Christ the King
by VP
Posted on Sunday October 29, 2023 at 01:00AM in Documents
Prayer
to Christ the King
O
CHRIST, JESUS, I acknowledge Thee as Universal King.
For Thee all creatures
have been made. Do Thou exercise
over
me all the rights that Thou hast.
Renew my Baptismal Vows,
I renounce Satan,
with all his works and
pomps, and I promise to live as a
good
Catholic: Especially, do I pledge myself, by all
the
means in my power, to bring about the triumph of the
rights
of God and of Thy Church.
Divine
Heart of Jesus, I offer Thee all my poor actions to obtain
that all hearts may
recognize Thy Sacred Royalty, and that thus the
reign of Thy Peace may be established throughout the entire world.
Amen.
"With the Pontifical Encyclical Quas primas which was authoritatively forecast by several articles in the REVIEW during the past year, our High Priest, bearing the triple crown, explicitly asserts the threefold power of the Son of God who came to bring peace to all men of good will on earth. The full text of this important and inspiring document has been published and translated in official and in popular organs of the press, so as to make its message everywhere known.
What needs to be emphasized, however, is that its chief purpose is not merely to state the position and teachings of the Catholic Church through Christ's supreme living Apostle, but rather to rouse into action the leaders of nations and the heads of families so that they may know how justly to direct and safeguard their loyal subjects and set about to do it amidst the lawlessness, confusion of principles, and false doctrines which pervade the social and political world of to-day. The Catholic Father of Christendom raises his voice to remind the children of earth, whose eternal interests are committed to his care, that Christ Jesus in becoming man for our salvation meant to inaugurate definite and permanent incentives to action as well to create definite convictions by His teachings. Hence after reminding us that Christ is the universal Lawgiver of mankind by divine right, Pius XI points out that the Incarnation had for its chief end the establishing of an earthly executive organ, such as the Church, by which His law should be perpetuated among succeeding generations and its beneficent effects should be illustrated in the administrative and judiciary spheres of life. And in order that we may bear this fact constantly in mind the Sovereign Pontiff proclaims the Feast of JESUS CHRIST THE KING to be celebrated henceforth in all Catholic Churches throughout the world as a perpetual memorial of hope, even as Christmas and Easter have become annual reminders of faith and gratitude for millions who hearing the Name of Christ rejoice in His beneficent graces.
Accordingly the Catholic Church hereafter will celebrate in the annual Feast of Christ the King a day of Memorial, of Thanksgiving, and of Independence from the slavery of sin and hatred which has with increasing violence encompassed the nations and their homes.
On the last Sunday in October, countless numbers of faithful Christians will kneel before the altar, while their priests, from the rising to the setting of the sun in every land, offer unbloody sacrifice, whereby Christ is immolated anew, and wherein we, united in His name, beseech the Eternal Father to send down His grace for the destruction of sin and the subjugation of men to the sweet yoke of their lawful heavenly and earthly King, Jesus Christ. All during that month the Catholic faithful are in the habit of pouring forth their devotion to God through the Mother of Christ, in the daily recitation of the Rosary. With the eve of the feast the Spouse of Christ inaugurates a series of significant prayers and hymns in the office "De Festo D. N. Jesu Christi Regis". The feast, which in the liturgy of the Church ranks as a Double of the First Class, has its own antiphons and lessons, in which the wondrous manifestations of Christ's Kingship are described as foretold and illustrated by the Messianic prophets." (American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 74 edited by Herman Joseph Heuser)
16. Christ as our Redeemer purchased the Church at the price of his own blood; as priest he offered himself, and continues to offer himself as a victim for our sins. Is it not evident, then, that his kingly dignity partakes in a manner of both these offices?
19. When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.
31. When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power.(...)
32. Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education.
33. (...) He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection.
Source: Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on the Feast of Christ the King: Quas Primas
Consecration of mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Form of Consecration Issued with the Encyclical Letter of His Holiness, Leo XIII, dated May 25, 1899.
Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us, humbly prostrate before Thy altar. We are Thine and Thine we wish to be; but to be more surely united with Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself to-day to Thy most sacred Heart. Many, indeed, have never known Thee; many, too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to their Father's house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd. Be Thou King also of all those who sit in the ancient superstition of the Gentiles, and refuse not Thou to deliver them out of darkness into the light and kingdom of God. Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor forever.
Amen.
Source: My Prayer Book; Happiness in Goodness: Reflections, Counsels, Prayers and Devotions By Rev. Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance
