We belong to the Church militant ; and she is militant because on earth the powers of darkness are ever restless to encompass her destruction. Not only in the far-off centuries of the early Church, but down through the ages and in this our day, the enemies of God and Christian civilization make bold to attack the Creator’s supreme dominion and sacrosanct human rights. No rank of the clergy is spared ; and the faithful—their number is legion—inspired by the valiant endurance of their shepherds and fathers in Christ, stand firm, ready to suffer and die, as the martyrs of old, for the one true Faith taught by Jesus Christ. Into that militia you seek to be admitted as leaders. -Venerable. Pope Pius XII delivered on 14 October 1953 (Acta Apostalicae Sedis 45 (1953) pp 679 ff.) at the opening of the North American College in Rome.
Pope Pius XII Prayer for the Church Militant
Bless, O divine redeemer, the sacred hierarchy, the ministers of the sanctuary and those who aspire to the priesthood, and all who, renouncing the world, have consecrated themselves to you in the various forms of religious life. Bless the courageous groups of the lay apostolate and revive among them in full measure the courage of their Christian profession, the ardor of their zeal, and the firmness of manly fidelity. Bless the rulers of nations and inspire in them ideals of justice and peace, of fraternal understanding and mutual cooperation so that, freed from all threat of domination and violence, all people may live and serve God quietly and peacefully, and then pass from their days of labor here on Earth to the joys of their Heavenly home. Bless the families in whose protective bosoms are nurtured the generations that will form the church of tomorrow. Bless and assist young boys and girls, whose purity, strength, and spiritual joy are one of the most heartfelt concerns of your spouse, holy mother, the church.
Bless and encourage those whose sentiments, thoughts, words, and works have been sullied by Earthly allurements and deceitful errors. Help them find again the way that alone can lead them from the depths of tepidity and indifference and separation from God to truth and salvation. Pour forth your blessing on all who are suffering in body and soul. Raise up in every-increasing numbers generous souls who are ready to go wherever they may hear of tears, mourning, or sorrow, ready to dedicate their spiritual and physical strength and their material possessions to the care of the many infants that have been abandoned along the ways, to the support of the numerous old people who are destitute of all help. May they be prepared to assist the needy who are incessantly torn between want and sickness, the innumerable exiles who are wandering about in search of a new country, and all who are oppressed and are the victims of human injustices.
Give courage to all who are groaning in hospitals, languishing in prisons, possibly even unjustly, or pining away in places of exile and suffering. Strengthen the fortitude of those who are suffering in their honor, their liberty, and in their bodies for the defense of their faith. May they be noble examples of fidelity in your service, O you who are the divine conqueror of death and the underworld.Triumph, O Jesus, be triumphant! Come! May your kingdom march forward! May your sovereignty shine forth on the Earth, always better known and loved, in proportion to the infinite power of your divine blood, which was shed for the redemption of the whole world.
Amen
