(LifeSiteNews) — The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) has invited all faithful Catholics to join the traditional priestly fraternity in praying a nine-day novena to St. Joseph, starting tomorrow, with the intention of having the ongoing suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass lifted.
“Fr. John Fullerton, District Superior of the United States for the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), has asked the priests and religious in the houses of the SSPX to pray a novena and make a consecration to St. Joseph on the days leading up to his feast,” the Society posted on its website earlier this week, explaining that the novena will run from March 11 to March 19, with the consecratory prayer to be said after the final day, on March 20.
“We invite the faithful to also participate in these prayers to the Church’s Universal Patron ‘to protect her from the errors of liberalism,’ particularly the ongoing efforts to suppress what Archbishop Lefebvre called ‘the great prayer of the Church,’ the Traditional Latin Mass,” the priests added.
The group – founded by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 with the intention of preserving the Traditional Catholic faith – provided two links on its website for the faithful to access the prayers.
The first link contains the nine separate prayers that comprise the novena, and the other contains the Act of Consecration of the Society of Saint Pius X to St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church.
The call for a novena dedicated to the preservation of the traditional liturgy of the Roman Rite comes amid a forceful effort by Pope Francis to clamp down on the Latin Mass.
On top of his 2021 document Traditionis custodes – which first restricted the celebration of the Latin Mass after its use was liberalized by his predecessor, the now-deceased Pope Benedict XVI – Francis’ Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments under Cardinal Arthur Roche issued a Rescript just last month, making the application of the restrictions set forth under Traditionis custodes even stricter.
Since then, Catholics devoted to the Traditional Mass have been up in arms as bishops around the world begin to suppress the ancient liturgy in their dioceses.