Click the Above to read the Life of Saint Gregory VII by Dom Gueranger, which Maria Angelo Grow has published on her Substack Page, “Maria Angela Catholic Devotional“, as Part I.

She will publish the readings from Matins in the Breviary of the Benedictines, in Part II.

From that, FromRome has copied the final Prophetic Prayer written by Dom Prosper. In the mean time, you can read Part II in its entirety on her X account, HERE.

 

May 25 Saint Gregory the Seventh, Pope and Confessor

by Dom Prosper Gueranger

DOM GUERANGER’s PROPHETIC PRARYER
TO SAINT HILDEBRAND

Pray, O Gregory, for this world, which thou didst rescue from barbarism, and which is now striving to relapse into degradation.

The men of this generation are ever talking of Liberty; it is in the name of this pretended Liberty that they have unchristianized Society; and the only means now left for maintaining order is outward violence and force.

Thou didst triumph over brute force, by making the laws of Right acknowledged and loved; thou gavest the world what it had lost—the Liberty of the sons of God, the Liberty of doing one’s duty—and it lasted for ages.

O come, noble-hearted Pontiff! aid this Europe of ours a second time. Beseech our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive the wickedness of them that have driven him from the world, and scoff at his threat of returning on the day of his triumph and his justice.

Yes, pray him to have mercy on the thousands among us who call themselves Christians—and perhaps are so—yet who are led astray by the absurd sophistry of the times, by blind prejudice, by a godless education, by high-sounding and vague words, and who call, by the name of Progress, the system of keeping men as far as possible from the End for which God created them. .

From the abode of peace, where thou art now resting after thy labors, look with an eye of affectionate pity on Holy Church, whose path is beset by countless difficulties. Everything conspires against her—remnants of bygone laws that were made in times of persecution; the frenzy of pride, which chafes at everything that favors subordination of rank or authority; and the determination to secularize Society, by scouting every element of the Supernatural.

In the midst of this storm of irreligion, the Rock on which thou, O Gregory, didst once hold the place of Peter, is furiously beaten by the waves of persecution.

Pray for our Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ. Like thee, he has loved justice and hated iniquity; and it seems as though he too will have to die in exile. Pray that the threatening scourge may be turned from Rome.

The followers of Satan, as St. John prophesies in the Apocalypse are come upon the breadth of the earth, and have encompassed the camp of the Saints, and the beloved City.

This Holy City was thy Spouse, when thou wast Pontiff here on earth; watch over her now. Disconcert the plots that are laid for her ruin. Rouse the zeal of the children of the Church, that, by their courage and generous offerings, they may labor for the noblest cause on earth. . Pray, too, for the Episcopal Order, of which the Apostolic See is the source.

The Anointed of the Lord have never had greater need of thine intercession than now, when they have to contend with a world that has openly divorced itself from the laws of God and his Church. May they be endued with strength from on high; courageous in the confession of Truth; and zealous in warning the Faithful against the errors that are now so rife against Faith and Morals. The power of the Church, in these our days, is confined to the sanctuary of the souls of her devoted children; external support is everywhere denied her.

The Holy Ghost, whose Mission is to maintain the Church of Christ, will indeed assist her even to the consummation of the world; but He does His work by instruments, and these must be men who are detached from the world, men who are not afraid to be unpopular, and men who are resolved, at every risk, to proclaim the teachings of the Sovereign Pontiff.

Great, by the mercy of God, is now the number of Pastors of the Church, who are all that He would have them be, who is the Prince of Pastors, as St. Peter calls him.

Pray for all, that all may, like thee, love justice and hate iniquity—love truth and hate error; and fear neither exile, nor persecution, nor death—for the Disciple is not above the Master! Amen.