Pray For Our Poor Nation NOW

In my post on September 7, I stated that I'd be posting some prayers for our nation, in addition to Father Ripperger's prayer.  Here are some.

The first is a prayer for our nation composed by Archbishop John Carroll, first Archbishop of Baltimore and the first in the United States.  The occasion for this prayer was the inauguration of President George Washington.   Here it is.

Archbishop John Carroll’s Prayer for Government
Composed for the Inauguration of George Washington
 
We pray you, O God of might, wisdom, and justice,
through whom authority is rightly administered,
laws are enacted, and judgment decreed,
assist with your Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude
the President of these United States,
that his administration may be conducted in righteousness,
and be eminently useful to your people, over whom he presides;
by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion;
by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy;
and by restraining vice and immorality.
 
Let the light of your 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 blessing of equal liberty.
 
We pray for 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 your powerful protection,
to discharge the duties of their respective stations
with honesty and ability.
 
We recommend likewise, to your unbounded mercy,
all our fellow citizens throughout the United States,
that we may be blessed in the knowledge
and sanctified in the observance of your most holy law;
that we 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.
Grant this, we beseech you, O Lord of mercy,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

Additionally, a parish priest suggested that the following prayers be said between September 14 and October 25.  In the Traditional Latin Mass calendar, September 14 is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and October 25 is the Feast of Christ the King.  It is understood that all serious Catholics are already committed to the daily recitation of the Rosary.  The prayers are as follows:

• Pray an extra decade of the Rosary
• Pray the Saint Michael Prayer
• Pray the Memorare to the Sacred Heart

I also recommend another prayer effort, undertaken specifically for the defeat of the so-called "Reproductive Freedom" proposed amendment to the Maryland state constitution.  It is Memerares for Maryland, to ask people to pray three Memorares every day for that intention.

Obviously we are at a critical crossroad in our nation's history, if not the history of western civilization.  We need to devote much more time to prayer and to meaningful and effective action.  Our lives and those of our children and grandchildren depend on it.  Surely we can make the sacrifice for more prayer and action.  We must.

Archbishop Gregory Praying For The Soul Of America?

A commenter on my open letter to Archbishop Gregory informs us all that he plans to hold a prayer service in Lafayette Park tomorow (Mon June 8) to "pray for George Floyd's soul and the soul of America".  I hope this doesn't turn into a de facto canonization of George Floyd.  As unjust his death was, Floyd by no means lived a virtuous life, so prayers for his repose would be very much needed.

But other people were murdered too over this past week.  In addition to the people mentioned in my open letter, there was also an elderly couple, Paul and Lidia Marino, who were ambushed while visiting their son's grave.  Also murdered in an ambush was Santa Cruz Deputy Damon Guttzwiller as he and another deputy were investigating a van with guns and bomb-making materials.

There are also the wounded.  NYPD officer Jean Pierre was stabbed in the neck by looters; fortunately thy missed a major artery or else he'd be dead.  The FBI is investigating this as terrorism. Perhaps its worth noting that Pierre and other victims of the rioting are blacks.  Do their black lives matter?

Other blacks have found their lives work ruined.  Korboi Balla, a Minneapolis firefigher, saved to build a bar burned to the ground.  In the north part of the city, Trevon Ellis watched his barber shop burn down.  Lucy Hosley in Manhattan had her deli looted and ransacked.  In Detroit, Roderick Reynolds saw his family's home and his work truck go on in flames.  Archbishop Gregory, do their black lives matter?

Praying for the soul of America is well and good.  However, our priests and bishops need to drive out from its midst the filth of pandering to gay agendas and the coddling of pro-abortion personalities.  They need to foreswear socialism in all its thin disguises; that means chucking the "social justice gospel" into the dung heap.  If Archbishop Gregory wants to yap and yammer about "white privilege", how in hades does he explain his own position as Archbishop of the Nation's Capital?