Lord God, you called Saint Andrew, your apostle, to preach the gospel and to guide your Church. We humbly pray that he may always plead for us in your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Lord, we thank you for the goodness of our people and for the spirit of justice that fills this nation. We thank you for the beauty and fullness of the land and the challenge of the cities. We thank you for our work and our rest, for one another, and for our homes. We thank you, Lord: accept our thanksgiving on this day. We pray and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

“If the Lord at the moment of my death reproves me for being too kind to sinners, I will answer, ‘My Dear Jesus, if it is a fault to be too kind to sinners, it is a fault I learned from you, for you never scolded anyone who came to you seeking mercy.'” ~Saint Leonard of Port Maurice

God of power and mercy, you gave St Catherine of Alexandria, your martyr, victory over pain and suffering. Strengthen us who celebrate this day of her triumph and help us to be victorious over the evils that threaten us. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Oh Blessed Columban, who in your zeal to follow Christ left your homeland as a wanderer and spent your life in suffering and exile, help and protect, we humbly ask you, the missionaries of our day who have devoted their lives to preaching the Gospel throughout the world. Obtain for them, we ask you, that same wisdom and fortitude by which you overcame the dangers which beset your path, and that firm faith and ardent love which enabled you to endure gladly the privations of this life for the love of Christ. Assist and protect us, also, dear Saint Columban, so as to live for God’s glory that when our pilgrimage is over, we may share with you in the joy of our heavenly home, Through Christ our Lord. Amen

God, who gladden us each year with the feast day of your handmaid Saint Cecilia, grant, we pray, that what has been devoutly handed down concerning her may offer us examples to imitate and proclaim the wonders worked in his servants by Christ your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

As we venerate the glorious memory of the most holy Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, O Lord, through her intercession, that we, too, may merit to receive from the fullness of your grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

“There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” ~Saint Oscar Romero

“Christ chose to be the socially insignificant one. The fact that he descended from heaven to take upon himself the form of a servant is not an accident which now is to be thrust into the background and forgotten. No, every true follower of Christ must express existentially the very same thing – that insignificance and offense are inseparable from being a Christian. As soon as the least bit of worldly advantage is gained by preaching or following Christ, then the fox is in the chicken house.” ~Søren Kierkegaard