PRAYER TO CHRIST KING AND HIGH PRIEST

Lord Jesus Christ, King and High Priest of the Holy Church,
Who ordered Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles,
to feed the sheep and lambs of Thy flock,
Giving Him the Holy Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven:
turn Thy gaze to the Church Militant on earth,
besieged by external and internal enemies who plot Her destruction
and seek the ruin of the souls Thou hast redeemed with Thy Most Precious Blood.

We, prostrate before Thine altar, recognize Thee as our King and Lord,
and we offer homage to Thee as the Supreme High Priest of the Mystical Body.

For too long, Lord, we have disgusted Thee with our lukewarmness;
for too long we have silently witnessed the betrayal of Thy holy Law;
for too long we have confused the virtue of Obedience with vile servility.

We remained silent when Thy doctrine was denied by infidel mercenaries;
we tolerated Thy Holy Sacrifice being adulterated and tampered with;
we looked away while Thou was offended and profaned in the Blessed Sacrament,
we put human respect and the spirit of the world
ahead of the duty to bear witness to Thy Name
and profess the Faith that Thou hast taught us.

How we could be surprised today that, in the face of so much tepidity, so many betrayals,
Thy Justice rightly punishes us with the severity of the Father
offended by his ungrateful children?

And how could we hope for Thy Mercy, when we have denied Thee more times than Peter, when we have worshipped the golden calf, just like, and even worse than, the Jews in the desert?

We dare not lift our gaze toward the Throne of Thy Majesty,
because we fear meeting the face of wrath and anger
that our innumerable personal and social faults have heaped upon our heads.

Allow us therefore, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father,
to turn to Thy Most Holy Mother, Our Lady and Queen:
Allow us to have recourse to Her,
whom in humility Thou allowed to crush the head of the Serpent,
so that we, confident and repentant, may see our prayers answered.

As our High Priest, intercede with the Father and the Holy Spirit
so that Thou, Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, may free us from the assaults of an enemy
who is all the more ferocious the closer the inexorable hour of his eternal defeat approaches.

May Mary Most Holy, Your Living Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant,
vanquish Satan and his hosts.

We place in the hands of your most August Mother,
all the misery of our supplications, our fasting, and our penances;
aware that She, Mediatrix of all Graces and Help of Christians,
will be able to present them before Thee and ask for Thy forgiveness
bringing about an end to these terrible days of subversion and apostasy.

And, as the Immaculate Virgin was united with Thy Passion as Co-Redemptrix,
so we implore Thee to unite Thyself to the Passion of the Church, Thy mystical Body,
so that the treasures of Graces of our Redemption through Thy Cross
may they still be poured out on the Holy Church, on her Ministers, on all the faithful
and on the many souls Thou hast regenerated in the Font of Baptism.

Have mercy on Thy flock, abandoned by the shepherds and left at the mercy of predatory wolves.
Have mercy on the Bishops and Priests who suffer persecution for being faithful to Thee.
Have mercy on the men and women religious who implore Thee in the silence of their cloisters.
Have mercy on the faithful, hungry for the heavenly food of the Most Holy Eucharist
and thirst for the pure water of Thy Word.

And if the authority of the Chief Shepherd, whom Thou established on earth as Thy Vicar,
is today usurped to disperse the flock and become an accomplice to the workers of iniquity,
deign to open the eyes of those who refuse to see the massacre of innocents that is taking place, the ruin of so many souls destined for the glory of Heaven, the scandalization of the little ones.

Touch the hearts of the pastors who gather in the Synod:
Give them the courage to defend strenuously, even to the point of sacrificing their lives,
that immutable treasure of Faith and Morals that the Apostles transmitted to us intact.

Send Thy Spirit, the Consoler, to enlighten misguided minds.
Inflame sterile and rebellious hearts with the fire of Thy Charity.

Awaken in Thy Ministers apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls,
for the honor of the Holy Church, and for Thy Glory.

Restore virile pride to the Consecrated,
so that they may have Thee as a model of purity and sanctity

and let them avoid the corruption of vices and the plague of impurity.

Inspire those in authority with feelings of true repentance and resolutions of sincere reparation for the scandals that humiliate Thy Bride and disgust souls,
so that the Calvary that the Church will have to climb, following Thine example,
in order to merit eternal glory,
may find us and our Pastors worthy of fighting the spiritual battle that awaits us
under Thy holy insignia and under the protective mantle of Thy Most August Mother.

And so may it be.

Amen

+ His Excellency, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

October 2023