Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Rosary Novena for Priests and Bishops Continues. Are You In?

Father's Day marked the beginning of a 54-day novena of Rosaries -- the Irresistible Novena -- for all priests and bishops (including, of course, by definition, the Holy Father).  This date was chosen to begin this novena because (a) priests really are fathers in the supernatural order, and (b) that's the weekend the priesthood took it on the chin with the Corapi and Cunningham scandals.

Some people have undertaken to join in this novena.  Are you still in?

Hell has always been at war against Catholic priests, but now the conflict is kicking into high gear, and the offensive comes both from without and from within the Church.  Have you noticed?  We have, among many other things, the 300+ fallen priests in Austria, rising up in open rebellion against a cardinal archbishop whose response thus far has been to announce plans for a meeting with the offenders.  We have the assaults on the Church in China, where the government kidnaps and imprisons priests and bishops, and forces the consecration of bishops against the will of Rome.  We have the business in Ireland and Australia where the government plans to invade the confessional and try to force priests to violate the sacramental seal.  In the background, the drip-drip-drip of scandals involving clergy proceeds.  And all the while, like a sniper on the rooftops, the devil is picking off individual priests, one after the other.

The Communists understood that in order to gain ground among Catholics, they had to drive a wedge between the Catholic laity and their priests.  The same Enemy who taught the Communists this lesson is at it again.  He goes after our priests in order to get to us.  We ought to pray for priests for our own sakes as well as for theirs.  Priests, too, need to pray for their own protection and perseverance.

Please pray the Irresistible Novena for priests and bishops.  It's never too late to join the one that's ongoing; it couldn't hurt to start new ones, either.

1 comment:

  1. I haven't been Catholic very long and never heard of this called the irresistible novena. So it is. I prayed it when I was trying to get into the Church and it worked.

    So, you out there, pray this novena! Our priests need us to do this more than they need anything else.

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