Add Your Prayers to a Spiritual
Bouquet For Cardinal Burke’s
Priestly Anniversary

Dear Friend,

Today, the 29th of June, we celebrate the joint feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul. Reserved for only the most important events, this day is a solemnity, or a feast day of the highest rank. These great apostles are the “joint patron saints” of the city of Rome under Roman Catholic tradition, thus it is the patronal feast of Rome and a high feast day throughout the Church. As we honor these great saints and their martyrdom, let us be sure to set aside time to recite the Litany to St. Peter, prince of the apostles provided below.

Also, today, Cardinal Burke celebrates his 45th year of ordination to the priesthood of the Holy Catholic Church. Throughout his vocation, he has served as the Bishop of LaCrosse, Archbishop of St. Louis, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, and is presently a member of the College of Cardinals.

I would like to thank all of you for joining Catholic Action for Faith and Family as we prepare to present Cardinal Burke with a spiritual bouquet of prayers and offerings on the occasion of his birthday tomorrow. This spiritual bouquet will also be a token of gratitude for his fidelity to Holy Mother Church and to ask God to continue to grant him the graces he needs to fulfill his priestly vocation.

Pope St. John Paul II said that "the priestly vocation is essentially a call to sanctity!" And the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood."

In this day and age when confusion, error and contradiction abound, it is consoling and edifying to know that high-ranking officials in the Catholic Church stand firm as examples of fidelity to the Truth taught by Our Lord Jesus Christ. Always remembering that one of the most essential parts of the Church’s mission is to teach and defend the Truth regardless of the consequences.

One of the best and greatest ways we can support our priests in their God-given vocation is through prayer. I encourage you to join with me to present a spiritual bouquet of prayer to Cardinal Burke on this special day of his birthday and on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of his priestly ordination.

Click here to present your spiritual bouquet to Cardinal Burke!

May Our Lady of the Rosary help you and bless you and your loved ones. And may She grant you the grace to come ever closer to Her Divine Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Sincerely in Jesus and Mary,

Thomas J. McKenna 
Founder and President
Catholic Action For Faith And Family
http://www.catholicaction.org/

Litany of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Queen conceived without Original Sin, pray for us.
Queen of Apostles, pray for us.
Saint Peter, pray for us.
Prince of the Apostles, pray for us.
St. Peter, to whom were given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, pray for us. St. Peter, so ardent for the glory of Christ, pray for us.
St. Peter, whose heart was pierced with one look from Jesus, pray for us.
St. Peter, who ceased not to grieve for having denied the Son of God, pray for us.
St. Peter, whose cheeks were furrowed by a stream of tears which flowed to the end of thy life,
pray for us.
St. Peter; who cried out, "Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee," pray for us.
St. Peter, bound in chains for Christ, pray for us.
St. Peter, delivered from prison by an Angel, pray for us.
St. Peter, who rejoiced to suffer for Christ, pray for us.
St. Peter, whose very shadow healed the sick, pray for us.
St. Peter, whose voice even the dead obeyed, pray for us.
St. Peter, that we may have a constant and mutual charity among ourselves, pray for us.
That we may taste and see more and more how sweet is the Lord, pray for us.
That we may be zealous in loyalty to thy successor, the present Vicar of Christ, pray for us.
That we may help, at least by prayer, to restore to the unity of thy Holy See the scattered sheep,
pray for us.
That we may be prudent and watchful in prayer, pray for us.
That we may die the death of the just, pray for us.

Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him,
R. And His wonderful works to the children of men.
V. Pray for us, Saint Peter the Rock,
R. That we may be worthy of the Vicar of Christ.
Let Us Pray: O Lord Jesus Christ, Who upon blessed Peter, Thine Apostle, didst bestow the pontifical power of binding and loosing, and didst give to him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, grant that his intercession may ensure our deliverance from the bondage of sin, Thou Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.