+Feast of the Circumcision+

                      Prayer Intention for January, Month of the Holy Name of Jesus                                             “All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the                 Lord Jesus Christ.” (Col. 3:17)

The prayer for Preservation of the Faith by Pope Leo XIII below demonstrates once again that there will come a time when Christ will withdraw His protection from the faithful and seem to turn a deaf ear to them. Below he is begging us to pray to be strengthened in our faith, reminding us that only by faith and obedience are we safe within the bark of St. Peter; only there are we protected. Unity can be maintained only in that bark, the one sheepfold. Christ is the author of our faith, the beginning and end of it, but he left it to St. Peter and his canonically elected successors to guide us in the light of truth. We must remember that in the long St. Michael’s Prayer, intended for private recitation during exorcisms, Pope Leo XIII already had proclaimed that “In the holy place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety with the iniquitous design that when the pastor has been struck, the sheep will be scattered.”

Pope Leo’s prayers are only a paraphrase of Holy Scripture. We find the scattering of the sheep in Ch. 34 of Ezechiel, also in Zachary 13:7 where he prophesies concerning the Messiah. And Christ foretells it of Himself, in Matt. 26:31. This last verse also can be applied not only to His Passion and death, but to the passion of the Church, according to Henry Cardinal Manning. Pope Leo XIII’s prayer below was meant to forestall that awful day when the protection of the papacy would be withdrawn from us. Divine faith is the belief in the Deposit of Faith Christ established while on earth. And the only authority capable of authentically defining and interpreting this Deposit is Christ’s vicar on earth.

For: “This sacred Office of Teacher in matters of faith and morals must be the proximate and universal criterion of truth for all theologians, since to it has been entrusted by Christ Our Lord the whole deposit of faith — Sacred Scripture and Divine Tradition — to be preserved, guarded and interpreted… Still the duty is incumbent on the faithful to flee also those errors which more or less approach heresy, and accordingly “to keep also the constitutions and decrees by which such evil opinions are proscribed and forbidden by the Holy See” (Pope Pius XII, Humani generis, 1950).

Christ is the author of all jurisdiction. He embodied the primacy of this jurisdiction in the Roman Pontiff. This includes the power to teach, to govern (enact laws) and to sanctify (Vatican Council). This then was to be extended by the Roman Pontiffs to the successors of the Apostles. Deny this and we deny an article of Divine faith. Unless united and obedient to a true pontiff, bishops lack this power, because Christ placed the Apostles under St. Peter as their head. In granting him the power to bind and loose, he gave St. Peter (and the Apostles) the ability to forgive sins and the popes and ecumenical councils the power to enact excommunications and other laws. Again, belief in the ability of the Roman Pontiff to enforce these laws is a matter of Divine faith contained in the Deposit, especially when such excommunications are specially or most especially reserved to the pope.

The much-respected Irish catechist, Rev. John Kearney, in his Our Greatest Treasure (1942)  teaches: “To refuse to submit to one of the laws of the Church in a serious matter is a mortal sin. Such a refusal is a resistance to God Himself, for the Church speaks in His name… We must accept and submit to these laws even if we do not see the reason for which they are made. To refuse is to resist God himself… We must become as little children if we want to enter the Kingdom of heaven. The priceless gift of the true faith which God and His goodness has given to us can be lost and if lost it may perhaps never be regained. One of the first steps in this loss of the gift is the imprudence (arising from pride) of questioning the wisdom of the laws of the Church.”

Those who refuse to believe a pope must be canonically elected in order to become a true successor of St. Peter is denying an article of faith embodied in the laws of the Church. Whoever denies the necessity of the papacy for the Church to exist and to be governed are denying Divine Revelation contained in the Deposit. They sin mortally by refusing to accept and obey the body of Canon Laws contained in the 1917 Code, laws which are derived primarily from the documents of the Roman Pontiffs and ecumenical councils. They have already abandoned their faith. A miracle of grace alone can restore it, but they can pray for that miracle, although it will require them to amend their ways, abandon the Traditionalist movement or Novus Ordo sect, and do penance.

What follows below this first day of the New Year is offered in the hope that those who genuinely love Our Lord will return to Him and beg His forgiveness. For truly, as Rev. Kearney says, the Faith is our greatest treasure, our pearl of great price.

Prayer for the Preservation of the Faith

“O my Redeemer, will that dreadful time ever come, when but few Christians shall be left who are inspired by the spirit of faith, that time when Thine anger shall be provoked and Thy protection shall be take away from us? Have our vices and our evil lives irrevocably moved Thy justice to take vengeance, perhaps this very day, upon Thy children?

O Thou, the beginning and end of our faith, we conjure Thee, in the bitterness of our contrite and humbled hearts, not to suffer the fair light of faith to be extinguished in us. Remember Thy mercies of old, turn Thine eyes in mercy upon the vineyard planted by Thine own right hand, and watered by the sweat of the Apostles, by the precious blood of countless Martyrs and by the tears of so many sincere penitents, and made fruitful by the prayers of so many Confessors and innocent Virgins.

O divine Mediator, look upon those zealous souls who raise their hearts to Thee and pray ceaselessly for the maintenance of that most precious gift of Thine, the true faith. We beseech Thee, O God of justice, to hold back the decree of our rejection, and to turn away Thine eyes from our vices and regard instead the adorable Blood shed upon the Cross, which purchased our salvation and daily intercedes for us upon our altars.

Ah, keep us safe in the true Catholic and Roman faith. Let sickness afflict us, vexations waste us, misfortunes overwhelm us! But preserve in us Thy holy faith; for if we are rich with this precious gift, we shall gladly endure every sorrow, and nothing shall ever be able to change our happiness. On the other hand, without this great treasure of faith, our unhappiness would be unspeakable and without limit!

O good Jesus, author of our faith, preserve it untainted within us; keep us safe in the bark of Peter, faithful and obedient to his successor and Thy Vicar here on earth, that so the unity of Holy Church may be maintained,holiness fostered, the Holy See protected in freedom, and the Church universal extended to the benefit of souls. O Jesus, author of our faith, humble and convert the enemies of Thy Church; grant true peace and concord to all Christian kings and princes and to all believers; strengthen and preserve us in Thy holy service, so that we may live in Thee and die in Thee. O Jesus, author of our faith, let me live for Thee and die for Thee. Amen.”

Comment: Yet however great our sins, regardless of how long we have remained in darkness, we must never lose hope and must always beg God for the graces we need to repent of our sins and save our souls. 

Psalm 73

O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt. Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs, and they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees, they have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.

They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth. They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land. Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.

How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name forever? Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom forever? But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians. Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers.

Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun. Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee. Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.

Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor. Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.

Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name. Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day. Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.

Ezechiel Chapter 34

Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds? You ate the milk, and you clothed yourselves with the wool, and you killed that which was fat: but my flock you did not feed.

The weak you have not strengthened, and that which was sick you have not healed, that which was broken you have not bound up, and that which was driven away you have not brought again, neither have you sought that which was lost: but you ruled over them with rigour, and with a high hand. And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd: and they became the prey of all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My sheep have wandered in every mountain, and in every high hill: and my flocks were scattered upon the face of the earth, and there was none that sought them, there was none, I say, that sought them.

Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, saith the Lord God, forasmuch as my flocks have been made a spoil, and my sheep are become a prey to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd: for my shepherds did not seek after my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flocks: Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself come upon the shepherds, I will require my flock at their hand, and I will cause them to cease from feeding the flock any more, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more: and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall no more be meat for the

The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23:1-6; John 10:1-21)

For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them. As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land: and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land.

I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel: there shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed in fat pastures upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my sheep : and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost: and that which was driven away, I will bring again: and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment.

And as for you, O my flocks, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, of rams and of he-goats. Was it not enough for you to feed upon good pastures? but you must also tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures: and when you drank the clearest water, you troubled the rest with your feet. And my sheep were fed with that which you had trodden with your feet: and they drank what your feet had troubled.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God to you: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat cattle and the lean. Because you thrusted with sides and shoulders, and struck all the weak cattle with your horns, till they were scattered abroad: I will save my flock, and it shall be no more a spoil, and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

AND I WILL SET UP ONE SHEPHERD OVER THEM, and he shall feed them, even my servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God: and my servant David the prince in the midst of them: I the Lord have spoken it… And you my flocks, the flocks of my pasture are men: and I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.

Daniel Ch. 9: 4-19

And I prayed to the Lord, my God, and I made my confession, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord God, great and terrible, who keepest the covenant, and mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy commandments.

We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and have revolted: and we have gone aside from thy commandments, and thy judgments.
 We have not hearkened to thy servants, the prophets, that have spoken in thy name to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face, as at this day to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to them that are near, and to them that are far off, in all the countries whither thou hast driven them, for their iniquities, by which they have sinned against thee.
O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our princes, and to our fathers, that have sinned.

But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness, for we have departed from thee:
And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, our God, to walk in his law, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets.
And all Israel have transgressed thy law, and have turned away from hearing thy voice, and the malediction, and the curse, which is written in the book of Moses, the servant of God, is fallen upon us, because we have sinned against him.

And he hath confirmed his words which he spoke against us, and against our princes that judged us, that he would bring in upon us a great evil, such as never was under all the heaven, according to that which hath been done in Jerusalem, (see Matt. 24:21).
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: and we entreated not thy face, O Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and think on thy truth.

And the Lord hath watched upon the evil, and hath brought it upon us: the Lord, our God, is just in all his works which he hath done: for we have not hearkened to his voice.
 And now, O Lord, our God, who hast brought forth thy people out of the land of Egypt, with a strong hand, and hast made thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity,
O Lord, against all thy justice:

Let thy wrath and thy indignation be turned away, I beseech thee, from thy city, Jerusalem, and from thy holy mountain. For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and thy people, are a reproach to all that are round about us.
Now, therefore, O our God, hear the supplication of thy servant, and his prayers: and shew thy face upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate, for thy own sake.



Incline, O my God, thy ear, and hear: open thy eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies.
O Lord, hear: O Lord, be appeased: hearken, and do: DELAY NOT, for thy own sake, O my God: because thy name is invocated upon thy city, and upon thy people.