July 20 - Prayer to St. Apollinaris

O suffering shepherd severely persecuted for your work of evangelization, you ever continued to preach the faith and convert multitudes despite all the tortures the ravenous beasts of this earth could muster; a true apostle you proved to be, martyred even as Christ's Twelve – how shall we find a measure of your conviction, of your persistence in spreading the Gospel of the Lord? Pray for us, blessed shepherd, that we who are weak of will and so fearful of the slightest disturbance to our comfort and ease shall learn by God's grace to give our lives as freely as you in the service of man's salvation.