Our Lady of Walsingham
Quidenham Carmelite Monastery, UK.
We are now
in the month of May, traditionally regarded in the Catholic Church as the month
especially devoted to the honour of Mary, Our Lady, the Blessed Mother of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Prior to the
Reformation, England was known as the Dowry of Mary, with many shrines,
monasteries and convents, spread throughout the land, many of which were
dedicated to Our Lady and many of which were subject to pilgrimages from far
and wide.
Sadly in
England today the scene has changed, with relatively few active monasteries and convents, and just a
few centres of Catholic pilgrimage, among which Walsingham, Launceston, and Aylesford,
come immediately to mind. Nevertheless,
there is still great devotion to Our Lady, evidenced by the widespread devotion
to the recitation of the rosary.
This post
reproduces a litany of which I was totally ignorant, and which is taken from ‘The
Garden of the Soul’ prayer book, originally written by Bishop Challoner,
revised by Rev Edward Price, with Imprimatur ‘N. Card Wiseman’, and signed and
dated by donor, Isabella -----, 17th July 1860.
As the Coronation of King Charles 3rd will be taking place in a few days, it seems particularly appropriate in these anxious and uncertain days, to offer this ‘Litany of Intercession for England', that Almighty God will hear our prayers, and that England will return to God and to the one, true Church founded by Christ, the Roman Catholic Church.
‘The Litany
of Intercession for England’
'Remember
not, O Lord, our offences, nor those of our parents; and take not revenge of
our sins.'
Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have
mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy
on us.
Lord, have mercy on
us. Lord,
have mercy on us.
Jesus, receive our
prayers. Lord Jesus, receive
our petitions.
O God the Father, Creator
of the world, Have
mercy on England.
O God the Son, Redeemer of
mankind, “
O God the Holy Ghost,
Perfector of the elect, “
O Sacred Trinity, three
Persons and one God, “
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray
for England
Holy Mary, Queen of
Angels, whose powerful
intercession
destroyeth all heresies, “
Holy Mary, Virgin of virgins, whose eminent sanctity "
Our Lord has honoured with so many miracles.
St Michael, Prince of the
Church, “
St Gabriel, glorious
messenger of our Saviour’s incarnation, "
St Raphael, faithful guide
of those who have lost their way, “
Holy Angel, to whose
custody this province is committed, "
All ye holy angels and
blessed spirits of heaven who
celebrate with joy the conversion of sinners, “
St John, Baptist,
precursor of the Messias, "
and great example of penance,
All ye holy patriarchs and
prophets, friends of God, “
and advancers of His truth,
St Peter, prince of the
apostles, and supreme pastor
of Christ’s sheep, "
St Paul, doctor of the
Gentiles, who, of a persecutor,
became a preacher, "
St Andrew, first disciple
of Christ, and constant
lover of the cross, "
All ye holy apostles and
evangelists, chief planters
of the Christian faith, and zealous
maintainers “
of Catholic union,
St George, our principal
patron, "
St Alban, our first Martyr, “
St Thomas of Canterbury,
who, as a faithful shepherd,
laidst down thy life in defence of the Church, “
All ye holy martyrs of
this nation, who voluntarily
lost your lives here to find
them in a joyful eternity, “
St Gregory, most vigilant
bishop of the universal church,
whose pious zeal sent missioners from Rome “
for the conversion of our
ancestors,
St Augustin, apostle of
this nation, by whom our
forefathers were reclaimed from
paganism and infidelity, “
St Bede, most venerable
confessor, by whose religious life
and learned writings the Catholic faith was "
eminently propagated amongst us,
All ye holy bishops and
confessors, by whose wisdom and “
sanctity
this island was once a flourishing
seminary of religion,
St Helen, most holy queen
and mother of the first “
Christian emperor,
St Ursula, most blessed
martyr, who diedst in the glorious
defence of faith and chastity, “
St Winifride, most
admirable virgin, even in this unbelieving
generation still miraculous, "
All ye holy saints of this
nation, who, amidst the
innumerable joys of heaven, still
retain a particular "
charity for the salvation of your country,
All ye holy saints of all
places, who, though divided here in
several regions, were yet united in
the same faith, “
and now enjoy one common felicity,
Be merciful, O Lord, and
spare us, Be
merciful, O Lord, and hear us.
From the dangers most
justly threatening our sins, Deliver England.
From the spirit of pride,
rebellion, and apostasy, "
From the spirit of
hypocrisy, profaneness, and sacrilege, “
From presuming on their
own private opinions, and
contemning the authority of thy church, "
From schism, heresy, and
all blindness of heart, "
From gluttony,
drunkenness, and the false liberty “
of an undisciplined life,
We sinners, We beseech thee hear us.
That it may please thee to
hasten the conversion
of this our miserable country, and reunite it to
the ancient faith and communion of thy church, “
That it may please thee to
have mercy particularly
on our relations, friends, and benefactors,
and open their eyes to see the beauty of thy
truth,
and embrace it, “
That it may please thee to
comfort and strengthen
thy servants, who suffer for the Catholic
faith,
and not to permit the weakest of us,
by any
temptation whatsoever, to fall away from thee
and thy truth, “
That it may please thee to
assist with thy special grace
those good pastors who venture their
lives for
their flock, and daily augment in them the
fire of thy “
love and the zeal of gaining souls.
That it may please thee to
preserve the Catholics of this "
land from all sin and scandal, and
so adorn their
lives with solid piety, that others seeing their
good works, may glorify thee our heavenly Father,
That it may please thee to enlighten the hearts of all "
schismatics, who live out of the church,
seriously to apprehend the danger of their state,
and the great importance of eternal salvation,
That it may please thee mercifully to look down from "
heaven on the tears of the afflicted, and the blood
of so many martyrs, who have spent
their lives,
and suffered death to convert us to thee,
Son of God.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare
us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Christ hear us, Christ graciously hear us.
Let us Pray.
Almighty and Everlasting God, whose judgments are righteous, and counsels unsearchable; who visited the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and the fourth generation, and yet at length rememberest mercy; forgive we beseech thee, the sins of our forefathers, and turn away thy wrath from their posterity, deliver the ignorant from being seduced by false teachers, and the learned from being abused by their passions, and the whole nation from the spirit of contradiction, licentiousness, and discord; that instead of so many divisions and changes in religion, under which they labour, they may be again restored to that unity of mind, steadiness of faith, and tranquillity of conscience, which is nowhere to be sought but in the communion of thy Church, nor possible to be found but by the conduct of thy grace.
Through Our Lord Jesus
Christ. AMEN.
