Fortnight for Freedom, cont.

Prayer for Religious Liberty

"O God Our Creator,
from Your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have called us as Your people and given us the right and the duty to worship You, the only true God, and Your Son, Jesus Christ. Through the power and working of Your Holy Spirit, You call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.

"We ask You to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty. Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of Your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.

"Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all Your sons and daughters gathered in Your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome--for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us--this great land will always be "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Amen"

June 28---

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."  2 Cor. 3:17

"Lord Jesus, Divine Martyr of Calvary,
the Passionist Martyrs of Daimiel generously sacrificed their lives in order that Thy universal Kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love, and peace, become a reality upon earth.  Through the merits of their sacrifice, united to Thine upon the Cross, grant that we may work untiringly for the coming of Thy Kingdom of salvation in the entire world, living as brothers and forgiving one another.  Through the intercession of these Thy martyrs, grant us also the particular grace we humbly implore for Thy glory and the good of our souls. 
Amen."

Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War
From July 18, 1936 to April 1, 1937, no fewer than 6,832 priests and religious, both men and women, were killed for the Faith.  Of the martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, ten were canonized in 1999, and there have been over 500 beatifications.

John Dickinson, signer of the U.S. Constitution

"[Governments] could not give the rights essential to happiness...We claim them from a higher source:  from the King of kings, and the Lord of all the earth."