is that religion is too political. On the one hand, the Church is blamed for being too divine, and on the other, for not being divine enough. It is hated because it is too heavenly and hated because it is too earthly.”

“Because [Christ] was too religious, He was not political enough. The religious judges said that He had no concern for the fact that the Romans were their masters, and that they might take away their country (John 11:47-48). By talking about a spiritual kingdom, a higher moral law, and His divinity, and by becoming the leader of a spiritual crusade, He was accused of being indifferent to the needs of the people and nation’s well being”

“And so throughout history, these two contradictory charges have been leveled against the Person of Christ in His Body the Church. His Church was accused of not being political enough when it condemned Nazism and Fascism; it is accused of being too political when it condemns Communism. It is the second charge that needs specific consideration, namely, that the Church is interfering in politics. Is this true? It all depends upon what you mean by politics. If by interference in politics is meant using influence to favor a particular regime, party, or system that respects the basic God–given rights and freedom of persons, the answer is emphatically No!

“The Church does not interfere in politics. If by interference in politics is meant judging or condemning a philosophy of life that makes the party or state, or the class, or the race, the source of all rights, and that usurps the soul and enthrones party over conscience and denies those basic rights for which the war was fought, then answer is emphatically Yes!

 “The Church does judge such a philosophy. But when it does this, it is not interfering with politics, for such politics is no longer politics but theology. When a state sets itself up as absolute as God, when it claims sovereignty over the soul, when it destroys freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, then the state has ceased to be political and has begun to be a counter-Church.”

“It was Jesus Christ who suffered under Pontius Pilate; it was not Pontius Pilate who suffered under Jesus Christ. The grave danger today is not religion in politics but politics in religion.”

“But whatever be the reason for these trying days, of this we may be certain: The Christ Who suffered under Pontius Pilate signed Pilate’s death warrant; it was not Pilate who signed Christ’s. Christ’s Church will be attacked, scorned, and ridiculed, but it will never be destroyed….

“The bold fact the enemies of God must face is that modern civilization has conquered the world, but in doing so has lost its soul. And in losing its soul it will lose the very world it gained.

“Even our own so-called liberal culture in the United States, which has tried to avoid complete secularization by leaving little zones of individual freedom, is in danger of forgetting that these zones were preserved only because religion was in their soul. And as religion fades so will freedom, for only where the spirit of God is, is there liberty.”

Abby Martin on John Podesta

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There have been many bizarre revelations about John Podesta through the Clinton/Podesta Wikileaks release of emails.  It would be easy to be carried away with the strange, but there is enough serious information to consider about this man who has been so influential and powerful in the administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and in the campaign of Hillary Clinton.  

The following video comes from Abby Martin, and I post it here because I know of no journalist in the mainstream news media who is covering these issues with John Podesta:

Eva Ugalde Miserere

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Eva Ugalde: Miserere

Cor de Noies de l'Orfeó Català 

Directora Buia Reixach i pianista Josep Surinyac

Concert a Hondarribia el 2009 amb Javier Busto de director

Our Lady of America, pray for us.

Friday Prayers of Christians

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O Holy Spirit, giver of light and life, impart to us thoughts better than our own thoughts, and prayers better than our own prayers, and powers better than our own powers, that we may spend and be spent in the ways of love and goodness, after the perfect image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Eric Milner-White and G W Briggs, Daily Prayer (1941)

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray thee to set thy passion, cross, and death, between thy judgement and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living, pardon and rest to the dead, to thy holy Church peace and concord, and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

O God, the King of Saints, we praise and magnify thy Holy Name for all thy servants who have finished their course in thy faith and fear; for the Blessèd Virgin Mary; for the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs; and for all other thy righteous servants, known to us and unknown; and we beseech thee that, encouraged by their examples, aided by their prayers, and strengthened by their fellowship, we also may be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light; through the Merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

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Enid Chadwick: All Saints & All Souls

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O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray thee to set thy passion, cross, and death, between thy judgement and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living, pardon and rest to the dead, to thy holy Church peace and concord, and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Mother Angelica on Voting

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Our Lady of America, pray for us.

There are two items on the internet highlighting the teaching on voting of Mother Angelica: 

 Lifesite News 

  EWTN on Facebook 

Mother Angelica, pray for us.

Napolitano: "What if the People had no rights"

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Judge Andrew Napolitano's speech that allegedly got him fired from Fox.  He speaks the truth.  

Our Lady of America, pray for us.

Secrecy & Censorship: A Speech by President Kennedy

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In the post-9/11 world that is the USA, it is worth recalling the following speech from the late U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

Our Lady of America, pray for us.

Prof Hudson: Clinton, Trump, and US Elections

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Professor Michael Hudson discusses Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, the US Elections, Russia, and Money:


I present his discussion here because no one in the USA will ever hear his voice or see his image on the mainstream news stations and networks.

Please click here for the Novena for the US Election.

Our Lady of America, pray for us.