​

Prayers and Practices

 

Knights and member candidates are required to adhere to the following prayers and practices:

 

• Receive the Blessed Sacrament during Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue, while mentally repeating “Domine non sum dignus.”

• Attend the Holy Tridentine Mass of the Roman Rite for Holy Days of Obligation.

• Receive Holy Communion, or make a spiritual communion if unable to receive the Blessed Sacrament, weekly.

• Recite the Leonine Prayers, of Pope Leo XIII, after every Holy Mass.

• Make a good confession weekly.

• Pray before the Blessed Sacrament, as an act of adoration, exposed or veiled in the tabernacle, weekly.

• Pray the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary daily.

• Pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary daily; Matins and Compline are required.

• Dedicate 30 minutes daily for spiritual reading.

• Devote 15 minutes daily for meditation on Divine truth and mysteries. A good meditation on the Joyful, Sorrowful, or Glorious mysteries, while praying the Holy Rosary, will fulfill the devotion.

• Offer your daily labor, with a special intention, as an oblation to God. 

• Consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, don a Blessed Brown Scapular for all the days of your life.

• Confess a vow of chastity to the Immaculate Mother of God.

• Partially abstain from meat for all Wednesdays, as the day that Judas betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Abstain from meat for all Fridays, as the day that the Lord gave his Flesh and Blood for the forgiveness of sins.

• Partially abstain from meat for all Saturdays, as the day that the Blessed Virgin Mary maintained the Faith.

• Adhere to all requirements to partially abstain, abstain, and fast for major Feast Days, Ember Days, and Rogation Days.

• Adhere to the traditional rules, by St. Thomas Aquinas, for Lent.

​

​

Prayers to the Holy Patrons

 

• St. James the Greater, Ap

 

O glorious Apostle, Saint James, who by reason of they fervent and generous heart wast chosen by Jesus to be a witness of His glory on Mount Thabor, and of His agony in Gethsemane; thou, whose very name is a symbol of warfare and victory: obtain for us strength and consolation in the unending warfare of this life, that, having constantly and generously followed Jesus, we may be victors in the strife and deserve to receive the victor's crown in heaven. Amen. - The Prayer Book, Catholic Press, 1954

 

• St. Michael the Archangel

 

O glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, and spirits of evil. Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist Thee, nor was there place for them any longer in heaven. That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, his spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilential breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity. These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the Spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered. Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate Thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

 

• Sts. Peter and Paul, Aps

 

O glorious Saint Peter, who, in return for thy lively and generous faith, thy profound and sincere humility, and thy burning love, wast honored by Jesus Christ with singular privileges, and, in particular, with the leadership of the other Apostles and the primacy of the whole Church, of which thou wast made the foundation stone, do thou obtain for us the grace of a lively faith, that shall not fear to profess itself openly, in its entirety and in all of its manifestations, even to the shedding of blood, if occasion should demand it, and to the sacrifice of life itself in preference to surrender. Obtain for us likewise, a sincere loyalty to our holy mother, the Church; grant that we may ever remain most closely and sincerely united to the Roman Pontiff, who is the heir of thy faith and of thy authority, the one, true, visible Head of the Catholic Church, that mystic ark outside which there is no salvation. Grant, moreover, that we may follow, in all humility and meekness, her teaching and her counsels, and may be obedient to all her precepts, in order to be able here on earth to enjoy a peace that is sure and undisturbed, and to attain one day in heaven to everlasting happiness. Amen

Pray for us, Saint Peter the Apostle,

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who hast given unto Thy blessed Apostle Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the power to bind and loose: grant that we may be delivered, through the help of his intercession, from the bonds of all our sins: who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

 

O glorious Saint Paul, who, from being a persecutor of the Christian name, didst become its most zealous Apostle, and who, to carry the knowledge of Jesus, our divine Savior, to the uttermost parts of the earth, didst joyfully suffer prison, scourgings, stonings, shipwreck and all manner of persecutions, and who didst finish thy course by shedding the last drop of thy blood: obtain for us the grace to accept, as favors bestowed by the mercy of God, the infirmities, sufferings and misfortunes of this life, that we may not grow slack in our service of God by reason of these vicissitudes of our exile, but that we may the rather show ourselves ever more devoted. Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Paul the Apostle,

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who hast taught the multitude of the Gentiles by the preaching of blessed Paul the Apostle: grant unto us, we beseech Thee, that we who keep his memory sacred, may feel the might of his intercession before Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Prayers to the Civil Patrons

 

• Emperor Constantine the Great

 

We acknowledge Thou art God alone;

we recognize Thee as our King and implore your succor.

By Thy favor we have received victory,

through Thee we are made mightier than our enemies.

 

We render thanks for Thy past benefits,

and hope in Thee for future blessings.

Together we pray to Thee, and beseech Thee

to preserve us, safe and victorious, our emperor Constantine

and his pious sons. - Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, 1890

 

• Blessed Emperor Charlemagne

O mighty Emperor, you who of old was the arbiter of the whole European family assembled under your scepter, have mercy on this society that today is being destroyed in all its parts. After more than a thousand years, the Empire that the Church placed in your hands has collapsed as a chastisement for its infidelity to the Church that founded it. The nations still remain, troubled and afflicted. Only the Church can return life to them through the Faith; only she continues to be the depositary of public law; only she can govern the powerful and bless the obedient. - Dom Prosper Gueranger O.S.B.

​

• Saint King Louis IX, C

O holy King St. Louis,

worthy son of our Holy Father St. Francis

and patron of the Third Order,

intercede for me with our Heavenly Father.

 

Obtain for me the grace to follow in thy footsteps,

to be always a dutiful child of St. Francis,

and to observe exactly, all the days of my life,

that holy rule which thou loved so ardently and kept so faithfully.

 

Be my guide and protector,

so that I may never stray from the path of virtue

but increase daily in holiness and perfection,

and finally merit to be numbered among the chosen ones

of our Seraphic Father in Heaven. Amen. – Litany of Saint Louis IX, Franciscan

 

​​