Editors Note:
On Sunday, May 17th, at 2 p.m. in the afternoon Herod is scheduled to walk into Joyce Center on the Campus of Notre Dame University in St. Joseph County, Indiana. In the 2 hours that Herod will spend paying homage before the Body of Christ with words, 275 innocent children will perish within the wombs of their mothers in the United States. The total number of infanticides carried out by Herod’s soldiers in the lands of this new world Bethlehem will number 3,288 that day; a number that may well match the death count of Holy Innocents in the small town of Bethlehem and surrounding areas following Jesus’ escape from Herod into Egypt.
The Church rightly honors those original Holy Innocents as the first Christian Martyrs. And there is even talk within the Church about declaring aborted children as such. But what both groups of victims clearly share in common despite differences of age, category or particular forms of hellish demise, is the fact that their shared Martyrdom in this world today, as in ages past, are solely martyrdom’s by blood–blood alone.
Neither group’s sacrifice was self-willed martyrdom for the sake of God’s love. No child knew, or for that matter, even had the opportunity to know the love of Christ in order to freely hand his or her self over for the sake of Christ’s Love, the spread of His Gospel, or conversion of souls. How, after all, could one love Christ without knowing Him?
–A pressing question before the curious heart of any Herod feigning desire to pay homage to Christ The Savior, let alone worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
No, together as children, each of these killed in the world–by the world–are left totally dependent upon the mercy and salvation of the Holy One of Israel. Each child felled unknowingly relies upon the Father of all the Winds at the moment of death, He who knows every sparrow that falls to the earth, so that their ‘baptism by blood alone’ becomes for them union with the side of Christ through both blood and water–For worldly power fails not only to protect their innocence and defend the dignity of their lives and bodies, but fails even further in neglecting the needs of spirit and soul. And so today, only God alone is providing these Himself with the needed drink of life denied them by men, because the spirit ruling this world–defended by the likes of every Herod known to history–continues unabated as the vile source of their premature deaths on earth.
This is the world of Herod and nothing has “changed…”
Our Lord reminded His disciples in person and within Sacred Scripture that down through the ages if the world hated them they must recall that it first hated Him. Herod’s attempt to kill the Christ-Child is the first example. And so it is with us today. Our Lord’s life was threatened in its very infancy and only by divine action in union with the holy obedience displayed by St. Joseph in acting himself to protect the Savior of the world was the Christ-Child spared Herod’s wrath.
Today, because of the Incarnation and Birth of the Word made flesh, Our Lord’s life is once again no less threatened in every moment of each day by the same unjust wrath ruling the world of abortion; and by the command and control of Herod’s world Christ continues to be destroyed within the bodies and hearts of these defenseless victims—unborn and unwanted children.
Remembering that the death of the Holy Innocents is one of Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows (the loss of children following the escape of her own Son) there’s no reason for us to believe otherwise than that she continues to grieve the loss of every child killed through the curse of abortion as she had the Holy Innocents. It’s easily recognizable, then, that today’s holocaust of innocent children once again requires of heaven miraculous action, and of those on earth, obedient support to the helps of heaven by every “Joseph” found within the Catholic Church in America; this means:
There should not be one Catholic bishop found throughout America–charged with the protection of Holy Mother Church, the Son of God, and the truth of both discovered within the human heart and body of each man from conception to natural death–that hasn’t publicly condemned and actively worked to help prevent the appearance of Herod before 2 p.m Sunday, May 17th, at the University of Notre Dame, in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
There is no controversy at the University of Notre Dame. Herod’s positions are well known. He wills to place his worldly hands (false promises) on the cradle of Christ in the presence of Our Mother—The Church. And we await Joseph’s arrival to help confound him…
Please join me in the following prayer to Our Lady and Novena to Saint Joseph beginning on Friday, May 8th through Saturday, May 16th, 2009/The intention(s) is simple: That Jesus may be loved equally as much as He has been destroyed within the hearts and bodies of all children created through His Word, yet, martyred by the world of Herod by abortion. And, that Bishop’s of the Holy Church of God will act as one in defending Catholic faith and morals by recinding the commencement invitation to President Barack Hussein Obama.
Please pass this post and Novena on to every blog, chat room, and e-mail audience you can. Thank you,
james mary evans
Prayer to Notre Dame du Cap
O Holy Virgin Mary, our most merciful Mother and Queen, we thy children, humbly prostrate before thee, implore thy grace and help. With confidence we come unto thee, O Immaculate Queen of the Holy Rosary; to thee do we turn our eyes. Bestow on us, we beg thee, these special graces and intentions as they are in accord with God’s Holy Will.
Grant us health of body and purity of soul; increase our faith and love so that we may know thy Divine Son better and serve Him ever faithfully as obedient members of His One, True, Catholic Church. O tender and merciful Mother, intercede for those who are dear to us. Heal the sick, comfort of the dying, and have pity on the faithful departed. Protect our families, guard our country, and keep Holy Mother Church safe from all who would destroy her. Our Lady of the Cape, may we love thee more and more, so that one day, united with thee in Heaven, we may praise thy Son eternally.
Litany of Saint Joseph
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary,
Pray for us.
Holy Joseph,
Pray for us.
Noble Son of the House of David,
Pray for us.
Light of the Patriarchs,
Pray for us.
Husband of the Mother of God,
Pray for us.
Chaste Guardian of the Virgin,
Pray for us.
Foster-father of the Son of God,
Pray for us.
Sedulous Defender of Christ,
Pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family,
Pray for us.
Joseph most just,
Pray for us.
Joseph most chaste,
Pray for us.
Joseph most prudent,
Pray for us.
Joseph most valiant,
Pray for us.
Joseph most obedient,
Pray for us.
Joseph most faithful,
Pray for us.
Mirror of patience,
Pray for us.
Lover of poverty,
Pray for us.
Model of all who labor,
Pray for us.
Glory of family life,
Pray for us.
Protector of Virgins,
Pray for us.
Pillar of families,
Pray for us.
Consolation of the afflicted,
Pray for us.
Hope of the sick,
Pray for us.
Patron of the dying,
Pray for us.
Terror of the demons,
Pray for us.
Protector of the holy Church,
Pray for us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
He made him master of his house,
and ruler of all his possessions.
O God, You were pleased to choose Saint Joseph as the husband of Mary and the guardian of your Son. Grant that, as we venerate him as our protector on earth, we may deserve to have him as our intercessor in heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Novena to Saint Joseph
O glorious Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death and the special favour we now request . . . .
O guardian of the Word Incarnate, we feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.
O glorious St. Joseph, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions. Amen.
DAY ONE
O great St. Joseph, with feelings of unlimited confidence, we beg you to bless this novena that we begin in your honour. “You are never invoked in vain” says the seraphic St. Theresa of Jesus. Be you then to me what you have been to that spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and graciously hear me as you did her. Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
DAY TWO
O blessed Saint Joseph, tender-hearted father, faithful guardian of Jesus, chaste spouse of the Mother of God, we pray and beseech you to offer to God the Father, His divine son, bathed in blood on the Cross for sinners, and through the thrice holy name of Jesus obtain for us of the eternal Father the favour for which we implore your intercession . . . .
Amid the splendours of eternity, forget not the sorrows of those who pray, those who weep; stay the almighty arm which smites us, that by your prayers and those of your most holy spouse, the Heart of Jesus may be moved to pity and to pardon. Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
DAY THREE
Blessed St. Joseph, enkindle in our cold hearts a spark of your charity. May God be always the first and only object of our affections. Keep our souls always in sanctifying grace and, if we should be so unhappy as to lose it, give us the strength to recover it immediately by a sincere repentance. Help us to such a love of our God as will always keep us united to Him. Amen.
O glorious St. Joseph, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
DAY FOUR
Saint Joseph, pride of Heaven, unfailing hope for our lives, and support of those on earth, graciously accept our prayer of praise. You were appointed spouse of the chaste Virgin by the Creator of the world. He willed that you be called “father” of the Word and serve as agent of our salvation. May the triune God who bestowed upon you heavenly honours, be praised forever. And may He grant us through your merits the joy of a blessed life and a favourable answer to our petition. Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
DAY FIVE
O holy St. Joseph, what a lesson your life is for us, ever so eager to appear so anxious to display before the eyes of men the graces that we owe entirely to the liberality of God. In addition to the special favour for which we plead in this novena . . . . grant that we may attribute to God the glory of all things, that we may love the humble and hidden life, that we may not desire any other position than the one given us by Providence and that we may always be a docile instrument in the hands of God. Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
DAY SIX
O glorious Saint Joseph, appointed by the Eternal Father as the guardian and protector of the life of Jesus Christ, the comfort and support of His Holy Mother, and the instrument in His great design for the redemption of mankind; you who had the happiness of living with Jesus and Mary, and of dying in their arms, be moved with confidence we place in you, and procure for us from the Almighty, the particular favour which we humbly ask through your intercession . . . . Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
DAY SEVEN
O faithful and prudent Saint Joseph, watch over our weakness and our inexperience; obtain for us that prudence which reminds us of our end, which directs our paths and which protects us from every danger. Pray for us, then, O great Saint, and by your love for Jesus and Mary, and by their love for you, obtain for us the favour we ask in this novena . . . . Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
DAY EIGHT
O blessed Joseph, to whom it was given not only to see and to hear that God whom many kings longed to see and saw not; to hear and heard not; but also to carry Him in your arms, to embrace Him, to clothe Him, and to guard and defend Him, come to our assistance and intercede with Him to look favourably on our present petition. . . Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
DAY NINE
O good Saint Joseph, help us to be like you, gentle to those whose weakness leans on us; help us to give to those who seek our aid, succour that they may journey unafraid. Give us your faith, that we may see the right shining above the victories of might. Give us your hope that we may stand secure, untouched by doubting, steadfast to endure. Give us your love that as the years increase an understanding heart may bring us peace. Give us your purity that the hour of death finds us untouched by evil’s breath. Give us your love of labour that we shirk no lot in life that calls us for honest work. Give us your love of poverty so that we live contented, let wealth come or go. Give us your courage that we may be strong; give us your meekness to confess our sins. Give us your patience that we may possess the kingdom of our souls without distress. Help us, dear Saint, to live that when life ends we pass with you to Jesus and His friends.
O Glorious Saint Joseph, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions. Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
fratres.wordpress.com 
Wow! I’m linking to this right away. Thanks, James
I began it and will follow through. Am linking right now. Thank you for being a strong man of God.
Linking this, James!
Thank you and God bless you!
I’ve just linked, sorry it took me a day, I wasn’t on blogger at all yesterday. This is an excellent prayer and I thank you for posting it:)
This is an exceptional piece! I am linking on my blog and emailing the link to all my contacts, and my parish friends and Priests!
Be Blessed,
Abbey
Thank you for this Novena. It has been heartbreaking to contemplate what this invitation to ND has done to the Church and faithful Catholics around the world. I shall say this Novena knowing the invitation will not be withdrawn but it may help future matters.
Thanks to all who responded here–
And to Sylvia– I too share in the same heartbreak for the Church and faithful Catholics worldwide. Our hope is to wrestle away “all Catholics” from the grip of the world they find themselves in as well… Then, back to the mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world… Right?
Catholic Education is fundamental–undermining it is deadly.
Let’s keep up the good fight.
Grace. Blessings. Peace. Cross. Death. Life…
james mary evans