Prayer for the Conversion of America
Priest: Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, grant unto all Thy servants, but especially to the people of our own nation, the grace of being fully united to Thee in Thy Church. O Divine Redeemer, of Whom the prophet sang "all the kings of the earth shall adore Him and all the nations shall serve Him," extend Thy Kingdom over the entire human race, but especially over our own beloved country. Grant in Thy mercy that the people of our land may be converted to Thee, and humbly and lovingly serve Thee. This we ask, O Savior, through the intercession of Thy Immaculate Mother, the benevolent patroness and protectress of our country. People: Amen.
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Priest and People: Most Holy Virgin, who wast pleasing to the Lord and became His Mother, Immaculate in body and spirit, in faith and in love, look down kindly upon us poor sinners. We now implore thy powerful patronage for all the people of our beloved land. The wicked serpent, against whom the first curse was hurled, continues fiercely to attack and ensnare the unhappy children of Eve. O Blessed Mother, our Queen and our advocate, who crushed the head of the enemy from the very first moment of thine existence, receive from us the prayers which we implore thee to present at the throne of God. Pray that we may never fall into the snares laid out for us, and that we may all arrive at the port of salvation. May the Church and Christian society, now in so many dangers, sing once again the hymn of deliverance, of victory, and of peace. Amen.
Priest: Our Lady of the Atonement intercede for us.
People:That there may be fulfilled the prayer of thy Divine Son, "That all may be one."
Prayer to Saint John the Baptist
Priest: O most zealous messenger of God, Saint John the Baptist, while thou didst work no miracles on others, thou didst draw after thee crowds, to prepare them to receive Our Savior worthily and to listen to His heavenly teaching. This thou didst do sole!y by the example of thy holy life and the practice of every good work. Pray that we also may receive the grace to lead many souls to God, but, above all, the souls of those who are still outside the One Fold in our own beloved country. People: Amen.
4 comment(s):
You know, in Lourdes, France, blocks have been donated around many of the altars, mostly carved with words of thanksgiving to N. D. L. for some favor she'd obtained. A marvelous sight.
One block from perhaps the late 19th century caught my eye because it called for pilgrims to pray for the conversion of Protestants:
"On demande à chaque pélerin un Ave Maria pour la conversion d'une contrée Protestant."
I prayed many Ave Marias there but never thought to make that my intention.
We do well to pray for Protestants and we should also pray for the many non-attending Catholics as well. But praying and only praying will not bring either group into One Fold. We must do more.
As a Protestant Convert of 2011, I can clearly recall too many times when I wanted to walk away from the Catholic Church because of the actions of Catholics. Plain, simple, uncharitable, rude acts that made my journey awkward and painful were not the answer of the above prayers.
So before we start to pray we need to look deep into our own hearts and examine our motives and attitudes. Who can tell if we will be the one the Holy Spirit uses to answer such prayer. What preconceptions lurk within our hearts? Do we feel superior to Protestants? Do we consider them ignorant of spiritual truth? Do they have a place in our circle of friends? Can Protestants really be Christian? And what does the Church teach us about all of the above?
Just some things to consider...
Just a comment to the recent protestant convert - I have had many protestant friends over the years who had many misconceived notions about me as a Catholic. While attempting to 'set them straight' I nevertheless received - not from all but from some - pot shots, mistaken assumptions and the very same 'spiritual superiority' to some degree that you mention here - this is particularly evident in the pastors that these people were listening to on radio and television, not necessarily my individual friends. So....the pharasaical spirit is alive and well, whether or not it comes from a self professed Catholic or a protestant. That is the point. One can find kindness or rudeness wherever one looks. Yet, our Lord puts the people He means us to hear the truth from in our path - and He makes use of weak instruments which, sometimes, in their zeal for the truth, may or may not always have the white glove treatment of a potential convert - but God still can use even the bull in the china shop ones. Truth will out no matter what messenger it comes from. Dear Protestant convert - would you really let one rude Catholic - or dare I say - many rude ones? - keep you from joining the true Faith and holding it until your dying breath? Should Judas have kept the rest of the apostles from doing their jobs? Let us resist engaging in fallacious reasoning of any kind as Catholics and cling with our prayers and our humility to improving our own spiritual growth and doing what we can for our neighbor.
I have had this conversation with friends before. The “high and mighty” perception of Catholics has been passed done in Protestantism since its inception. It is not arrogance but rather a strength of belief and a sincere desire to bring back souls lost to human hubris that was the motivator for separation. Lack of faith in the hierarchy or mere mortal men called to be priests is not reason for separation of faith if you truly have the faith. The church is not the priests alone, it is the communion of people with Christ in the Eucharist. It is both private and public. It is universal and our directive to be one body and one spirit. Mortals sin. They church, the faith, and Christ does not. Every Protestant separation was committed by mortals believing they knew better than Christ himself. Everything else is Catholic light.
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