First Thursday Reminder: Opportunities for Grace

Dear Spiritual Mothers, we have five First Thursdays left of the Year of the Priest to receive the Plenary Indulgence which the Church has offered for this particular year. The Church has encouraged us to offer this indulgence for our priests, seminarians, Bishops and other members of the hierarchy of the Church. It offers us many opportunites for Grace for our priests, families and ourselves.

First Thursday dates left are:

Thursday 4th February

Thursday 4th March

Thursday 1st April

Thursday 6th May

Thursday 3rd June

Conditions for a Plenary Indulgence:
Assist at Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion on one or all of the above days. Go to Confession and pray for the intentions of the Pope. Offer prayers to Jesus Christ supreme and eternal Priest, for the priest of His Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and conform priests to Christ’s Heart.

Conditions for a Partial Indulgence:
On any day of the year for priests, repeat five times the Our Father, Hail Mary, & Glory Be, in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to ask that priests maintain purity and sanctity of life.

This is the official prayer from the Church:
Dear Lord, we pray that the Blessed Mother wrap her mantle around Your priests and through her intercession strengthen them for their ministry. We pray that Mary will guide your priests to follow her own words “Do what ever He tells you” (Jn 2:5)


May Your priests have the heart of St Joseph, Mary’s most chaste spouse. May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer at the foot of the Cross. May Your priests be Holy, filled with the fire of Your love seeking nothing but Your greater glory and the salvation of souls.
Amen.

Here is a beautiful prayer from Cardinal Justin Rigali:  

Prayer for Vocations:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father, Son of the Virgin Mary, we thank You for offering Your life in sacrifice on the Cross, and for renewing this sacrifice in every Mass celebrated throughout the world. In the Power of the Holy Spirit we adore You and proclaim Your living presence in the Eucharist. We desire to imitate the love You show us in Your death and resurrection, by loving and serving one another. We ask you to call many young people to religious life, and to provide holy and generous priests that are so needed in Your Church today. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.

Amen

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 decent.

If the priest is decent, his people will be Godless

Act of love of the Holy Priest of Ars

I love you, oh my God and my only desire is to love you until my last breath.
I love you, oh infinitely kind God and I prefer to die loving you than to live a single moment without loving you.
I love you, oh my God and I long for heaven only in order to know the bliss of loving you perfectly.
I love you, oh my God and I only fear going to hell because there I will never experience the sweet consolation of loving you.
Oh my God, if my tongue is not able to say at every opportunity that I love you, I want at least my heart to repeat it to you as many times as I take a breath.
My God give me the grace of suffering out of love for you, of loving you while I suffer. Give me the grace of one day breathing my last out of love for you and at the same time feeling how much I love you.
The closer I come to my final end the more I beseech you to intensify and perfect my love for you.
Amen.