MAY THE LONG LINE NEVER BE BROKEN!
Praise be to you, O Most Holy Trinity, for the long unbroken line of true priests:
For those who wrote the divine truths on human hearts;
For those who in history’s hours of darkness kept the flame of faith burning;
For the stalwarts who, century after century, never ceased to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass at catacomb, cathedral, and battlefield;
For the men of infra-eternal vision who gave invincible hope to tired spirits;
For the defenders of the honor of God and the dignity of man;
For the surgeons of the spirit who prevented the second death;
For the soldiers of Christ who fought against the Enemy—the manipulative power behind the world’s darkness—and the servants of the Enemy, who unsheathed the sword of the spirit and barred the way to Hell,
For the men who stood their ground when their numbers dwindled and their days darkened,
For the many quiet and gracious sanctifiers who strengthened and took the sting out of life’s sorrows; whose blessing brought solace, whose presence dried tears, whose words quenched the fires of revenge, whose anointed touch healed soul-wounds;
For the ardent priests who purified this world;
For the noble regiments of missionary priests, cloistered priests, and silent hermits;
For the channels of light, strength, freedom, and genius;
For the lineage of builders of the strong walls of Christian civilization;
For so many men of heroic heart—
And may the long line never be broken! AMEN!
(From: William J. Slattery, Heroism and Genius, Ignatius Press, 2017)