Tuesday, October 19, 2021

- October 18, 2021

MARTYRS OF NORTH AMERICA

Psalm 40, verse 2-4

²Surely, I wait for the Lord, who bends down to me and hears my cry, ³ Draws me up from the pit of destruction, out of the muddy clay, sets my feet upon rock, steadies my steps, ⁴ And puts a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God. Many shall look on in FEAR and they shall trust in the Lord.

Right now, our Nation is in the pit of destruction, we are hemmed in on all sides. The powerhouse of our Nation Texas is under foreign invasion. We see the working men and women who are the strength of our nation motionless, taking handouts and our commercial ports still. We suffer defeat on all sides with a great Army that is led by feckless leaders and our law givers and courts are lawless. Our nation is dying a slow death of secularism and communism. The hope of our generation, our children are being made orphans and wards of the “Build back Better” State suffer from ignorance and are being molested without safeguard.

We are defenseless to the whims of the sons of Satan with nuclear rockets in their pockets or brides in their hands. As a people we have descended into the pit of destruction, and we see the leaders of this Nation clamor to get themselves out of the pit and pull each other down when they see another rising higher out of the pit and so all are mired in their own filthiness.

Let us now acknowledge our greatness comes from the Lord who in his might reproves nations that forsake his laws and shines on those that obey his laws. For surely only He can bend down to save us. Pray, cry out to Him, for only He can draw us out on the pit of destruction and set our feet upon the rock of truth. In hymn let us sing out to His mother which he sends to us. May God save and bless this nation that is a light to the world that only flickers now.

Martyrs in North America[1]

Today in the dioceses of the United States the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Sts. Issac Jogues and John de Brébeuf (priests and martyrs) and their companions (martyrs). They were Jesuit missionaries who died as martyrs in North America where they preached the Gospel.

· Pray to the Holy Spirit to renew the evangelization of distant countries as well as the re-evangelization of our own nation.

· More Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. For example, pastors are being arrested and sometimes shot in China and Cuba. Believers are forbidden to buy goods or own property in Somalia. Christians who testify to their faith in Iran or Saudi Arabia may be put to death for blasphemy. Mobs have wiped out whole villages of Christians in Pakistan. Pray for courageous and zealous missionaries in these countries where the Church is persecuted.

· Support the Indian Missions in the USA.

· Visit the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York. This site offers a wonderful gallery of pictures of the shrine.

· Learn more about each of the martyrs. You might also like to read this definitive scholarly biography, Saint Among Savages: The Life of St. Isaac Jogues, by Francis Talbot, S.J.

· Learn for Christmas the Indian Christmas Carol, the first American Christmas carol John de Brébeuf wrote to teach the Christmas story to the Huron Indians.

1173 When the Church keeps the memorials of martyrs and other saints during the annual cycle, she proclaims the Paschal mystery in those "who have suffered and have been glorified with Christ. She proposes them to the faithful as examples who draw all men to the Father through Christ, and through their merits she begs for God's favors."

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Conversion of Sinners

· Make reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday Devotion

· Pray Day 6 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops

· Tuesday: Litany of St. Michael the Archangel

· Total Consecration to St. Joseph Day 21