New! Saint of the Day iPhone App: St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer

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St. Patrick's Breastplate

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;*
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

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Archbishop of Denver Invites Prayer for Pope Francis

“You are Peter, the rock,” said Jesus Christ to his apostle Simon Peter “and upon this rock I will build my Church. … I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 16:18-19).

For two thousand years, the successors of St. Peter have served as the rock—the “visible source and foundation” of unity in the life of the Church.  Today, Pope Francis takes up the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.   His leadership, his guidance, and his friendship with Jesus Christ will guide Christ’s disciples for the years to come.  

Please join me in giving thanks to the Father for the gift of Pope Francis.

Please join me too in prayer for his ministry. And let us commit to joining Pope Francis in a life of service, fidelity, and friendship with Jesus Christ, our savior and brother.

Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila
Archbishop of Denver

A Mass for the Election of the Pope will be celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception today at 5:30 p.m. by Msgr. Thomas Fryar. All priests of the Archdiocese of Denver are invited to concelebrate.

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Papal Conclave to Begin Today

As the conclave begins today in Rome, we pray in a special way for the Cardinals who will elect the next Holy Father. This is a historic time for the Church, a time of deep prayer and reflection for Catholics worldwide and in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. We thank Benedict XVI for his great service to Christ Jesus and to the Church, and we pray for the Chair of Saint Peter, which will soon be filled by the next Bishop of Rome and Shepherd of the Universal Church. In the interim, we wait upon the decision of the Holy Spirit and we take comfort in the words of the 1 Samuel, “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house and he shall go in and out before my anointed one forever.” Visit www.stlouisreview.com/papacy for all the latest in papal coverage including FAQs on the theology and history of the papacy. More about the background of the conclave at EWTN.

Catholic Priest to Receive Medal of Honor

More than 60 years after his death as a POW, Fr. Emil Kapaun to receive nation’s highest award for bravery

He was a soldier. He was a war hero. He was a priest. His Cause for Canonization is being considered by the Vatican. And now Fr. Emil Kapaun will receive the Medal of Honor from the President of the United States.

Fr. Emil’s heroic story will be told in the soon-to-be-released book “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” published by Ignatius Press. One of the most remarkable aspects of his story surrounds the atypical movement of support for both his sainthood cause and his Medal of Honor award. The witnesses to both his sanctity and his bravery have come from non-Catholics, men of Jewish faith, Muslim faith and Protestant tradition, who served with Fr. Kapaun in battle or in the brutality of conditions where he drew his last breath – a prisoner of war camp.

Fr. Kapaun died as a prisoner of war, and the Korean War veterans who served with him, who were saved by him, have lobbied the Army for more than 60 years to award Kapaun the Medal of Honor for his acts of bravery. They have also spent years petitioning the Vatican to elevate him to Sainthood because of what they witnessed on the battlefield.

Roy Wenzl and Travis Heying, the authors of “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” interviewed the dozens of men who survived the POW camp because of the courageous acts of this young priest. “They said he repeatedly ran through machine gun fire, dragging wounded soldiers to safety. In the prison camp, he shaped roofing tin into cooking pots so prisoners could boil water, which prevented dysentery. He picked lice off sick prisoners. He stole food from his captors and shared it with his starving comrades. Most of all, Kapaun rallied all of them, as they starved during subzero temperatures, to stay alive. When their future seemed hopeless, he persuaded them to hope. Hundreds died in the camps, but hundreds more survived,” recounts Wenzl and Heying.

One of the surviving POWs, who will be at the award ceremony in April at the White House, said Fr. Kapaun was murdered by Chinese prison camp guards in 1951 because he openly defied many of the camp rules, including praying the rosary with other prisoners. Mike Dowe, who like dozens of other survivors of the camp has petitioned both Congress and the Vatican for these honors, recalls that by the time Kapaun died, Protestants and men of other beliefs were praying the Catholic rosary and were openly resisting the Chinese torture.

Since opening Kapaun’s Cause for Canonization in 1993, there have already been several allegations of miracles – healings attributed to Fr. Kapaun’s intercession that defy scientific explanation. These cures have been witnessed once again by non-Catholics – doctors, in fact, who can attribute no logical answer to the healing of seriously ill or injured individuals.

The last surviving members of Fr. Kapaun’s immediate family and several of the living POWs who served with him will travel to Washington, D.C., for the Medal of Honor award ceremony on April 11.