PRAYERS AND REFLECTIONS
"If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence. What the Spirit brings is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit."
Galatians 5: 16, 22-23, 25
Two very beautiful Guides for Praying for Priests and Vocations ...
(source: www.prayingforourpriests.org)
(source: www.prayingforourpriests.org)
A CATECHISM ON THE PRIESTHOOD
by St. John Vianney
by St. John Vianney
CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Venerable Felix of Jesus Rougier, M.Sp.S.J.
O Holy Spirit, receive the absolute and complete consecration of my whole being. In every instant of my life and in all my actions, be my Director, my Light, my Guide, my Strength, and the Love of my heart.
I surrender myself without reservations to the loving action of your grace. I desire to always be docile to your inspirations. Transform me through Mary in Christ Priest and Victim that I may console His Sacred Heart and extend your kingdom of holiness for the glory of the Father and the salvation of mankind.
Jesus, Savior of mankind, Save them!
Venerable Felix of Jesus Rougier, M.Sp.S.J.
O Holy Spirit, receive the absolute and complete consecration of my whole being. In every instant of my life and in all my actions, be my Director, my Light, my Guide, my Strength, and the Love of my heart.
I surrender myself without reservations to the loving action of your grace. I desire to always be docile to your inspirations. Transform me through Mary in Christ Priest and Victim that I may console His Sacred Heart and extend your kingdom of holiness for the glory of the Father and the salvation of mankind.
Jesus, Savior of mankind, Save them!
"Listen well: evangelization is done on one’s knees. Without a constant relationship with God, the mission becomes a job. But for what do you work? As a tailor, a cook, a priest ... is your job being a priest, being a sister? No. It is not a job, but rather something else. The risk of activism, of relying too much on structures, is an ever-present danger. If we look towards Jesus, we see that prior to any important decision or event he recollected himself in intense and prolonged prayer. Let us cultivate the contemplative dimension, even amid the whirlwind of more urgent and heavy duties. And the more the mission calls you to go out to the margins of existence, let your heart be the more closely united to Christ’s heart, full of mercy and love. Herein lies the secret of pastoral fruitfulness, of the fruitfulness of a disciple of the Lord!"
(Pope Francis in his homily about "Vocations" to Seminarians, Novices and Young People - July 7, 2013)
PRAYER TO BE SAID AT THE PRIEST'S COMMUNION
O Lord, may Thou find shelter and rest gently within the heart of Thy priest . . . [name]
Make him, O Lord, a priest according to Thy Heart: meek, humble, zealous,
so that all he does will be for Thine honor and glory.
Mold him into a man of prayer and labor, insensible to earthly things,
and sensible only to Thy love and to the graces of the Holy Ghost.
Amen
O Lord, may Thou find shelter and rest gently within the heart of Thy priest . . . [name]
Make him, O Lord, a priest according to Thy Heart: meek, humble, zealous,
so that all he does will be for Thine honor and glory.
Mold him into a man of prayer and labor, insensible to earthly things,
and sensible only to Thy love and to the graces of the Holy Ghost.
Amen
PRAYER TO ST. JOHN VIANNEY, PATRON SAINT OF PARISH PRIESTS
Dear Saint John Mary Vianney,
Your childhood dream was to be a priest, to win souls for God.
You endured years of toil and humiliation to attain the priesthood.
You became a priest truly after God's own heart,
outstanding in humility and poverty, prayer and mortification,
totally devoted to the service of God's people.
The Church has exalted you as model and Patron Saint of all parish priests,
trusting that your example and prayers will help them
to live up to the high dignity of their vocation to be faithful servants of God's people,
to be perfect imitators of Christ the Saviour
who came not to be served but to serve, to give His life in ransom for many.
Pray that God may give to His Church today many more priests after His own heart.
Pray for all priests under your patronage,
that they may be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.
May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance;
be examples of humility and poverty; shining modelss of holiness;
tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God;
zealous dispensers of God's Grace in the sacraments.
May their loving devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary His Mother
be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry. Amen.
Dear Saint John Mary Vianney,
Your childhood dream was to be a priest, to win souls for God.
You endured years of toil and humiliation to attain the priesthood.
You became a priest truly after God's own heart,
outstanding in humility and poverty, prayer and mortification,
totally devoted to the service of God's people.
The Church has exalted you as model and Patron Saint of all parish priests,
trusting that your example and prayers will help them
to live up to the high dignity of their vocation to be faithful servants of God's people,
to be perfect imitators of Christ the Saviour
who came not to be served but to serve, to give His life in ransom for many.
Pray that God may give to His Church today many more priests after His own heart.
Pray for all priests under your patronage,
that they may be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.
May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance;
be examples of humility and poverty; shining modelss of holiness;
tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God;
zealous dispensers of God's Grace in the sacraments.
May their loving devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary His Mother
be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry. Amen.
During my recent visit to Turin, I prayed before the sacred Shroud, which invites us to contemplate the face of Christ and to ponder the mystery of his death and resurrection. As members of Christ’s Body, the Church, all the baptized are called to share in his saving work. In these final days of the Year for Priests, however, I would like to return to the specific ministry of the priest and, today, to his ministry of sanctification. Holiness, as we know, is proper to God, who is himself absolute truth, goodness, love and beauty. As ministers of Christ, priests bring us into life-giving contact with the mystery of God’s holiness. Thanks to the priest’s preaching of the Gospel and his celebration of the sacraments, we are enabled to approach God and to be transformed gradually into the divine image. In the celebration of the sacraments, and in particular the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Christ’s sanctifying work is constantly made present and effective. In their devout celebration of the sacraments, priests sanctify the faithful and are themselves sanctified and configured ever more closely to Christ. I ask all of you to pray for priests and their ministry of sanctification, that they may be true shepherds according to God’s heart.
BLESSED TERESA OF CALCUTTA VOCATION SOCIETY (BTCVS) PRAYER FOR PRIESTS
Lord Jesus, you have chosen your priests from among us and sent them out to proclaim your word and act in your name. For so great a gift to your Church, we give you praise and thanksgiving. We ask you to fill them with the fire of your love, that their ministry may reveal your presence in the Church. Since they are earthen vessels, we pray that your power shines out through their weakness. In their afflictions let them never be crushed, in their doubts never despair, in temptation never be destroyed, and in persecution never abandoned. Inspire them through prayer to live each day the mystery of your dying and rising. In times of weakness send them your Spirit, and help them to praise your Heavenly Father and pray for poor sinners. By your same Holy Spirit put your word on their lips and your love in their hearts, to bring good news to the poor and healing to the brokenhearted. And may the gift of Mary, your Mother, to the disciple whom you loved, be your gift to every priest. Grant that she who formed you in her human image, may form them in your divine image, by the power of your Spirit, to the glory of God the Father, Amen.
(see the BTCVS website HERE)
Lord Jesus, you have chosen your priests from among us and sent them out to proclaim your word and act in your name. For so great a gift to your Church, we give you praise and thanksgiving. We ask you to fill them with the fire of your love, that their ministry may reveal your presence in the Church. Since they are earthen vessels, we pray that your power shines out through their weakness. In their afflictions let them never be crushed, in their doubts never despair, in temptation never be destroyed, and in persecution never abandoned. Inspire them through prayer to live each day the mystery of your dying and rising. In times of weakness send them your Spirit, and help them to praise your Heavenly Father and pray for poor sinners. By your same Holy Spirit put your word on their lips and your love in their hearts, to bring good news to the poor and healing to the brokenhearted. And may the gift of Mary, your Mother, to the disciple whom you loved, be your gift to every priest. Grant that she who formed you in her human image, may form them in your divine image, by the power of your Spirit, to the glory of God the Father, Amen.
(see the BTCVS website HERE)
“The voice of Jesus is unique. If we learn to distinguish it, he will guide us on the path of life, a path that leads us even beyond the abyss of death.”
Pope Francis during the April 2013 Ordination of 10 Priests in Rome
PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEART FOR PRIESTS
Remember, 0 most loving Heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom You prayed so earnestly the night before Your death. These are they to whom You look to continue with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, who share Your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to Your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord. Remember, O Heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the world's hatred and Satan's deadliest snares. Keep them then, 0 Jesus, in the safe citadel of Your Sacred Heart and there let them be sanctified in truth. May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in You and love You. Amen.
Remember, 0 most loving Heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom You prayed so earnestly the night before Your death. These are they to whom You look to continue with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, who share Your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to Your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord. Remember, O Heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the world's hatred and Satan's deadliest snares. Keep them then, 0 Jesus, in the safe citadel of Your Sacred Heart and there let them be sanctified in truth. May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in You and love You. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, you ordained the apostles priests at the Last Supper to continue your mission of mercy to the end of time. We believe that every Catholic priest traces his ordination to that first ordination on Holy Thursday night.
We know how much you expect of your priests and we also know how weak and human they are. Inspire us, dear Jesus, to pray and sacrifice for your priests who are also our priests that by their faithfulness to you in this life they may bring countless souls to you in the life to come.
Mary, mother of priests, pray for priests that they may love your Divine Son, even as you did unreservedly, all the days of their lives. Amen.
(~ Fr. John Hardon 1998)
We know how much you expect of your priests and we also know how weak and human they are. Inspire us, dear Jesus, to pray and sacrifice for your priests who are also our priests that by their faithfulness to you in this life they may bring countless souls to you in the life to come.
Mary, mother of priests, pray for priests that they may love your Divine Son, even as you did unreservedly, all the days of their lives. Amen.
(~ Fr. John Hardon 1998)