Martyr Prayers
A
Prayer to the North American Martyrs (Feast, September 26)
Dear Saints Isaac Jogues, John Brebeuf, Noel Chabanel, Gabriel
Lalemant, Anthony Daniel, Charles Garnier, Rene Goupil and John
Lalande, we beg of you, pray for the people of this vast country
ours.
You are the first canonized saints of the United States and Canada.
We are glad to have you. We are happy to honor you. You know our
country and its needs, and we know you are in heaven praying for us.
There is one very special favor we wish to ask of you. Dear Saints
of North America, pray God to send us another saint, or better
still, a number of them. Ask Him to have soon–a man or a woman, a
boy or a girl from this country of ours raised to the honors of the
altar. Let it be a farmer or a laborer, a housewife or a schoolboy,
born and bred in these United States. Let it be some one who lived
his whole life here–a Saint Joseph of Carville County, or a Saint
Mary of Middletown, or a Saint William of New York.
We do not wish to displace you in our affections, but to add to your
glorious number. You understand our desires in this, and we feel
sure that we will obtain this great blessing for the salvation of
the people of this land. Remember us now, and obtain this great
blessing for us from God. Help us always to cooperate with the
graces that God so richly and generously gives us, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint Polycarp Prayers
Saint Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of the apostles, was
burned at the stake about the year 155. His feast day is February
23. This is the prayer he prayed before he died:
Lord, almighty God, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus
Christ, through whom we have come to the knowledge of yourself, God
of angels, of powers, of all creation, of all the race of saints who
live in your sight, I bless you for judging me worthy of this day,
this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup
of Christ, your anointed one, and so rise again to eternal life in
soul and body, immortal through the power of the Holy Spirit. May I
be received among the martyrs in your presence today as a rich and
pleasing sacrifice. God of truth, stranger to falsehood, you have
prepared this and revealed it to me and now you have fulfilled your
promise.
I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the
eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through
him be glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and
forever. Amen.
Here is a prayer the Church prays concerning Saint Polycarp:
God of all creation,
you gave your bishop Polycarp the privilege of being counted among
the saints who gave their lives in faithful witness to the gospel.
May his prayers give us the courage to share with him the cup of
suffering and to rise to eternal glory. We ask this through our Lord
Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.