Let's pray for the Holy Father

As we know, our Holy Father, Benedictus XVI, is to visit Turkey starting this Tuesday, November 28, and to be there until December 1.

All of us here in Los Angeles can join with the rest of the Church in praying for the success of the Holy Father's trip and especially for his safety. One specific way of doing that is to pray the prayer that the Knights of Columbus will be saying for the Holy Father. You can click on this post's title to see the prayer, and here it is, too:

Heavenly Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, we humbly ask that you sustain, inspire, and protect your servant, Pope Benedict XVI, as he goes on pilgrimage to Turkey – a land to which St. Paul brought the Gospel of your Son; a land where once the Mother of your Son, the Seat of Wisdom, dwelt; a land where faith in your Son’s true divinity was definitively professed.

Bless our Holy Father, who comes as a messenger of truth and love to all people of faith and good will dwelling in this land so rich in history. In the power of the Holy Spirit, may this visit of the Holy Father bring about deeper ties of understanding, cooperation, and peace among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and those who profess Islam.

May the prayers and events of these historic days greatly contribute both to greater accord among those who worship you, the living and true God, and also to peace in our world so often torn apart by war and sectarian violence.

We also ask, O Heavenly Father, that you watch over and protect Pope Benedict and entrust him to the loving care of Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Fatima, a title cherished both by Catholics and Muslims. Through her prayers and maternal love, may Pope Benedict be kept safe from all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel, and invites all peoples to a dialogue of faith, reason, and love. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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P.S. The photo here is from the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va

P.P.S. Anyone who visits the K of C website could, at the "Contact us" page, politely urge the Knights to expel the pro-abortion politicians who hypocritically belong to their order.