PRAYERS FOR PRIESTS 2009--The Year of the Priest Mary, Queen of Priests, pray for them. Help them to faithfully love and serve Jesus. Help them lead many souls to Jesus in the Eucharist! A GOOD PRIEST Baroness de Hueck Doherty A priest is a lover of God. A priest is a lover of men. A priest is a holy man because he walks before the Face of the All Holy. A priest understands all things. A priest forgives all things. A priest encompasses all things. The heart of a priest, like Christ's, is pierced with the lance of love. The heart of a priest is open, like Christ's, for the whole world to walk through. The heart of a priest is a vessel of compassion. The heart of a priest is a chalice of love. The heart of a priest is the trysting place of human and divine love. A priest is a man whose goal is to be another Christ. A priest is a man who lives to serve. A priest is a man who has crucified himself, so that he too may be lifted up and draw all things to Christ. A priest is a man in love with God. A priest is the gift of God to man, and of man to God. A priest is a symbol of the Word made flesh. A priest is the naked sword of God's justice. A priest is the hand of God's mercy. A priest is the reflection of God's love.
A PRAYER FOR PRIESTS By the late John J Cardinal Carberry Keep them; I pray Thee, dearest Lord. Keep them, for they are Thine The priests whose lives burn out before Thy consecrated shrine. Keep them, for they are in the world, Though from the world apart. When earthly pleasures tempt, allure -- Shelter them in Thy heart. Keep them and comfort them in hours Of loneliness and pain, When all their life of sacrifice For souls seems but in vain. Keep them and remember, Lord, they have no one but Thee. Yet, they have only human hearts, With human frailty. Keep them as spotless as the Host, That daily they caress; Their every thought and word and deed, Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.
Remember... If the priest is a saint, his people will be holy. If the priest is holy, his people will be good. If the priest is good, his people will be fair. If the priest is fair, his people will be mediocre. If the priest is mediocre, his people will be bad. : -Anon. To honour the priesthood is to honour the great High Priest, Jesus Christ. To see Christ in the priest is a sure way of finding God. Father James, 0-F.M. Cap. He who honors a priest honors Christ; he who insults a priest insults Christ. St. John Chrysostom If I saw an angel and a priest, I would bend my knee; first to the priest and then to the angel. St. Francis of Assisi Jesus, Savior of the world, sanctify Thy priests and sacred ministers. Indulgence of 300 days, Raccolta 0 Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us; obtain for us many and holy priests..... You must never forget that priests are, and that they remain, men. God does not perform a miracle to wrest them from the human state.
The priesthood does not of itself give a person the power to do everything or to excel in everything. It is important to remember this lest you fall into a very old error... that of dehumanizing the priesthood and consequently of setting the priest outside of ordinary life. That does great harm for by thus isolating him, as unbelievers do, to the exclusive realm of ceremonies... he is deprived in good part of his reason for being. If men refuse to pass through him, he no longer can be, at least fully, their mediator. Cardinal Suhard Prayer for Priests by St. Therese of Lisieux O Jesus, eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart, where none may touch them. Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Your Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with your Precious Blood. Keep pure and unearthly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood. Let Your holy love surround them and shield them from the world's contagion. Bless their labors with abundant fruit and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here and in heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown. Amen.
"prayersforpriests.com and More" book now available through Radio Family Rosary DAILY PRAYER FOR PRIESTS Have you ever considered adopting in prayer a brother Priest? "Mary Help of Christians" has suggested the following: Ask Mary to assign him to you. Love him like a real brother. Daily pray and sacrifice for him. Shield him from temptation. Beg God that he avoid giving scandal. Call him back to fervor. Become a saint that he may become one. Pray that Mary be a tender Mother to him and find him good friends.
Ask for a new vocation to replace him. PRAYER FOR PRIESTS O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life. In their loneliness, comfort them. In their sorrows, strengthen them. In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed for the work of redemption. O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests, take to your heart your sons who are close to you because of their priestly ordination and because of the power which they have received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs them so much. Be their comfort, be their joy, be their strength, and especially help them to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy. (By J. J. Cardinal Carberry)
Prayer to Adopt a priest in prayer Make a Holy Hour for a priest Divine Mercy Novena, Day 2 Today bring to Me THE SOULS OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyardupon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.