- Justin Haggerty | The Daily Knight
Catholic Fatherhood: Defend the Domestic Church
Justin Haggerty | The Daily Knight
Confirmation (Traditional Catholic Priest)
Inspired by Pope Francis' declaration of 2021 as the 'Year of St. Joseph,' The Daily Knight will produce weekly articles to share and clarify the vocation of 'Catholic Fatherhood.' Our mission, at the Sacred Military Order of Knights of the Republic and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus, is to defeat modernism, the synthesis of all heresies, in the domestic church (the family), the parish, and society at large. Building your domestic church is the quintessential foundation for fostering the faith and rebuilding Christendom.
Prayer to St. Joseph by Pope Leo XIII:
To thee, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. Through that charity which bound thee to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which thou embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg thee to graciously regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with thy power and strength to aid us in our necessities.
O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be propitious to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness; and, as once thou rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by thy constant protection, so that, supported by thy example and thy aid, we may be able to live piously, to die holy, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.
~ From the Raccolta #476 & Enchridion #6.
With March 19th being the Feast of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, confessor, and foster father of our Lord, it is fitting that we discuss the duty of Catholic families to attempt to resemble the virtues of the Holy Family. In particular, we must look at the responsibilities of a Catholic father.
The purpose and mission of the Sacred Military Order of Knights of the Republic and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus is to "defeat modernism, the synthesis of all heresies, and rebuild Christendom by defending the Faith, Holy Mother Church, the faithful, and reinforcing Christian virtue in the Republic."
Such a task, by the grace of God, can only be accomplished by eradicating the heresy on three fields of battle; the domestic church, the parish, and society. For a Catholic father, the greatest responsibly is leading the domestic church and protecting the family.
"How happy good [fathers] will be when they go before God's judgement seat and are able to say 'Those whom Thou hast given me I have guarded' (John 17:12)." - My Catholic Faith, 1954
As St. Joseph protected the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus in Egypt, Catholic fathers must make the same sacrifices and commitments to ensure the temporal and spiritual needs of their families.
Every Catholic father, as the head of the family and the domestic church, has the faculties to exemplify the magisterium of Christ, as the supreme princeps and pontiff of all time and space. The domestic church is a father's universe, and it is his role, bestowed by Christ, to cooperate with God to represent and enforce His Kingdom on Earth.
Not all Catholic men may have the wherewithal, charisma, or intelligence to play a larger roll in defending the Faith in the local parish and greater society; but, as fathers, we all have that solemn duty to pledge our lives to the family and be prepared to lay down that life, as our Savior laid down His.
The domestic church is one of the most important building blocks of the Church, as is the family a crucial unit of society, which is why are enemies spend such great focus and time on breaking down it's structure and integrity. Going all the way back to the serpent in the garden, the deceiver has always attempted to destroy the family. The family is a divine institution.
It is by the Holy Family that the Redeemer was brought into this world, and it is by Catholic families that the Faith will endure. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, in Christus Vincit, while reflecting on his family's tribulations in the Soviet Union, most correctly articulated a Catholic family's ability to keep the Faith in a land without it. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Faith remained intact.
For our fellow Knights and other Catholic fathers, who are engaging the enemy in the domestic church and looking for guidance, consider these tools to help protect your families:
- We are all sinners, but we must make an extra effort to refrain from sin, especially mortal sin, in the home.
- Own and display the family Holy Bible, preferably the Douay-Rheims or Challoner-Rheims, in the common area of the home.
- Establish a location for an altar, with a Crucifix and candles, in the common area of the home.
- Hang a Crucifix above the exterior doors of the home.
- Hang a Crucifix in every room of the home.
- Hang portraits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the common area of the home.
- Bless the home with Holy Water and consecrate it to the Holy Family; Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. If a priest is available, schedule a house blessing.
- Practice a regimented prayer life, leading the family in evening prayers and spiritual readings. It can be assumed that the Father with awake and start his day before the family, conducting his morning prayers and devotions before his wife and children.
- Celebrate and decorate the home for all major Catholic feast days.
- If financially stable and able to provide all temporal needs for the family, the mother should practice a healthy domestic life to care for and nurture the children.
- All heretical, profane, and indecent material should be removed from the home.
- Television, computer, and cell-phone usage should be moderated and screened.
- Alcohol should be moderated and consumed responsibly in the home.
These are great tools and devotions that any Catholic Father and Family should practice; but, by joining the Knights of the Republic and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus, we can give men the fraternal support to unite with Christ.
"And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me." - St. Paul to the Galatians 2:20
In Christ Crucified and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus.
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