Pope Benedict XVI has called the whole Church to celebrate a Year for Priests ! His purpose for this year is to encourage priests in their “striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends” and to highlight “the importance of the priest’s role and mission in the Church and in contemporary society”. To do this the Holy Father calls us to a renewed focus on the centrality of Christ in our lives and in the Church and that “brings with it the correct appreciation of the ministerial priesthood, without which there would be neither the Eucharist, nor even the mission nor the Church herself”. This same year is the 150th anniversary of the death of St John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, and also the occasion of the visit to England of the relics of St Therese of Lisieux – who from her Carmelite convent showed her life-long devotion to priests by praying for them, supporting them and corresponding with them. In a recent letter from Cardinal Hummes, prefect to the Congregation for the clergy he asks that “this year be an occasion for a period of intense appreciation of the priestly identity, of the theology of the Catholic priesthood, and of the extraordinary meaning of the vocation and mission of priests within the Church and in society.
Let’s Pray for our Priests!!!
Love them, Support them, encourage them…
Especially our very own Chaplain, Fr. Quinn
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.
Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us
St. Joseph, protect us
St. Michael, defend us
St. John Vianney, pray for us
Prayer for Priests
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.
~Therese of Lisieux
A PRIEST by: Servant of God, Catherine 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.
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