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A Traditional Catholic Prayer for the Holy Church

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Introduction

In times of trial and uncertainty, the faithful turn to prayer for the Holy Church. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, entrusted with the deposit of faith and sustained by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Saint Paul calls the Church:

“The pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
https://www.drbo.org/chapter/62003.htm

To pray for the Church is to pray for fidelity, unity, holiness, and perseverance in truth.

This Traditional Catholic prayer is offered in a spirit of reverence, submission to divine Providence, and filial devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Why We Must Pray for the Church

Our Lord promised:

“The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
https://www.drbo.org/chapter/48016.htm

Yet this promise does not exempt the Church from suffering. Throughout history, she has endured persecution, confusion, and internal trial.

Prayer strengthens the faithful and calls down divine grace upon:

  • The Holy Father
  • Bishops and priests
  • Religious and seminarians
  • Families and lay faithful

Saint Paul exhorts:

“I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1).
https://www.drbo.org/chapter/62002.htm

This includes those entrusted with governance in the Church.

Theological Foundation for Prayer

Prayer for the Church is grounded in:

  • The Communion of Saints
  • The unity of the Mystical Body
  • The sacrificial offering of Christ renewed in the Mass

The Council of Trent affirms that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass applies the fruits of Calvary to the faithful.¹
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09789c.htm

When we pray for the Church, we unite our supplication to Christ’s eternal intercession before the Father.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, intercedes continually for her children.

“Behold thy mother” (John 19:27).
https://www.drbo.org/chapter/50019.htm

With filial confidence, we entrust the Church to her Immaculate Heart.

A Traditional Catholic Prayer for the Holy Church

O Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest and Divine Head of Thy Holy Church,
look with mercy upon Thy Mystical Body in this hour of trial.

Strengthen the Holy Father in fidelity to the deposit of faith once delivered to the saints.
Grant to bishops and priests the grace of courage, purity, and unwavering adherence to Sacred Tradition.

Preserve Thy Church from error, from division, and from all that obscures the truth of the Gospel.
Renew in her the spirit of reverence for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and profound love for the Most Holy Eucharist.

Protect seminarians, religious, and all who labor in Thy vineyard.
Sanctify families, defend the innocent, and console the suffering.

O Divine Shepherd, gather Thy flock in unity of faith and charity,
that all may stand fast in the truth entrusted to Thy Apostles.

Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Immaculate Mother of the Church and Mediatrix of all graces,
obtain for us perseverance in fidelity and purity of doctrine.

May Thy Church shine forth in holiness,
steadfast in the perennial Magisterium,
radiant in charity,
and unwavering in truth.

For Thou livest and reignest, world without end.
Amen.

Final Exhortation

Let the faithful never grow weary in prayer for the Holy Church.

Through prayer:

  • Unity is strengthened.
  • Fidelity is preserved.
  • Courage is renewed.

May every Rosary, every Holy Mass, and every act of reparation be offered for the sanctification of the Church and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

May the Reign of Mary come.
Adveniat Regnum Mariae!

As you pray for the Holy Church, seek deeper clarity in the faith. Visit our Q&A with Bishop Athanasius Schneider: https://www.gloriadei.io/q-and-a/

Footnotes

  1. Council of Trent, Session XXII, Doctrine on the Sacrifice of the Mass (1562).
    https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09789c.htm
  2. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version. 1 Timothy 3:15.
    https://www.drbo.org/chapter/62003.htm
  3. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version. Matthew 16:18.
    https://www.drbo.org/chapter/48016.htm
  4. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version. 1 Timothy 2:1.
    https://www.drbo.org/chapter/62002.htm
  5. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version. John 19:27.
    https://www.drbo.org/chapter/50019.htm
  6. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version. Jude 1:3.
    https://www.drbo.org/chapter/72001.htm

Bibliography

Sacred Scripture

Holy Bible. Douay-Rheims Version.
https://www.drbo.org

Ecumenical Councils

Council of Trent. Session XXII, Doctrine on the Sacrifice of the Mass (1562).
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09789c.htm

Picture of Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C. is a Kazakhstani Roman Catholic bishop, the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra.
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The Deposition of
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland

“The one charge which is now sure to secure severe punishment is the careful keeping of the traditions of the Fathers.” These words of St. Basil (Ep. 243) can most aptly illustrate the deposition of the Bishop of Tyler, TX/USA, His Excellency Joseph E. Strickland. The deposition of Bishop Joseph E. Strickland signifies a black day for the Catholic Church of our day. We are witnessing a blatant injustice towards a bishop who did his duty in preaching and defending with parrhesia the immutable Catholic faith and morals and in promoting the sacredness of the liturgy, especially in the immemorial traditional rite of the Mass. All understand, and even the declared enemies of this Confessor Bishop, that the accusations brought against him are ultimately insubstantial and disproportionate and were used as a welcome opportunity to silence an uncomfortable prophetic voice within the Church.

What happened to the Bishops during the Arian crisis in the 4th century, who were deposed and exiled only because they intrepidly preached the traditional Catholic Faith, is again happening in our day. At the same time several Bishops, who publicly support heresy, liturgical abuses, gender ideology and openly invite their priests to bless same-sex couples, are not in the least importuned or sanctioned by the Holy See.

Bishop Strickland will probably go down in history as an “Athanasius of the Church in the USA”, who however, unlike St. Athanasius, is not persecuted by the secular power, but incredibly by the Pope himself. It seems that a kind of “purge” of Bishops, who are faithful to the immutable Catholic Faith and the Apostolic discipline, and which has been going on already for some time, has reached now a decisive phase.

May the sacrifice, which Our Lord asked from Bishop Strickland bear plenty spiritual fruits for time and eternity. Bishop Strickland and other faithful Bishops, who were already asked to resign, who are currently marginalized or who will be the next in der row, should say in all sincerity to Pope Francis: “Holy Father, why are you persecuting and beating us? We tried to do what all holy Popes asked us to do? With fraternal love we offer the sacrifice of this kind of persecution and exile for the salvation of your soul and for the good state of the Holy Roman Church. Indeed, we are your best friends, Most Holy Father!”

+ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Mary in Astana
Bishop_Joseph_Strickland_Easter_Vigil_2013
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