Collect taken from the memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
Collect: O God, who have made the blood of Martyrs the seed of Christians, mercifully grant that the field which is your Church, watered by the blood shed by Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, may be fertile and always yield you an abundant harvest. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…
“O God, who have made the blood of Martyrs the seed of Christians“
– We remind ourselves of Tertullian’s famous quote about the blood of martyrs. We recognize that Christians who give their lives for the love of God and his saving Truth are greatly helping the Gospel to spread because of their witness and their share in Christ’s own sacrifice.
“mercifully grant that the field which is your Church, watered by the blood shed by Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, may be fertile and always yield you an abundant harvest.”
– Knowing that martyrs win grace for us all, we still must continue to ask for God to pour that grace out on us. The “abundant harvest” that God wants from us is both an increase in numbers and an increase in intensity of holiness. With that in mind, we take all the examples and help we can get and pray that Charles Lwanga & his companions contribute always to that help.
Questions & Advice: What is your first response to being persecuted, even in small ways? What is your second response? Is the cross central to your practice of the faith?
Read about martyrdom in the Catechism (2473). Spend some of your daily prayer time in a thought experiment: how would you react in a situation where professing your faith would get you killed? What if it required a great deal of pain and suffering first? Pray for the gift to remain faithful and thank God both for preserving you from suffering and for the times you have had the opportunity to suffer for the faith.
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| Sancti Carole et Socii, ora pro nobis! |