A Poem, a Prayer, and a Passage #5
A Poem: “Deathless Shepherd”
by Peter Kwasniewski
The deathless shepherd who should be
revered—”I am who am”—
Himself becomes the Servant; he
Becomes the slaughtered Lamb.
The one unseen, unheard, all past
The realm of mortal ken,
Takes flesh and face and voice;
at last He’s fellow man with men.
Unchanging Word in changing speech
Expressed, come down to earth,
To places where no light could reach
Until this piercing birth.
What fellowship hath Christ the Son
Of God with sons of wrath?
The answer, clearly, would be none,
Without the blood-won bath.
Upon the Tree he spilled this wine
Of love—it trickled down
From branch to branch, from vine to vine,
A flood enough to drown
All sins, all crimes, all guilt and pain
Of heaven’s loss and hell’s
Encroaching, shadowy domain—
All this, the Blood repels.
Bright Liquor, crimson Draught, I drink
In faith the life You give
In all I do or say or think,
That dying, I may live.
I cry to You, with heart and voice,
“O King, be king of me!
Transpierce my sense, my mind, my choice
To set my freedom free.
A Prayer for the Triumph of the Catholic Faith
by Bishop Athanasius Schneider
Almighty and eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we kneel before Your Majesty, and thank You from the depth of our soul for the inestimable gift of the Catholic Faith, which you have deigned to reveal to us through Jesus Christ, True God and True man. We received this divine light in holy baptism and have promised You to keep this faith inviolate until death.
Increase in us Your gift of the Catholic Faith. By Your grace, may it be strengthened and made unshakeable. Daily increase in us the understanding of the beauty and profoundness of the Catholic Faith, that we might live in the deep joy of Your divine truth and be ready to sacrifice all things rather than compromise on or betray this faith. Grant us the grace to be resolved to undergo a thousand deaths for even one article of the Creed.