Patron of Religious Freedom
“I die the king’s good servant, and God’s first, ” said Englishman Thomas More from the scaffold of his beheading, July 6, 1535. Beatified in 1886 and canonized in 1935, Pope John Paul II declared Saint Thomas More the heavenly patron of statesmen and politicians.
With 156 Catholics in the United States Congress, and many more Christians of other denominations, it is quite surreal to think we are in need of praying for religious liberty, and yet, here we are.
From the USCCB Fortnight of Freedom website:
St. Thomas More, Patron of Religious Freedom, Pray for Us
O God our Creator, from your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have called us as your people and given us the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ. Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit, you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty. Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome - for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us – this great land will always be “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.