Novena for Priests to St. John Vianney Day 6
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 31, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Model of Purity O holy Priest of Ars, your life was a
model of purity. Your life of
chastity was a source of edification to all. You said that when a soul
is pure all the court of heaven looks upon it with great joy. Today we
are experiencing a great disregard for the virtue of purity; it is
looked upon with ridicule by worldly standards.
O great St. John Vianney, more than ever before, we need your prayers
and help in avoiding sins
of impurity. I ask you to help Father ___ to keep pure in mind and in
body and give good example in his speech, conduct and in his faith.
Obtain for him the strength necessary to combat
temptations against the virtue of purity, which could lead him away from
God. Unite your prayers with
those of Mary Immaculate to implore God that Father ___ be pure in mind
and heart and preserve him from those sins which are so displeasing to
God.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served
Him faithfully as
His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired
but persevered in your faith
until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that
surround Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him serenity
in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John Vianney, I
have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
Novena for Priests to St. John Vianney Day 5
by VP
Posted on Wednesday July 30, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Lover of Sinners O holy Priest of Ars, you spent many
long hours daily in the
confessional. People came to you for forgiveness of their sins from
far-off places. Although you despised sin, you always received the
sinner with much love and forgiveness.
O holy confessor of the
Lord, St. John Vianney, awaken in Father ___ a sense of his sinfulness
before the eyes of God. By your Priestly example, grant him a love of
the reception of the Sacrament of Penance. Obtain for him the
understanding that it is in confessing his sins that Godʼs mercy is
poured out upon him and he draws closer to Christ. Obtain for him a deep
hatred of sin and the grace to resist temptation. Teach him the value
of frequent confession, where he meets Jesus, our Savior, the source
of all mercy and consolation. Contrite and forgiven may all those with
whom he comes in contact act with that same mercy. Pray that Father ___
always love the Sacrament of Penance. Pray that he may call sinners to
repentance with his good example and lives in complete service to our
Lord.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served
Him faithfully as
His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired
but persevered in your faith
until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that
surround Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him serenity
in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John Vianney, I
have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
Novena for Priests to St. John Vianney Day 4
by VP
Posted on Tuesday July 29, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Greatly Devoted to Our Blessed Mother O holy Priest of
Ars, your life was
consecrated to the Blessed Mother. You prayed earnestly to her,
entrusting your Priesthood to her care. You begged all the faithful to
pray the rosary, the favorite prayer of Mary, our Mother. You summed up
the reason for your great love of our Lady by saying: We have only to
turn to the Blessed Mother to be heard. Her heart is all love.
O
great John Vianney, I ask you with all my heart through the merits of
Jesus and the intercession of Mary, the Virgin Mother to make Father
___ʼs life patterned after that of our heavenly Mother, full of love for
God and his neighbor. Obtain for him a deeper love for our Lady and a
filial confidence in her. She is the person to whom he can turn in times
of distress when lonely or upset or in times of temptation. Inspire
Father ___ to consecrate his life to his Mother in heaven. May he know
the powerful protection of Maryʼs Mantle all the days of his life.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served
Him faithfully as
His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired
but persevered in your faith
until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that
surround Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him serenity
in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John Vianney, I
have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
Novena for Priests to St. John Vianney Day 3
by VP
Posted on Monday July 28, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Adorer of the Blessed Sacrament holy Priest of Ars,
you had such an overwhelming
love for Christ in the Blessed Sacrament that you prayed for hours in
His presence. You said that when our Lord sees them coming eagerly to
visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament, He smiles upon them. They come with
that simplicity which pleases Him so much. O Saint of the Eucharist, may
your example enkindle in Father ___ a deeper love for Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament. By your prayers, never let him doubt Christʼs Real
Presence, but obtain for him a firm faith rooted in the Eucharist. Help
him not to be afraid to defend or preach Christʼs Real Presence in the
Blessed Sacrament. Obtain for him the grace to approach our Lord with
simplicity of heart as he lays his soulʼs innermost thoughts before
Jesusʼ Sacred Heart. Keep Father ___ under your continual protection,
that he may be supported by your example and assistance and be
faithfully devoted to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. May his life
reflect the belief of our Lordʼs abiding presence with us. O St. John
Vianney, by the power of your intercession, give us Priests devoted to
the holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served
Him faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven.
You never despaired but persevered in your faith until
you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that surround
Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him
serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John
Vianney, I have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
St. Pantaleon, Martyr, A.D. 303.
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 27, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
"He was physician to the Emperor Galerius Maximianus ; who being converted to the Christian faith, extended his profession to the care of souls as well as of bodies. He fell, however, by a temptation, which is sometimes more dangerous than the fiercest torment; for bad example, if not shunned, insensibly weakens, and at length destroys the strongest virtue. Pantaleon in the midst of an impious and idolatrous court, and deceived by often hearing the false maxims of the world applauded, was unhappily seduced into an apostacy from the faith. But a zealous Christian called Hermolaus, by his prudent admonitions, awakened his conscience to a sense of his guilt, and brought him again into the fold of the Church. The penitent ardently wished to expiate his crime by martyrdom; and to prepare himself for the conflict, when the cruel persecution of Dioclesian broke out at Nicomedia in 303, he distributed all his possessions among the poor. Not long after this action, he was taken up, and after suffering many torments with wonderful constancy, he was at length beheaded under Dioclesian, in the year 303.
Pray for all in persecution and trouble; and beseech God to give you patience in all your trials. What are your trials if compared to those of the martyrs? Why then are you so easily disturbed? Lament your weakness, and beg for strength. Humble yourself, and pray for divine grace. Learn too, that all states are capable of doing good to their neighbour, in helping him into the way of salvation. Be zealous and charitable in this, as far as your circumstances will permit. How often have you given scandal to others by words; and by your bad example discouraged them from seeking the truth? What other reparation can you make, than by edifying them by your zeal, and by seasonable discourses exciting them to the love of virtue and truth?" The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick."
Prayer to St. Pantaleon for the sick and afflicted (priests): O fortunate penitent! sighing to prove your perfect contrition and love by the heroic shedding of your heart's blood for Him whom your sins had crucified! O happy martyr! I offer my heartfelt thanks to God for the great favors bestowed upon you, and upon all who lovingly drink the chalice of the Lord, and bear His Cross. I now humble come before you to invoke your special prayers on my behalf, and on behalf of those for whom I have been inspired to pray. Oh! prove to us now that the prayers of us, poor exiles, are not despised in the blessed mansions above. As all good Samaritans invoke your aid and blessing, look compassionately on me, and on those sufferers for whom I invoke your aid. O obtain the grant of our humble petitions, and ask them for us in the sacred Name of Jesus. N.N.We likewise invoke your patronage for the spiritual physicians of all erring and afflicted souls, and for all those whom Providence has called to the vocation of the "Good Samaritan". As for the poor "patients", who now undergo the ordeal of spiritual, corporal, or mental infirmities, I earnestly ask relief or perfect cure, and whatever will be most conducive towards securing their eternal salvation, and a higher degree of glory for them in Heaven. If it be God's blessed Will that their trials continues, obtain for them a great spirit of prayer, interior penance, patience, longanimity, and holy joy in embracing every pain, privation, or humiliation that may befall them, for the pure love of Jesus Crucified; and though not actually martyrs for their holy faith and religion, pray, O illustrious penitent, that they may be the happy martyrs of Divine Love by their perfect meekness and conformity to the Will of their heavenly Father, who chastises them in mercy by the penalties for sin, of sickness, desolation, and death. Amen
Source: The Fervent Adorer, Or, Practice of Perpetual Adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 1867
Novena for Priests to St. John Vianney Day 2
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 27, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Full of Zeal for Souls O holy Priest of Ars, you
taught men to pray daily: O my God,
come to me, so that You may dwell in me and I may dwell in You. Your
life was the very living out of
this prayer. The divine life of grace abided in you. Your zeal for the
salvation of souls was manifested
by your total self-surrender to God, which was expressed in your
selfless service to others. You gave of yourself unreservedly in the
confessional, at the altar, in the classroom, in fact, in every action
you performed.
O great St. John Vianney, obtain for Father ___
the realization that God also dwells in him when he is free of sin.
Remind him that the salvation of his soul is the fulfillment of his
existence. Awaken in him a sense of self-giving for the salvation of
souls. Obtain for Father ___ , by your intercession, a zeal for souls
like your zeal. May he see that God dwells in him and in his fellow men.
Obtain for him from our Lord the grace to lead all men to salvation.
Let your prayer be his: If you really love God, you will greatly desire
to see Him loved by all the world.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served
Him faithfully as
His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired
but persevered in your faith
until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that
surround Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him serenity
in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John Vianney, I
have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
Novena for Priests to the Cure d'Ars Day 1
by VP
Posted on Saturday July 26, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh NC
St.
John Vianney, Who Accepted the Cross, O holy priest of Ars, as a young
seminarian you encountered many obstacles on the road to the Priesthood,
but you realized that to suffer was to suffer with Christ on Calvary,
and so, if following our Lord meant taking up His cross, you lovingly
embraced it. Your motto in life became loving while suffering and
suffering in order to love. You did not get discouraged, but your strong
faith united you closer to Jesus every day of your life.
Oh great St. John Vianney, you know what is needed for Father ___ʼs
salvation: a strong faith able to accept the will of God in all things.
To serve Christ, he too must take up his cross and follow Him. By your
prayers, obtain for him a heart full of courage and strength. Obtain for
Father ___ that same courage and strength to follow Jesus
wholeheartedly even if it means following Him to Calvary.
Intercede for him before the Lord that he may do the will of God, obey
the commandments, and loyally love the Church, the Bride of Christ.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you
loved God and served Him faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face
to face in heaven. You never despaired but persevered in your faith
until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that
surround Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him
serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John
Vianney, I have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
Source: Cure d'Ars Prayer Group
Saint Maria Goretti
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 06, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
"Venerable brethren and beloved children. Through a loving design of Divine Providence the supreme exaltation of a humble daughter of the people has been celebrated in this shining eventide with a Solemnity unequaled and in a form up to now unique in the annals of the Church.
It has been celebrated In the vastness and majesty of this place of mystery, become a sacred temple towards which is turned the firmament which chants the glories of the Most High—a temple desired by you rather than provided by Us and filled with an unnumbered amount of faithful such as other canonizations have never seen. Above all, it is a temple almost, as it were, required by the dazzling brilliance and intoxicating fragrance of this lily cloaked in purple whom We this moment with intimate joy have inscribed in the album of Saints: the tiny and sweet martyr of purity, Maria Goretti.
Why have you come in such huge numbers, beloved children, to her glorification? Why have you been softened even to tears at hearing or reading the account of her short life so like a Gospel story for its simplicity of line, the color of its environment, the very flashing violence of its death? Why has Maria Goretti so quickly captured your hearts even to becoming their darling and their favorite?
There is then in this world, apparently turned upside down and immersed in hedonism, not just a thin rank of settled elect of Heaven and the pure air, but a throng, immense multitudes on whom the supernatural perfume of Christian purity exerts an irresistible and promising fascination: promising yes, and reassuring. If it is true that in the martyrdom of Maria Goretti purity shone forth above all; nevertheless in and with it other Christian virtues also triumphed. In her purity there was the most elementary and significant affirmation of perfect mastery by the spiritual over the material. In her supreme heroism, which is not improvised, there was a tender, docile love, obedient and active, towards parents. There was sacrifice in harsh daily labor, poverty accepted in a Gospel manner and sustained by Faith in a celestial providence. There was religion intently embraced and its understanding always more desired, made ever more the treasure of life and nourished by the flame of prayer. There was a burning desire for the Eucharistic Jesus, and finally, there was the crown of charity, the heroic pardon granted to her murderer. All this made up the garland of country flowers, rustic but so dear to God, which adorned the white veil of her First Communion and shortly afterwards, that of her martyrdom.
Thus this sacred ceremony develops spontaneously into a popular assembly for purity. In the light of every martyrdom there is always a bitter contrast, the stain of some iniquity. Behind that of Maria Goretti is a scandal which at the beginning of this century seemed unheard-of. At a distance of almost 50 years, amidst the often insufficient reaction of those who are good, the conspiracy of immorality—availing itself of books, illustrations, the theater, radio programs, fashions, resorts and associations — attempts to undermine in the bosom of society and the family those who are the natural custodians of virtue, to the harm principally of those in their tenderest childhood.
Oh young people, beloved boys and girls, apples of the eyes of Jesus and of Our own — speak out! Are you resolved firmly to resist any attempt whatever that others may dare to make against your purity?
And you, fathers and mothers, in the sight of this multitude, before the image of this adolescent virgin who with her spotless purity has stolen your hearts, in the presence of her mother who having educated her to martyrdom and while living in its harrowing wake does not mourn her death and who now kneels overcome to pray to her —speak! Are you ready to assume the solemn pledge of watching over your sons and daughters, so far as in you lies, in order to preserve and defend them against such great dangers as surround them and to keep them ever away from places that prepare the way for impiety and moral perversion?
And now, oh all you who hear Us, lift up your hearts. Above the foul marshes and mud of the world there stretches a heaven of beauty. It is the heaven which drew little Maria, the heaven to which she wished to rise by the only way that leads to it: Religion, love of Christ, heroic observance of His commandments.
Hail, oh sweet and lovable Saint! Martyr on earth and angel in heaven, from your glory turn your gaze on this throng that loves you, venerates you, glorifies and exalts you. On your brow you wear clear and shining the victorious name of Christ. On your virgin countenance is the strength of love, the constancy of fidelity to your Divine Spouse. You are the spouse of blood through tracing upon yourself His image.
To you, powerful with the Lamb of God, we entrust these Our sons and daughters here present and all others spiritually united with Us. They admire your heroism but even more they wish to be your imitators in fervor of faith and incorruptible stainlessness of morals. To you fathers and mothers run that you may help them with their training mission. In you through Our hands all childhood and youth find refuge that they may be protected from every contamination and enter upon the path of life in the serenity and joy of the pure of heart. Amen."
May we preserve without stain our white baptismal robe of innocence. May we who have lost this innocence kneel humbly in Holy Penance, and with the absolution of the priest, may the torrent of Christ's precious Blood flow into our souls and give us a new courage to carry the burning light of God's love through the dangerous highways of this life until Christ our king shall call us to the courts of Heaven. Amen."
For the Church and Civil Authorities
by VP
Posted on Friday July 04, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
“America, it is said, is suffering from intolerance — it is not. It is suffering from tolerance. Tolerance of right and wrong, truth and error, virtue and evil, Christ and chaos. Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded.”
"The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”
“A religion that doesn’t interfere with the secular order will soon
discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with
it.” Rev. Fulton J. Sheen
We pray Thee, O almighty and Eternal
God, Who through Jesus Christ Hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to
preserve the works of Thy mercy; that thy Church, being spread through
the whole world, may continue, with unchanging faith, in the confession
of Thy name.
We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow
with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life our Pope
Francis, the vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ in the government of His
Church; our own bishop Bishop Zarama; all the other bishops, prelates, and pastors
of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise
among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people
into the ways of salvation.
We pray Thee, O God of might,
wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered,
laws are enacted, and judgments decreed, assist, with the Holy Spirit of
counsel and fortitude, the President of the United States, that his
administration may be
conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people,
over whom he presides, by
encouraging due respect for virtue and religion;
by faithful execution of the law in justice and
mercy; and by restraining vice
and immorality.
Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress,
and shine forth in all the
proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government;
so that they may tend to the preservation
of peace, the promotion of national happiness,
the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful
knowledge, and may
perpetuate to us the blessings of equal liberty.
We pray for his Excellency the Governor of
this State, for the members of the Assembly,
for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who
are appointed to guard our political welfare; that they may be enabled,
by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties
of their respective stations with honesty and
ability.
We
recommend likewise to Thy unbounded mercy all our brethren and fellow
citizens, throughout the
United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified
in the observance of Thy
most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace
which the world cannot give;
and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those
which are eternal.
Finally, we pray Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy
servants departed who are gone
before us with the sign of faith, and repose in the sleep of peace:
the souls of our parents, relations, and friends;
of those who, when living, were members of this
congregation; and particularly of such as are lately deceased;
of all benefactors who, by their
donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the
decency of divine worship,
and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance.
To these, O Lord, and to
all that rest in Christ, grant we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment,
light, and everlasting
peace, through the same Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
( Adapted from Archbishop Carroll's prayer)
Feast of Saint Peter and Paul
by VP
Posted on Sunday June 29, 2025 at 01:00AM in Prayers
These two apostles, having been great sinners, the one by denying his Master, and the other by persecuting His Church, and yet being raised to the dignity of pillars in the Church of Christ, commend the infinite goodness of God, and give you sufficient reason never to despair, but always confide in His mercy. Praise Him therefore, adore Him, and place your hopes firmly in Him.
Having faithfully laboured in the vineyard, and by their sufferings and miracles given proof of the doctrine which they taught; they were both put to death on the same day, at Rome, under the Emperor Nero; St. Peter being crucified, and St. Paul finishing his martyrdom by the sword. Pray for the prelates and pastors of Christ's Church; that as they receive the power of these apostles, they may act with their spirit; that by watching, preaching, mortification, and continual labours, they may seek the good of their neighbour, and venture their lives for his salvation.
In these two apostles, we have all reason to give praise and adoration to God, and admire the wonders of His power, who making choice of so weak vessels, has by them confounded all the wisdom of men, overthrown the empire of the devil, and established an eternal kingdom, which shall abide for ever. Consider the great weakness of our nature, our self-love, and the fear we have of suffering; and then compare it with the zealous labours of these apostles, with their resolution and patience under all kinds of persecutions, hated by Jews, reproached by the Gentiles, condemned by magistrates, opposed by princes, and yet preaching the faith without fear; neither tired with their labours, nor discouraged by torments, nor terrified with death, but victorious against all opposition; and you will easily discover such wonderful effects of the divine power and goodness in them, as to oblige you to pour forth your soul this day in praise and thanksgiving for the infinite mercies shown to these His servants for the good of all succeeding ages. On the other side, they will teach you how great a confidence you ought at all times to repose in God, notwithstanding all your infirmities and weakness. For though to work out your salvation be a work of difficulty, on account of the many enemies before you; yet upon reflecting how very little proportion there is between your difficulties and the discouragements which the apostles had, how great reason have you to place your trust in God, and hope that He, who so powerfully assisted them, as to give them victory over all the powers of darkness confederated against them, will likewise stand by you in those much weaker attempts, which shall be made against you.
But as the triumphs of these apostles are sufficient to raise up your dejected and sinking spirits, and fill them with hopes; so they ought to be a reproach to you of your great cowardice and general weakness, who are so often tired with ordinary difficulties, afraid of mortifications, impatient in sufferings, dejected with temptations, and so frequently overcome in small assaults. For if you would but seriously again compare your difficulties with theirs, the self-denials required of you, with their perpetual contradictions to sense and nature, in watching, nakedness, thirst, and a total renunciation of whatever the world approves; if you would contrast your sufferings with their persecutions, prisons, chains, and repeated deaths, the very little that you do, with what they did for the love of Jesus; it is to be feared that this consideration would require greater courage to support you from sinking under it than you usually show on other occasions; and that instead of celebrating the glory of these apostles with joy, you would find forcible reasons to spend this day in sighs and tears, bewailing your unworthiness, the contradiction of your life to theirs, and that professing yourself a disciple of the same master, you can scarcely produce anything whereby to make out this title.
This thought seems to invert the order of this solemnity; which being appointed for joy and thanksgiving, is thus put into mourning, and looks with the severity of Ash-Wednesday, or Good Friday. This however we cannot avoid: for though we are all obliged to give thanks for the graces, by which these apostles were raised to that eminent degree of all Christian virtues, and likewise to rejoice in their victories and glory; it must be owned that there is something very mortifying in their festival, and those of all other saints. There is something that casts a damp upon our spirits, and more strongly moves us to penance, than the ashes of the most penitential days. For when we consider the glory which they enjoy, and reflect on the method of their
lives, and all those labours, by which they arrived at that
unchangeable state; we cannot but condemn ourselves for our great
stupidity and neglects, who are not only so unmindful of our God, but so easily diverted from all those exercises, which can be the only means of obtaining
a happy eternity. How forcibly does this bring to our mind all our
sloth and indevotion, our impatience and vanity, our self-love, and
seeking our ease, our solicitude for this world, and all those
innumerable sins, by which we have provoked God, condemned His mercies,
and been rebellious against His will. And what can follow hence, but
lamentation and tears, contrition and resolution of doing penance, to redeem the time that is lost, to make some reparation for past follies and neglect, and lay a foundation of more solid hopes of one day being admitted into the fellowship and glory of the saints?
This, O God of infinite mercy, we desire may be the happy effect of the solemnity observed this day. We beg most earnestly that the virtues of these apostles may be a continual spur to our dull souls; that their rejoicing in chains may cure us of all impatience; that their continual labours may make us detest all sloth; that their sincere love of Jesus may be a perpetual reproach to us of all self-love, and love of the world; that their willingness to suffer for their Master may carry us on through all difficulties with cheerfulness; and that the consideration of their happiness may permit our souls to find no rest but in those things, which may lead us to the participation of the same bliss. Grant us this request, O Jesus, that our souls may be saved.
And for the public, we beseech thee that the spirit of these apostles may descend on all those who succeed in their function, and particularly on that prelate, who sits in the chair of St. Peter, and has the care of the whole flock. Assist all other pastors of thy Church, that being zealous for virtue and truth, they may faithfully discharge every part of their duty. Direct all believers by thy grace, that by the observance of thy law, they may be all living members of thy mystical body. And for all those, who through error or infidelity are out of thy Church, have compassion on them, O Jesus, who didst come to seek the lost sheep. Open their eyes by thy heavenly light, remove all obstinacy and blindness, and lead them into the way of truth; that being united to thee by faith, they may become a part of thy fold, and be qualified to inherit thy promises. And you, O holy apostles, join with us in our prayers; and let that charity of yours, which began this work, be now the happy means of finishing it." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayer:
O holy apostles, Peter and Paul, I choose you this day and for ever to be my special patrons and advocates; thee, St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, because thou art the Rock, upon which Almighty God hath built His Church; thee, St. Paul, because thou wast forechosen by God as the Vessel of election and the Preacher of truth in the whole world. Obtain for me, I pray you, lively faith, firm hope and burning love; complete detachment from myself, contempt of the world, patience in adversity, humility in prosperity, attention in prayer, purity of heart, a right intention in all my works, diligence in fulfilling the duties of my state of life, constancy in my resolutions, resignation to the will of God and perseverance in the grace of God even unto death; that so, by means of your intercession and your glorious merits, I may be able to overcome the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and may be made worthy to appear before the chief and eternal Shepherd of souls, Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for endless ages, to enjoy His presence and love Him forever. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be
V. Thous shalt make them princes over all the earth,
R. They shall be mindful of Thy Name, O Lord.
Let us pray
O God, whose right hand raised up blessed Peter, when he walked upon the water and began to sink, and thrice delivered his fellow-Apostle Paul from the depths of the sea, when he suffered shipwreck: graciously hear us and grant, by the merits of them both, that we also may attain unto everlasting glory: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
Source: The Raccolta, — A Manual of Indulgences by Sacred Penitentiary Apostolic, Benziger Brothers, Inc. , 1957