CAPG's Blog 

"It was by the labours of these two great apostles, that the Church of Christ was principally established. Pray for this Church, that the Holy Spirit may abide with it for ever, to lead it into all truth; that its faith may be propagated amongst unbelievers, and that the whole world may be united in one belief, and become one flock, under Jesus Christ their invisible head.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Rocky Mount NC

Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help for the Church and the Supreme Pontiff

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, O sweet protector of Christians, when the enemies of your divine Son were attacking the Church most violently you appeared in Rome as the protective star of the Holy See. Therefore, with as much faith as trust, I place myself at your feet to beg you to defend and protect the holy spouse of Jesus Christ. Show yourself the all-powerful Mother of the Church in these days when she is still threatened by a daring impiety.

Protect the sacred person of the Supreme Pontiff, inspire Christians with the veneration due to the Vicar of Jesus Christ, with submission to his voice, with the love the Father of all the faithful deserves. O Mary, see the bitterness with which his heart is filled, the ineradicable sufferings which make him the visible image of your divine crucified Son. And if, for the glory of God, his martyrdom must be prolonged, console him by increasing the number of faithful Christians, by raising up for your Church apostles and defenders of his rights. Do not allow iniquity to prevail. Strengthen in Rome the charity of St. Peter and bind hearts strongly in Catholic unity. Amen

O Mother of Perpetual Help! Protect the Sovereign Pontiff, defend the Holy Church and strengthen the faith of the faithful.

Translated from the French: Pour l'Eglise et le Souverain Pontiffe (Our Lady of Perpetual Help: According to St. Alphonsus Liguori complete manual of prayer. Rev. Dunoyer)

Sainte Jeanne d'Arc, Brittany

Prayer to St. Joan of Arc
Lord, You wondrously raised up St. Joan, the Virgin, to defend the Faith and her country. Through her intercession grant that the Church may overcome the snares of her enemies and enjoy unbroken peace. Amen.

"What a spectacle," says Father Ayroles "to see this unlettered girl of nineteen years, weakened by the torments of her prison, defending herself unaided against an army of men, who were reputed to be depositories of human and divine knowledge, banded together to drag from her some incriminating word!"

What a shocking scandal for the gentle, pious peasant maiden from fair Domremy! It was an evil time; a time of schismatics and anti-popes, when king and nobles intrude into highest ecclesiastical positions their illegitimate sons or unworthy favorites. Relaxation of discipline was notorious, and all the excesses of the next century, the sixteenth, naturally followed."

Some of the Sanhedrin:

With Bishop Cauchon we are already acquainted. He had no more right to judge Joan than had the Khan of Tartary. He appointed himself; and whatever authority was lacking was conferred, in intent at least, by the university of Paris and the king of England. Neither had he any ecclesiastical jurisdiction. That Joan was taken prisoner at Compiegne was no more a reason for Cauchon to judge her anywhere, and least of all out of his diocese, than which the University of Paris had for the judging the Pope. "Fecit, tamen", as St. Augustine says of Pontius Pilate: "They did it, nevertheless."

The unworthy bishop's superior: the Archbishop of Rheims, had approved as of heavenly origin what Bishop Cauchon condemns as meriting death by fire. The cathedral chapter of Rouen had no more right to hand over Joan for trial to Cauchon, her deadly enemy, that had the child unborn. There was scarcely a form, or aspect of justice, that he did not violate, no matter what other false Frenchmen may have later said. Let them read the list of illegalities - there is no difficulty in finding them. And it is an unvarnished falsehood to say that the procedure of the French Inquisition was the same as that of the Sanhedrin of Rouen.

Thomas Courcelles was especially chosen by Cauchon. He was one of the six doctors sent by the University of Paris to examine the Maid. All through the trial he was very exact in his task, and very well paid in the sum of one hundred and thirteen livres. Courcelles was one of the few in favor of subjecting Joan to torture. M. Quicherat calls him, and truly enough, "the father of Gallican liberties"; for probably no one dictated more articles than he in the schismatical council of Basle. He was the foe of Pope Eugene IV, and supporter of the anti-pope Felix V.

Erar, another of the doctors, preached at Joan in the cemetery at Rouen a discourse of extreme and unworthy violence. He was one of those who brutally tried to force Joan to sign a lying retraction. He had been rector of the University of Paris; and, like his brethren, was as anti-papal as he was anti-French.

Nicolas Midi, another of the Paris envoys, the last to preach at Joan before her execution, is supposed to have been the author - and calumniator - of the famous, or infamous XII Articles, sent from Rouen to Paris as a summary of the trial, and in which the defense is mutilated, or omitted.

Estivet, the prosecutor, canon of Beauvais, whence he was driven with Cauchon, was, of all this group, the lowest. His language resembled that of the English soldiers to Joan at Orleans.

The clergy of Rouen had been won over by the Duke of Bedfort, who showed them many favors. On October 23rd, 1430, when the price of the Maid was being handed over, he was admitted into the body of canons of the Cathedral of Rouen. The religious orders, especially the Benedictines were very numerous. We find them, unfortunately, cutting an evil figure in the trial of Joan. Gilles Duremort, abbot of Fecamp, and member of the English royal council, received the sum of one thousand livres for his share in the iniquitous transaction. He was an intimate friend of Bishop Cauchon, and was afterwards made bishop of Coutances. He did not reside in his monastery but in his fine palace at Rouen; as did his fellow-religious like character, Nicolad Lerous, abbot of Jumieges, and Pierre Miget, prior of Longueville.
Several Englishmen took part in the Process especially at decisive points. Of these was William Hayton, a bachelor in theology, secretary of the king and member of the royal council, who voted for Joan's death.

"In the name of the Lord, amen." Cauchon declares her a heretic, and cuts her off from the Church as a rotten member, and hands her over to the civil power.
(...) Joan denied that she was a heretic or schismatic; and she maintained the truth or her revelations to the last. Bishop de Mailly withdrew, in order not to see her die.
The executioner told of the cruel binding to the stake on the plaster platform, which was so high that the flames hardly reached it; and this moved the rough man to much pity for Joan. She knelt, and with tears begged pardon of all, and uttered her forgiveness for those who were guilty of her death. She prayed much - for half an hour, it is said - with indescribable devotion. Of the priests she begged Masses for the repose of her soul. (...) Then as the fire rose up, she bade the priest to go down from the platform, and begged him to hold up the crucifix straight before her eyes until she died.

(...) The English were growing harshly impatient for Joan's death and their own dinner. As Massieu was consoling her in her last agony, some of their captains cried out, "Priest, do you mean to have us dine here?" Some of them laughed at the death scene; but many of them also wept. As the flames ascended, Joan never ceased to call aloud to "her Lord" and her Saints. At last, as she bowed her head, and yielded up her pure souls to God, the sacred name of Jesus, uttered in a loud voice, was the last word on her lips.

Source: St. Joan of Arc: The Life-story of the Maid of Orleans By Rev. Fr.  Denis Lynch, S.J. 1919

El Greco, Pentecost

"Our Lord says: "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He send forth laborers into His harvest." (Matt. 9.38). Remember that a priest is the salvation or the perdition of his flock. In the Old Testament we read that when other scourges were of no avail to turn the people, hardened in sin, from their evil ways, God sent upon them the heaviest scourge of all, wicked and corrupt priests. Let us therefore make it our continual prayer, that we may have good priests. The Ember days are appointed for this purpose. Special prayer should be offered to the Holy Ghost, for unless a priest is enlightened by the Holy Spirit we may apply to him the words: "If the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit." (Matt. 15.14)." The Catechism Explained: An exhaustive Exposition of the Christian Religion by F.r Francis Spirago 1899

Novena:

"Jesus, Good Shepherd, You sent us the Holy Spirit to guide Your Church and lead her faithful to You through the ministry of Your priests. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, grant to Your priests wisdom in leading, faithfulness in teaching, and holiness in guarding Your sacred Mysteries.
As they cry out with all the faithful, "Abba, Father!" may Your priests be ever more closely identified with You in Your divine Sonship and offer their own lives with You, the one saving Victim. Make them helpful brothers of one another, and understanding fathers of all Your people. On this Pentecost Sunday, renew in Your priests deeper faith, greater trust in You, childlike reliance on our Mother Mary, and unwavering fidelity to the Holy Father and his bishops.

Holy Mary, intercede for your priests.
St. Joseph, protect them.
St. Michael, defend them.
St. John Vianney, pray for them.
Amen."
(approved by Bishop Daniel Jenky, CSC)

• "Pope Leo XIII, May 9, 1897, decreed that a novena to the Holy Ghost should be made every year in preparation for the feast of Pentecost. (...) During this novena no particular form of prayer is of obligation. Any prayer to the Holy Ghost will suffice. (Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on the Holy Spirit:  Divinum Illud Munus)

Novena to the Holy Ghost in Preparation for the Feast of Pentecost: The novena of the Holy Spirit is the chief of all the novenas, because it was the first that was ever celebrated, and that by the holy apostles and the most Holy Mary in the supper room, being distinguished by so many remarkable wonders and gifts; principally by the gift of the same Holy Spirit, a gift merited for us by the passion of Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus Himself made this known to us when He said to His disciples that if He did not die He could not send us the Holy Ghost: "If I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you" (John xvi. 7). We know well by faith that the Holy Ghost is the love that the Father and the Eternal Word bear one to the other; and therefore the gift of love which the Lord infuses into our souls, and which is the greatest of all gifts, is particularly attributed to the Holy Ghost. As St. Paul says, "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us (Rom. v. 5). In this novena, therefore, we must consider, above all, the great value of divine love, in order that we may desire to obtain it, and endeavor, by devout exercises, and especially by prayer, to be made partakers of it, since God has promised it to him who asks for it with humility: Your Father from heaven will give the good Spirit to them that ask Him" (Luke xi. 13).

Prayer to the Holy Spirit for the Church: "O Holy Spirit, our Creator, come to the aid of Thy Holy Church, and strengthen and confirm it by Thy supreme power against the incursions of its enemies; and by Thy love and grace renew the spirit of Thy servants whom Thou hast anointed, so that they may glorify in Thee the Father and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”—(Indulg. 100 days. Resc. Aug. 26, 1889.)

Short Prayer to the Holy Ghost : Holy Spirit, Spirit of truth, come into our hearts; give to all peoples the brightness of Thy light, that they may be well-pleasing to Thee in unity of faith. (Indulgence of 100 days, once a day. Leo XIII, July 31, 1897.)

Source: My Prayer Book; Happiness in Goodness: Reflections, Counsels, Prayers and Devotions By Francis Xavier Lasance

Gracious God, on this Memorial Day weekend,
we remember and give thanks
for those who have given their lives
in the service of our country.
When the need was greatest,
they stepped forward and did their duty
to defend the freedoms that we enjoy,
and to win the same for others.

O God, you yourself have taught us
that no love is greater than that
which gives itself for another.
These honored dead gave the most precious gift they had,
life itself,
for loved ones and neighbors,
for comrades and country – and for us.

Help us to honor their memory
by caring for the family members
they have left behind,
by ensuring that their wounded comrades
are properly cared for,
by being watchful caretakers of the freedoms
for which they gave their lives,
and by demanding that no other young men and women
follow them to a soldier’s grave
unless the reason is worthy and the cause is just.

Holy One, help us to remember that freedom is not free.
There are times when its cost is, indeed, dear.
Never let us forget those who paid so terrible a price
to ensure that freedom would be our legacy.
Though their names may fade with the passing of generations,
may we never forget what they have done.
Help us to be worthy of their sacrifice,
O God, help us to be worthy.

Source: Memorial Day Prayer

Remember, O most loving Heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom You prayed so earnestly the night before Your death. These are they to whom You look to continue with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, who share Your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to Your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord.

Remember, O Heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the worldʼs hatred and Satanʼs deadliest snares. Keep them then, 0 Jesus, in the safe citadel of Your Sacred Heart and there let them be sanctified in truth.

May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in You and love You. Amen.

Source: CAPG

Temptation of Jesus in desert. By William Hole 1908

"Almighty God! I unite myself at the beginning of this holy season of penance with the Church militant, endeavoring to make these days of real sorrow for my sins and crucifixion of the sensual man. O Lord Jesus! in union with Thy fasting and passion, I offer Thee my fasting in obedience to the Church, for Thy honor, and in thanksgiving for the many favors I have received, in satisfaction for my sins and the sins of others, and that I may receive the grace to avoid such and such a sin, N. N. and to practice such and such a virtue, N. N."

Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's The Church's Year

Our Lady of Lourdes, France

Be thou blessed, O most pure Virgin, who didst deign to appear in the grotto of Lourdes as many as eighteen times, resplendent with light, sweetness, and beauty, and to say to the humble and simple child who contemplated thee in ecstasy, " I am the Immaculate Conception!" be thou blessed for the extraordinary favors which thou dost unceasingly scatter around this place.

By thy maternal heart, O Mary, and by the glory which the holy Church has rendered thee, we conjure thee to pray for the Sovereign Pontiff and for Father [ name ] and to realize the hopes of peace which the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception excited in the breasts of the faithful. Amen.

Source: St. Josephʼs Manual ( Rev. James Fitton, 1877)

Father Price's Daily Prayer

O Mother Immaculate, Patron of America, who, through little Bernadette, bade us pray and work for the conversion of the countless souls now perishing. I offer all the prayers, actions, and sufferings of this day and every day of my life for their conversion, and I beg of thee to bless my resolution to do what I can throughout my life to bring about their salvation.

St. Bernadette, Pray for Father Price.

Imprimatur: Most Rev. Vincent S. Waters, D.D. May 2 1949

February: Month of the Holy Family

Virtue: Humility

Holy Family, Saint Joseph Catholic Church Raleigh NC ©CAPG

A prayer to the Holy Family for the fulfillment of our Christian duties.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace to love our Holy Church as we ought above all earthly things, and to show our love for it always and with the evidence of deeds.
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace to profess, as we ought, openly, with courage and without human respect, the faith we received as a gift with holy baptism
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace to co-operate in the defense and propagation of the faith, as we ought, in the manner proper to us, by means of our words, our substance, and even the sacrifice of life itself
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace to bring our life, as we ought, into perfect conformity with the precepts of the law of God and of the church, that so we may always live by the charity of which they are the expression. Amen.

The New Raccolta 1903 Pope Leo XIII, May 17, 1890

Saint Paul, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh NC. 

  Prayer to Saint Paul: O Glorious Saint Paul, after persecuting the Church you became by God's grace its most zealous Apostle. To carry the knowledge of Jesus, our divine Savior, to the uttermost parts of the earth you joyfully endured prison, scourgings, stonings, and shipwreck, as well as all manner of persecutions culminating in the shedding of the last drop of your blood for our Lord Jesus Christ.

May your example inspire our parish priests today to be zealous in their service to God's people. Obtain for our priests the grace to labor strenuously to bring the faith to others and to accept any trials and tribulations that may come their way. Help them to be inspired by your Epistles and to partake of your indomitable love for Jesus, so that after they have finished their course they may join you in praising him in heaven for all eternity. Amen.

Prayer:

•    Ant. That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou has sent me.
      ℣. I say to thee, that thou art Peter,
      ℟. And upon this rock I will build my Church.
      Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles: peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe unto Her that peace and unity which is agreeable to Thy will: Who livest and reignest God forever and ever. Amen.

"O Persecutor of the Church of God,
Who when converted valiantly wrought
In Missionary labors for the Lord,
Preaching the Cross which our salvation bought:
Assist the missionaries - thou the first -
To gain the conquest of the world for Christ.

Then praise we God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Holy Spirit - Three in One,
That one in him and one together we
In unity may praise the Trinity
Till all the ransomed fall before His Throne
And give all glory to our God alone. Amen"

Source: Catholic Hymns for the People, James Martin Raker 1919

"On this glorious feast of the Apostle our minds think of God's grace as it fairly flung Saul to the ground on his way to Damascus, and of its effect upon him and upon the entire Church. Miracles are unusual; they are not the ordinary way. But the unmistakable lesson is here: God's grace can overcome the proud intellect and the stubborn will, but someone must pray. In the case of St. Paul perhaps Our Lady was praying for him; surely she was praying for the good of the Church when the voice from the clouds spoke to the stricken man: "Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou Me?"

When we consider the millions of souls who have absolutely no contact with Christianity, even in its most distorted forms, who do not know the mercy of Christ or the Mother-love of Mary, we are appalled by the difficulty of converting them. But in words adapted from the votive Mass of the Propagation of the Faith, we must pray: "O Mother of God, who willest that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, send, we beseech thee, laborers to the the harvest of thy Son; grant them to speak the truth with all confidence, that the message of God may spread and be made known and that all people may know thee and thy Son.." Missioners in foreign lands report the devotion of many non-Catholic people to Our Lady. It is not a Catholic veneration, of course, but it is genuine and sincere. Perhaps in the Providence of God this respect for Our Lady will be the bridge whereby millions will enter the Church of Christ. At the boundaries of Nepal in India three thousand Hindus and Moslems joined three hundred Catholics to honor the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as four elephants carried the statue to the church for the Rosary and Benediction. At Rojkot, with practically no Catholics, unbelieving ministers of the state and other officials came to venerate the statue. The mayor of Nadiad read a speech of welcome and declared how proud he was to be present. For twelve hours crowds passed through the church, crowds that were mostly non- Christian. As one old Indian expressed it: "She has shown us that your religion is sincere; it is not like ours. Your religion is a religion of love; ours is one of fear." (Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, The world's First Love pp193)

The passing of the Pilgrim Statue was like a triumphant march. At Patna, the Brahman governor visited the Catholic Church and prayer before the statue. In the tiny village of Kesra Mec more than twenty-five thousand people came to view the statue and the Rajah sent 250 rupees and his wife a petition of prayers. In other parts of India, and in Africa too, Moslems crowded the churches to render homage to the Mother of God. Moslemism has, in fact, many references to Mary. In the Koran there are several mention so Mary, the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Nativity. Angels are shown accompanying the Virgin and saying: "Oh Mary, God has chosen you and purified you and elected you above all the women of the earth." It is said too that the Moslems believe in the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth.

Many other instances might be cited which seem to indicate the "The Age of Mary" of which Grignion de Montfort spoke has begun. Surely the increased societies and works in her honor, the new theological studies, the emphasis given to her role in the economy of salvation and sanctification lead one to believe that this era has been initiated. St. Grignion spoke of the glorification of Mary in these terms:

"Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might, and in grace in these latter times; in mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive the poor strayed sinners who shall be converted and shall return to the Catholic Church; in might, against the enemies of God...who shall rise in terrible revolt against God to seduce all who shall be contrary to them, and to make them fall by promises and threats; and finally she must shine forth in grace, in order to animate and sustain the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ who shall battle for His interests. (True Devotion pp33)"

Source: Father Titius Crannis, S.A. The American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 130, Herman Joseph Heuser Catholic University of America Press, 1954