CAPG's Blog 

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