Nothing is more important than the Mass and the Church is bound to keep celebrating it in and out of season. And that includes during a war.

Here are some photos of priests celebrating Mass in war zones, or at least out on the field for members of the military.

You can click on any image to enlarge it.

American soldiers in the bombed Cologne Cathedral (March 1945)

via imgur
via imgur

U.S. Civil War (~1861-1865)

Public Domain / via imgarcade.com
Public Domain / via imgarcade.com

A bombed chapel in Dommartin, France (WWII?)

Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

U.S. 5th Marine Regiment at one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces in Tikrit, Iraq (April, 19th, 2003)

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

U.K. Royal Air Force in Central Burma (WWII)

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

111th Naval Construction Battalion in Normandy, France (June, 18th 1944; D-Day + 12)

Public Domain / lee.ekstrom / Flickr
Public Domain / lee.ekstrom / Flickr

First Catholic Mass inside a Japanese hanger (WWII?)

Public Domain / Emily Barney, Flickr
Public Domain / Emily Barney, Flickr

American soldiers from the 80th “Blue Ridge” Division (WWII?)

Public Domain / lee.ekstrom, Flickr
Public Domain / lee.ekstrom, Flickr

Soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment in Badula Qulp, Afghanistan (February 21st, 2010)

U.S. Army / Flickr
U.S. Army / Flickr

65th AAA Batallion at Bolo Point, Okinawa (July 19, 1951)

Public Domain / lee.ekstrom, Flickr
Public Domain / lee.ekstrom, Flickr

Sante-Barbe, France (WWI)

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Münster, Germany (1946)

via catholicvs.blogspot.com
via catholicvs.blogspot.com

A Marine receiving the Eucharist kneeling and on the tongue on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima (February or March 1945)

Public Domain / via ww2db.com
Public Domain / via ww2db.com

Father Emil Kapaun celebrating mass in Korea (~1950-1953)

via thepapist.org
via thepapist.org

Prayer for Our Military

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad.

Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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