Free Republic

Rather than Interfaith Prayer, Why Not Rogation Days? As the COVID-19 pandemic continues deep into May, the majority of Catholics in Western society are still without public Masses. Some Catholics are without any sacraments at all, depending on the diocese. On May 14, the Pope Francis called all Catholics to a day of fasting and prayer to end the coronavirus. Surely, this is a prayer all Catholics can get behind. Additionally, Catholics could look at this news and be excited that the pope was highlighting the need for the faithful to do some real penance — an aspect of our...

White Double FOR THE THIRD TIME, holy Church marshals her children in procession, and makes a solemn appeal to the divine mercy. Let us follow her sacred standard, and join her in invoking the intercession of the Saints. The Litany, in which we pray to all the choirs of the heavenly Jerusalem, is both a magnificent and a powerful prayer: it is the Church Triumphant uniting with the Church Militant in praying for the salvation of the world. O MARY! Mother of God, Virgin of virgins, miracle of divine power, exercise, in our favor, thy maternal mediation with Him,...

TODAY AGAIN, THE GREAT LITANY, the Supplication, is heard in the House of the Lord: the solemn Procession re-appears in the streets of the city, and in the quiet lanes of the country. Let us take our share in this sacred rite; let us blend our voice with that of our Mother, and join the cry that pierces the clouds: Kyrie eleison! Lord have mercy on us! Let us think, for a moment, of the countless sins that are being committed, day and night; and let us sue for mercy. In the days of Noe, all flesh had corrupted...

IT SEEMS STRANGE that there should be anything like mourning during Paschal Time: and yet these three days are days of penance. A moment's reflection, however, will show us that the institution of the Rogation Days is a most appropriate one. True, our Savior told us, before his Passion, that the children of the Bridegroom should not fast whilst the Bridegroom is with them: but is not sadness in keeping with these the last hours of Jesus' presence on earth? Were not his Mother and Disciples oppressed with grief at the thought of their having so soon to lose...