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| San Giovanni, ora pro nobis |
O Glorious Saint John the Baptist, greatest prophet among those born of woman, although you were sanctified in your mother’s womb and did lead a most innocent life, nevertheless it was your will to retire into the wilderness, there to devote yourself to the practice of austerity and penance, obtain for me from your Lord the grace to be wholly detached, at least in my heart, from earthly goods, and to practice Christian mortification with interior recollection and with the spirit of holy prayer.
O Most Zealous Apostle, who, without working any miracle on others, but solely by the example of your life of penance and the power of your word, did draw after you the multitudes, in order to dispose them to receive the Messiah worthily and to listen to his heavenly doctrine, grant that it may be given unto me, by means of your example of a holy life and the exercise of every good work, to bring many souls to God, but above all to those souls that are enveloped in the darkness of error and ignorance and are led astray by vice.
O Martyr Invincible, who, for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, did with firmness and constancy withstand the impiety of Herod even at the cost of your own life, and did rebuke him openly for his wicked and dissolute life, by your prayers obtain for me a heart, brave and generous, in order that I may overcome all human respect and openly profess my faith in loyal obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Pray for me, Saint John the Baptist, that I may be made worthy of the promises of Christ, specifically, (Mention Request)
O God, who has made this day to be honorable in our eyes by the commemoration of blessed John the Baptist, grant unto your people the grace of spiritual joy, and direct the minds of all your faithful into the way of everlasting salvation. Amen.* The accompanying photo was taken at the now-closed Saint Joseph’s Church (5 Monroe Street) in New York City. The statue is currently in storage at St. Anthony of Padua Church (155 Sullivan Street) in Greenwich Village, New York.
