Thursday, June 24, 2010

Priest In Focus - Please pray for these priests.

Every Thursday we change the priest’s names for the weekly  
Priests In Focus.


We encourage ladies to offer an Ave for the priests mentioned in the PIF spot when visiting this site. You may wish to offer an Ave for these priests at any time in the week that you may remember. You can find the names of the priests for the week in the top right-hand side bar.

Of course you may also want to offer more than the Ave's, you may want to offer other prayers and sacrifices during the week for these particular priests; whatever you feel called to do, is a blessing.
  
This week's priests are:
Fr S Ledinich
 Fr P Crotty
Fr G Murray
Fr R Bona
Fr T Stock
Fr D Toups

A list of the individual priests we have prayed for here on the blog, are at the bottom of the right-hand side bar.
 If you have any priests you wish to nominate to be added to the Priests in Focus, please email us and we would be more than happy to add that priest to our list.

"May priests commit themselves, with prayer and good works, to obtaining from Christ the Eternal High Priest, the grace to shine with Faith, Hope, Charity and the other virtues, and show by their way of life, but also with their external conduct, that they are dedicated without reserve to the spiritual good of the people something that the Church has always had at heart".

Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles, bless us with holy, courageous priests!


Sunday, June 20, 2010

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Booklet for Spiritual Mothers for Priests

MAGNIFICAT ~ YEAR FOR PRIESTS COMPANION

Insight. Inspiration. Instruction.

This little publication from Magnificat has only come to my attention today though obviously it has been out since the beginning of the Year for Priests ~ I received an advertising flyer for it, so it must be a booket that can be used for the Year of the Priests and beyond.

It is not expensive ~ $3.95 and they are offering bulk rates as well which may be handy for any Spiritual Motherhood groups wishing to acquire copies for all their members. A great little apostolate to continue on the greater awareness of praying for priests could be to buy a few at bulk rates and distributing at your local parish or to friends you know would be interested.

Here is some information about this booklet:

A unique opportunity to join our Holy Father's invitation to priests
and laity alike to deepen and strengthen our awareness of the gift
of the priesthood, and to grow in intimacy with Christ the great High Priest.

The Magnificat Year for Priests Companion is a one-of-a-kind spiritual
guide designed to accompany you through this special Year with:

* ~Prayers, devotions, meditations, and essays celebrating the priesthood

* ~A special Novena in honor of the Priesthood, each day highlighting a different
dimension of the priestly vocation (Father, Man of Prayer, Preacher, Forgiver of Sins...)

* ~Meditation texts on significant facets of the priesthood by Saint John Vianney,
Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II, Catherine de Hueck Doherty,
Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., Sister Briege McKenna, O.S.C., Alec Guinness, and many others

* ~11 beautifully reproduced pages of sacred art masterpieces

Soft-cover, 112-page booklet - Size: 4.5 x 6.7 inches

Here is an exerpt from the booklet:

The Grace of the Presence of Christ

Father Walter Ciszek, S.J.

The moment a priest appeared on the camp grounds by himself or with a fellow priest, he would be joined by passing prisoners. The moment it became known in a new brigade or new barracks or a new camp that a man was a priest, he would be sought out. He didn't have to make friends; they came to him instead. It was a very humbling experience, because you quickly came to appreciate that it was God's grace at work and had little to do with your own efforts. People came to you because you were a priest, not because of what you were personally. They didn't always come, either, expecting wise counsel or spiritual wisdom or an answer to their every difficulty; they came expecting absolution from their sins, the power of the sacrament.

To realize this was a matter of joy and of humility. You realized that they came to you as a man of God, a representative of God, a man chosen from among men and ordained for men in the things that are of God; you realized, too, that this imposed upon you an obligation of service, of ministry, with no thought of personal inconvenience, no matter how tired you might be physically or what risks you might be running in the face of official threats.

For my part, I could not help but see in every encounter with every prisoner the will of God for me, now, at this time and in this place, and the hand of providence that had brought me there by strange and torturous paths...

The things that are of God are all the joys and works and sufferings of each day, however burdensome and boring, routine and insignificant they may seem. It is the priest's function to offer these things back to God for his fellow men and to serve as an example, a witness, a martyr, a testimony before the men around him of God's providence and purpose.


Monday, June 14, 2010

The Holy Father's Conclusion on the YOTP & The Sacred Heart of Jesus.



AND THEY CAME!!!


HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus & the Conclusion of the Year of the Priest - St Peter's Square  Friday, 11 June 2010

Sacred Heart of Jesus I place all my Trust In YOU!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Wife, Mother and Mystic of Mexico: Venerable Conchita Cabrera de Armida


The wife, mother and mystic of Mexico.

To celebrate the end of this awesome Year of the Priest, I wanted to share with you the amazing life story of Venerable Conchita Cabrera de Armida. She was one of the most amazing mystics of our time; seeming simple and tangible because of her normal life as a daughter, wife, mother, widow, grandmother, friend and companion. Yet in the spiritual reality of her life she lived in a juxtaposition of earthly normality and in an enigmatic union with God. Her children were to say of their mother that they were unaware of anything supernatural in thier her life except that she was the "best mother in the world".
What Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi was for Italy in the 18th/19th century Venerable Conchita was for Mexico in the 19th/20th century both as wives, mothers, and mystic. She wrote more than any other mystics of the Church. In all she did for Christ Crucified, she did in hiddenness during her period of being a wife, homemaker, serving her husband and family. I will try to paint, and all, but incomplete picture of her here; please discover this remarkable inspiration spiritual mother for yourself, she is a model to us all.
Concepcion Cabrera was born in San Luis Potosi the seventh of twelve children. Her mother was very ill after her birth, so Conchita was taken from her mother to a farm a distance away to be feed by a wet nurse. (Notice this compares to another great spiritual mother patron, St Therese, at the beginning of her life).
She was brought up in a family where her father, the head of the home, led the family spiritually with the rosary being said daily. She loved piano and horse riding and was given many responsibilities in the home from a young age. She was attracted to prayer from an early age and after reading about the lives of the saints commenced doing mortifications and sacrifices imagining how she could imitate the holy people who inspired her.

A young lovely Conchita

She grew up quickly and was often mistaken as being older than she was. This brought many young men visiting in the hope of courtship. She met her future husband Pancho at a dance, which she attended under obedience, she was very young, only thirteen. Her parents recognized she was much too young for any marital commitment so after a year they agreed to become engaged. It was a long and very pure engagement lasting nine years. During this period Pancho was a sheer gentleman, they shared prayers and religious poems together. She continued to socialize but only to be close to Pancho - she never forgot about God, for she belonged to Him first.

Panco and Conchita's wedding day.

Conchita said to Our Lord, "Lord, I feel so unable to love You, so I want to get married. Give me many children so they will love You better than I." They married on November 8th 1884. She only asked Pancho for two things: to allow her to go to Holy Communion everyday and to never be jealous. Pancho kept both these promises and support his wife in all her religious devotions and commitments.

I quote now from: CONCHITA - A Mother's Spiritual Diary:

For understanding Conchita.... A brief statement in her Diary reveals to us her state of soul as a young married woman: "Upon seeing, despite my husband's great goodness, marriage did not correspond to what I regarded as life's fullness, instinctively my heart drew closer and closer to God, seeking in Him what was wanting in it. The inner life of my soul had grown in spite of all the joys of the earth". In the very bosom of the greatest joys of love, she feels the limitations and the ephemeral nature of all human love.

Their first child was Francisco born on September 28, 1885.


Francisco (1885-1982)

Then came Carlos who was born on March 28, 1887. He died of typhoid fever at the age of six. Conchita tells us, “His death was heartbreaking for me, and I felt such pain as I had never felt before.”


Manuel her third child, was born in January 23, 1889. He became a Jesuit priest, while living in Spain he wrote to his mother about his decision to become a priest. She wrote back to him, she gave him this advice

“Give yourself to the Lord with all your heart, and do not hold anything back! Forget about creatures and forget especially about yourself! I cannot imagine someone consecrated to God who is not a saint. One cannot give only half of oneself to God. Be generous with him!”

Manuel (1889-1955) -
Ordained a Priest in the Society of Jesus on July 31, 1922 in
Barcelona.

Maria de la Concepción, (Concha) born on September 29, 1890, was their first daughter. At six months she got seriously ill and they young couple prepared for the worst, she recovered. She got terrible ill once again in the year of her first Holy Communion contracting typhoid fever. For 40 days and nights she clung to life but God had other plans as he wanted this beautiful pure flower for Himself . He dictated to Conchita;
"Concha was an angel, extremely pure, filled with hidden qualities and virtues. Modesty was her dominant note. How many virtues I saw her practice in the bosom of the family and in the intimacy of the home! She was a jewel, a pearl, a precious 'shell' a lily... At fifteen she made a vow of virginity, and at seventeen and a half she entered religion... A pure jewel not made for this world... The Lord chose her for Himself “She entered the convent of the Sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on October 23, 1916.

Maria de la Concepción (1890-1925)

Conchita and Pancho had five other children: Ignacio, Pablo, Salvador, Pedro, and Guadalupe.
While she was sewing one day she suddenly heard a voice that said to her, “Pedrito is in the pool in the garden.” She ran to him but it was too late. Had drowned in the garden pool; he was only six.

Ignacio1893 - 1979

Pablo 1895 - 1913


Salvador 1896 - 1975

Guadalupe (Lupe) 1898 - 1980

Conchita loved her husband and family but she had a burning desire of love toward Our Lord. She asked permission to mark herself with a monogram of Christ and had the initials J.H.S cut into her chest (Jesus Salvator Hominun – Jesus, Saviour of Men). After this she had a supernatural force which threw her to the ground and from within she burned with the flames of love for Christ. Vehemently and zealously I asked the Lord for the salvation of souls! Jesus Saviour of souls, save them, save them!
She was transformed and the Spirituality of the Cross was born. Subsequently she began to understand more deeply the imitation of Christ and the joy of suffering. In a vision she saw the Holy Spirit as a cross with a dove, a flaming heart encircled by thorns with tiny crosses fastened to it. This image became the symbol of her spiritual works which she founded, the “Works of the Cross” . She now had a mission outside of her family life yet never neglecting her duties to the state of her life as wife and mother. She considered these duties sacred and carried them out perfectly.

The image Jesus revealed to her for the “Works of the Cross”

The Apostolate of the Cross is an organization whose members unite their sufferings with the sufferings of Christ in order to save souls. The Lord revealed to her an order of contemplative nuns dedicated to this life and a congregation of men that would share this message of the cross for the salvation of souls, to the whole world. This is also shared with the lay man and woman in the Love Crucified Communities who seek to live the spirituality of Venerable Conchita as victim souls to do Gods will for the glory of the Father.

The Lord revealed Himself to her as Victim, Priest and Host. Her entire spiritual doctrine was marked be a priestly character. Our Lord sorrowfully revealed to her the lack of fervour of some priests. He told her," You are destined for the salvation of souls, most especially souls of priests. I want you to be My Host and have the intention of offering yourself with Me on all the patens on earth. I want you transformed in me by suffering, and by the practice of all the virtues, to raise heavenward this cry of your soul in union with me; ‘This is My Body, This is my blood." This was the essence of her Works of the Cross.

"This Cross will chase away the devil, spread warmth and life, cure souls and bodies, and make many miracles" - The Promise of Jesus to Ven. Concepción Cabrera de Armida.


Panco with some of the children

She knew on the night of her husband death that the Lord was asking her to sacrifice her husband, she accepted this within her soul but her present earthly being rejected and refused it. It was like a sword piercing her soul without consolation. Her beloved Pancho died a holy death on September 1901, she was by his side with her four older children, at the time her eldest was only 16. Our Lady was her source of strength, asking her to help in the upbringing of her young family. She suffered terribly the loss of her husband. She meet a priest soon afterward Pancho's death who gave her spiritual consolation and would help her develop and found the "Works of the Cross" – Fr Felix Rougier de Jesus. They would give counsel and advice to one another until the end of their lives.
Fr Felix de Jesus Rougier.

At 44 Conchita was inspired by God to rise up a group of spiritual elite to be consecrated to God in the service of the Church, called the “Chain of Love". This was the central grace of her life.

The Mexican Bishops learned of the Apostolate of the Cross and the desire for a foundation of priests; “The Priest of the Cross.” In 1913 Conchita was requested by the Congregation for Religious to send her writings to Rome which contained the secrets of her soul and her spiritual life. She had a private interview with Pope St Pius X and he gave his blessing and approval to the new congregation of priests with the new name of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit.

Pope St Pius X

In the 1920’s Mexico was undergoing a political crisis and the Church was being heavily persecuted. Conchita prayed fervently for her country’s Church. She prayed without ceasing for priests and bishops and bravely hid them in her home. On March 3rd 1937 she died a quiet and holy death from bronchial pneumonia and other illnesses.
References:
***

“MOTHER, TEACH ME HOW TO BE A PRIEST!”
 This is a beautiful article adapted from the booklet - Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests. It has a different perspective from the top posting; it illustrates Conchita as a mother, a spiritual mother to her son Manuel:



Father Manuel

Jesus prepared her to live a life of spiritual motherhood for priests. In the future, she will be of great importance for the universal Church.

Jesus once explained to Conchita,
“There are souls, who through ordination receive a priestly anointing. However, there are ... also priestly souls who do not have the dignity or the ordination of a priest, yet have a priestly mission. They offer themselves united to me… these souls help the Church in a very powerful spiritual way. … You will be the mother of a great number of spiritual children, yet they will cost your heart the death of a thousand martyrs.

“Bring yourself as an offering for the priests. Unite your offering with my offering, to obtain graces for them.” … “I want to come again into this world. … in my priests. I want to renew the world by revealing myself through the priests. I want to give my Church a powerful impulse in which I will pour out the Holy Spirit over my priests like a new Pentecost.

“The Church and the world need a new Pentecost, a priestly Pentecost, an interior Pentecost.”

As a young girl, Conchita once prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, “Lord, I feel so incapable of loving you; therefore, I want to marry. Give me many children so that they can love you more than I.”

Conchita as a very beautiful young lady.

She had a very happy marriage, and gave birth to nine children—two girls and seven boys, each of whom she consecrated to Our Lady, “I give them entirely to you as your children. You know that I am not capable of raising them. I understand too little of what it means to be a mother. But you...you know it.” She endured the death of four of her children, each dying a holy death.

Naturally, Conchita’s spiritual motherhood was very apparent in one of her sons who became a priest. She wrote about him, “Manuel was born in the same hour that Fr. José Camacho died. Upon hearing the news, I prayed to God that my son could replace him at the altar. … When little Manuel began to talk, we prayed together for the great grace of a vocation to the priesthood. … On the day of his First Holy Communion and on all the major solemnities, he renewed this prayer. … At the age of 17, he joined the Society of Jesus.”

In 1914, she met Manuel in Spain for the last time, because he never returned to Mexico. He wrote in a letter to her, “My dear little mother, you have shown me the way. Fortunately, I have heard from your lips since my earliest years the challenging and saving teaching of the Cross. Now I want to put it into practice.” His mother felt the pain of separation, “I took your letter to the tabernacle and told the Lord that I accept this sacrifice with my whole soul. The next day I was carrying your letter close to my heart when I received Holy Communion and, in this way, renewed my total offering to the Lord.”


“MOTHER, TEACH ME HOW TO BE A PRIEST!”

On 23 July 1922, one week before his ordination to the priesthood, the 33-year-old Manuel asked Conchita in a letter,
“Mother, teach me how to be a priest! Tell me about the immeasurable joy of being able to celebrate Holy Mass. I put everything back into your hands, just as when you held me to your chest as a very small child, teaching me the beautiful names of Jesus and Mary and introducing me to this mystery. I really feel like an infant asking for your light, your prayer and your sacrifice. ... As soon as I am a priest, I will send you my blessing, and then I will receive yours on my knees.”

On 31 July 1922, as Manuel was being ordained to the priesthood in Barcelona, Conchita woke up in the middle of the night so that she could participate spiritually in his ordination. She was overcome by the awareness, “I am the mother of a priest! … I can only cry and give thanks! I invite all of heaven to give thanks in my place because I am incapable of doing it, I who am so wretched.” Ten years later, she wrote to her son, “I cannot imagine a priest who is not Jesus, even less so in the Society of Jesus. I pray that your transformation into Christ, through celebrating Holy Mass, may help you to become Jesus day and night.” (17 May 1932) “What would we do without the Cross? Life would be unbearable without pain; it unites, sanctifies, purifies and attains grace.” (10 June 1932)Fr. Manuel died a holy death in 1955 at the age of 66.

The Lord enlightened Conchita regarding her apostolate, “I will entrust to you a different martyrdom: you will suffer what the priests undertake against me. You will experience and offer up their infidelity and wretchedness.” This spiritual motherhood for the sanctification of priests and the Church consumed her completely at the age of 74.

Prayer That a Child May Be a Priest or Religious


Blessed mother, Mary, the greatest joy and honour of a parent is to train their child, by word and example, to dedicate their entire life to loving your Son, Jesus. All of us are called to this love by whatever vocation we have. In the providence of God, I have been called to love God as a parent, and with your help and intercession, my child has grown to know and love God. I now pray that my child might have a vocation to serve God in a special way by entering into His holy service.

Freely do I give my child (mention name here) to God, for God freely gave my child to me. And in His all-pervading love for us both, we will be reunited in heaven. Let my child see the true values of living in holy and constant communion with your Divine Son. Encourage in the heart of my child a willingness to bear with any burden in order to love God more faithfully, and to love everyone in the world for God's sake.

Please make my child worthy of a call from God to a special and total dedication to God's family here on earth. I ask this of you, holy mother, only because of my deep love for your Son. Help me always to be a good example in my home, so that my child can learn how God's love has been ever with us.
Amen


LITANY FOR PRIESTS:
written by Venerable Concepción Cabrera de Armida, (spiritual mother of priests), September 18, 1921.

For our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, R. Lord, give him your Heart of the Good Shepherd.
For the successors of the Apostles, R. Lord, give them fatherly concern for their priests.
For your Bishops chosen by the Holy Spirit, R. Lord, keep them close to your sheep.
For your Pastors, R. Lord, teach them to serve rather than to seek to be served.
For confessors and spiritual directors, R. Lord, make them docile instruments of your Spirit.
For those who announce Your Word, R. Lord, let them communicate your Spirit and Life.
For those who help the lay apostolate, R. Lord, encourage them to give witness.
For those who work with the youth, R. Lord, may they commit the youth to you.
For those who work among the poor, R. Lord, make them see and serve you in them.
For those who care for the sick, R. May they teach them the value of suffering, Lord.
For poor priests, R. Help them, Lord.
For sick priests, R. Heal them, Lord.
For elderly priests, R. Give them joyful hope, Lord.
For the sad and afflicted, R. Console them, Lord.
For anxious and troubled priests, R. Give them your peace, Lord.
For the ridiculed and persecuted, R. Defend their cause, Lord.
For lukewarm priests, R. Inflame them, Lord.
For the discouraged, R. Give them courage, Lord.
For those who aspire to the priesthood, R. Give them perseverance, Lord.
To all priests, R. Give them fidelity to you and your Church, Lord.
To all priests, R. Give them obedience and love for the Holy Father, Lord.
To all priests, R. Let them live in communion with their Bishop, Lord.
That all priests, R. Be one as you, Lord, and the Father are One.
That all priests, R. May promote the justice with which you, Lord, are just.
That all priests, R. Collaborate in the unity of the Presbyterate, Lord.
That all priests, filled with your presence, R. Live joyfully in celibacy, Lord.
To all priests, R. Grant them the fullness of your Spirit, Lord, and transform them into yourself.


In a special way, I pray for those priests through whom I have received your graces. I pray for the priest who baptized me and for those who have absolved me of my sins, reconciling me with you and with your Church. I pray for those priests in whose Masses I have participated and who have given me your Body as nourishment. I pray for those priests who have shared your Word with me, and for those who have helped me and led me to you.
Amen.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Letter from Cardinal Hummes - End of the Year of the Priest

This coming Friday, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the final day of the Year of the Priest. During this last week we will be working hard to offer some final articles, stories and prayers to share.

Here written so eloquently is Cardinal Hummes's letter on the end of the YOTP, sourced from  the Zenit website.

Letter on End of Priestly Year


"The Church Loves You, Admires You and Respects You"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 15, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is the letter sent to all priests by Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, in anticipation of the closing of the priestly year.

"Dear Priests,

The Year for Priests brings great joy to the Church and she thanks the Lord for having inspired the Holy Father to announce it. All the information which is presented here in Rome concerning the numerous initiatives taken by the local Churches throughout the world, in order to put this special year into effect, are proof of how this Year has been so well received and -- we can add -- how it has responded to a true and deep longing of priests and the entire People of God. It was time to give special attention, acknowledgement and commitment to the great, hardworking and irreplaceable presbyterium, and to each individual priest of the Church.

It is true that, albeit proportionately small in number, some priests have committed horrible and most serious crimes of sexual abuse upon minors, deeds that we must condemn and rebuke in an absolute and uncompromising manner. Those individuals must answer for their actions before God and before tribunals, including the civil courts. Nevertheless, we also pray that they might achieve spiritual conversion and receive pardon from God. The Church, for her part, is determined neither to hide nor to minimize such crimes. Above all we are on the side of the victims and want to support their recovery and their offended rights.

On the other hand, it is absolutely unacceptable to use the crimes of the few in order to sully the entire ecclesial body of priests. Those who do so commit a profound injustice. In the course the Year for Priests, the Church seeks to say this to human society. Anyone possessed of common sense and good will knows it to be the truth.

That being necessarily said, we turn now to you, dear priests.

We want to repeat to you, yet again, that we recognize that which you are and that which you do in the Church and in society. The Church loves you, admires you and respects you. You are, moreover, a joy for our Catholic people throughout the world and it welcomes you and supports you, especially in theses times of suffering.

Within two months we will have reached the conclusion of the Year for Priests. The Pope, dear priests, invites you from the heart to come to Rome from every part of the world for this conclusion, on the 9th, 10th and 11th June next. From every country in the world! Shouldn’t we expect many thousands of them from the countries nearest Rome? Do not, then, hesitate to respond to the heartfelt and cordial invitation of the Holy Father. Come to Rome and God will bless you. The Pope wants to confirm the priests of the Church. Their presence in large numbers in St. Peter’s Square will be a proactive and responsible way for priests to show themselves ready and unintimidated for the service of the humanity entrusted to them by Jesus Christ. Their visibility in the Square, before the modern world, will be a proclamation of their being sent not to condemn the world, but to save it (cf. Jn. 3: 17 and 12: 47). In such a context even a large number will have a special significance.

There is yet another particular motivation for the presence in Rome of numerous priests for the conclusion of the Year for Priests, which is found at the heart of the Church today. One speaks of offering to our beloved Pope Benedict XVI our solidarity, our support, our confidence, and our unconditional communion, in the face of the frequent attacks direct towards Him, at this moment of time, in the field of his decisions with regard to clerics involved in crimes of the sexual abuse of minors. The accusations directed towards Him are obviously unjust, and it has been shown that no one has done as much as Benedict XVI to condemn and to combat properly such crimes. Therefore, the large presence of priests in the Square with Him will be a determined rejection of the unjust attacks of which he is a victim. So then, come as well to publicly support the Holy Father.

The conclusion of the Year for Priests will not be, properly speaking, a conclusion, but a new beginning.
We, the People of God and its shepherds, want to thank the Lord for this privileged period of prayer and reflection on the priesthood.
At the same time we want to be alert to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to us. Meanwhile we will return to the exercise of our mission in the Church and in the world with renewed joy and with the conviction that God, the Lord of history, remains with us, both in crises and in new times.

May the Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of Priests, intercede for us and inspire us in the following of her Son Jesus Christ, our Lord."


Rome, 12th April 2010

Cardinal Cláudio Hummes

Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo
Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Our First and Last Thursday as The Year of the Priest Comes to a Close.

Year of the Priest Icon Image

As the Year of the Priest draws to a close we encourage all to continue and deepen their dedication to the Spiritual Mothers for Priests devotion. Although the year is closing our hearts and prayers are not. This blog will continue as it has done throughout this year; as long as we can keep going, it will keep going!

What an awesome blessing this past year has been. The Church in her infinite wisdom and love offered us, the faithful, this imperative cause; to pray for the priesthood. She asked us to make a stronger and more committed devotion to them. To become more willing to serve them in special ways , through prayer, sacrifice and an awareness of the difficulties they face in the vocation God has mysteriously bestowed upon them.
In praying for the sacred priesthood; their physical, emotional, spiritual and earthly needs she has hopefully initiated and inspired each and every Catholic to a renewed devotion to every priest, especially in this difficult hour and era of her history and theirs. The Church is truly a mother that knows her children.


This is also the last First Thursday for the Year of the Priest and will be the final opportunity to receive the plenary indulgence offered by Pope Benedict XVI for this year dedicated to the priesthood. Going to Mass and offering up your Mass in honour of Christ the Eternal High priest and covering the usual conditions of Confession and prayers for the Pope will guarantee you receiving this divine gift.

My co-blogger "A" has been having computer difficulties recently so we apologies that our regular Thursday Priest in Focus hasn't been moving forward lately. I will include three new priests names here in this post. Please pray a Hail Mary or any other offering that you may like to do, specifically for these three priests this week. Their names are also shown up in the top right-hand side bar:

Fr G Byers, CPM
Fr Pius Mary, OSB
Fr Jean de Britto, OSB


A wonderful finale to the Year of the Priest might be to make it a new beginning. A wonderful idea that came to mind was to offer each day in some way for our priests.
I found this list of daily dedications a long time ago and have had it placed on my schoolroom wall. It's a beautiful dedication for each day of the week. I thought it would be a lovely extension of our devotion to offer each day from a beautiful part of our faith, with this list as the guide:

Sunday - Dedicated to The Resurrection & The Holy and Undivided Trinity.
This prayer is a timely example of the current graces needed by our priests:


“Most Holy Trinity,
please grant our Holy Father, our Bishop and all clergy
the perseverance, fortitude, strength, wisdom and compassion
necessary to fight the forces of evil
which assail them from within and without the Church.
Help them to lead their flocks to full conversion,
final perseverance and eternal salvation.
We ask this through, Jesus Christ
who lives and reigns in heaven
together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.”


Monday - Dedicated to The Holy Spirit & the Souls in Purgatory. This day could be offered up for departed Priests through this powerful prayer:

O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, N..., to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchizedek, giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labours. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Please pray for...name of priest/priests.


Tuesday - Dedicated to The Holy Angles, St Anne & St Martha. Through these holy women we could look to our own path to holiness and pray to Holy Mother Mary, St Anne & St Martha to help us strive to be better Mothers to our families and to implore their intercession in the pursuit of a stronger prayer life in our Spiritual Mother devotion to the holy priesthood.

In this prayer we ask St Anne to intercede for us. We ask her to
imbue woman with her priceless virtues and graces; to strengthen and enlighten us in our roles as mothers, wives, Catholic women & spiritual mothers to the priesthood:

Prayer to Saint Anne


With my heart full of the most sincere veneration's, I prostrate myself before thee, O glorious Saint Anne. Thou art that creature of privilege and predilection, who by thy extraordinary virtues and holiness didst merit from God the high favour of giving life to her who is the Treasury of all graces, blessed among women, the Mother of the Word Incarnate, the most holy Virgin Mary. By virtue of so lofty a privilege, do thou deign, O most compassionate saint, to receive me into the number of thy true clients, for so I profess myself and so I desire to remain throughout my entire life.
Shield me with thine effectual patronage and obtain for me from God the power to imitate those virtues wherewith thou wast so plentifully adorned. Grant that I may know and weep over my sins in bitterness of heart. Obtain for me the grace of most active love for Jesus and Mary, and resolution to fulfil the duties of my state of life with faithfulness and constancy. Save me from every danger that confronts me in life, and help me at the hour of death, that so I may come in safety to paradise, there to sing with thee, O most happy mother, the praises of the Word of God made Man in the mother of thy most pure daughter, the Virgin Mary.

Amen. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be... (Three times)

I quote now from the little St Anne booklet "Good St Anne", a treasury of instruction and inspiration.

"St Anne obtains many graves, priceless graces for all who venerate her, but she grants her maternal assistance in particular to Christian mothers who choose her for their patroness and model".


Wednesday - Dedicated to St Joseph. He was the foster father of Jesus Christ whilst here on earth, and Jesus still obeys his requests in heaven. He is the universal patron of the Church, so whatever our petition may be, we can pray to St. Joseph with confidence.


Prayer for the Church and Priests & Pope:
Most powerful Patriarch St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, which has always invoked thee in anxiety and trouble, from the exalted seat of thy glory cast a loving glance upon the whole Catholic world. let thy fatherly heart be touched at the sight of the Mystical Spouse and the Vicar of Christ overwhelmed with sorrow and persecuted by powerful enemies. Oh, by the bitter anguish thou didst experience upon earth, dry the tears of the venerable Pontiff, defend him, comfort him, intercede for him with the Giver of peace and charity, that, all adversity being removed and all error dissipated, the entire Church Priests may serve God in perfect liberty. Amen.

Prayer for Priests:
O illustrious patriarch St. Joseph, who carried the Infant Jesus in thy blessed arms and who, during the space of thirty years, lived in the most intimate familiarity with Him, take under thy powerful protection those whom He has clothed with His authority and honoured with the dignity of His priesthood, whom He has charged to continue His mission, to preach His Gospel, and to dispense everywhere His graces and blessings. Sustain them in their fatigues and labours; console them in their pains; fortify them in their combats; but above all, keep far from them all the evils of sin.
Obtain for them the humility of St. John the Baptist, the faith of St. Peter, the zeal and charity of St. Paul, the purity of St. John and the spirit of prayer and recollection of which thou, my dear Saint, art the model, so that, after having been on earth, the faithful dispensers of the Mysteries of thy foster Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, they may in Heaven receive the recompense promised to pastors according to the Heart of God.

Amen.


Thursdays - Dedicated to The Blessed Sacrament. The Church has asked us to offer each first Thursday for the priesthood during this closing YOTP. As a sacrifice we could continue to make this day an offering, consecrating each Thursday for priests and seminarians (and if possible a visit to the Blessed Sacrament in honour of the sanctification of the priesthood). We pray for the momentum of grace to strengthen them in holiness and priestly virtues so they may attain great glory for God:


THURSDAY CONSECRATION PRAYER

O my Beloved Jesus,
I give and consecrate to Thee this Thursday and all the Thursdays of my life, in praise of the adorable Mystery of Thy Body and Blood, and in thanksgiving for that of the Priesthood.

Moved by Thy Holy Spirit, and full of confidence in the help of Thy Most Holy Mother, the Virgin Mary, Mother of Priests, I resolve to live each Thursday for the rest of my days here below in adoration and in reparation for priests and, especially, for those who do not adore Thee, for those who are most wounded in their souls, and for those who are exposed to the attacks of the powers of darkness. I want to remain before Thy Eucharistic Face for them and in their place; I want to draw near, in their name, to Thy open Heart, ever-flowing with the Blood and the Water that purify, heal, and sanctify all souls, but, first of all, those of Thy priests.

Let each Thursday find me close to the Sacrament of Thy Body and Blood, in adoration and reparation for the sake of all Thy priests. Make me an entirely Eucharistic soul, according to the desires of Thy Sacred Heart and the designs of Thy merciful goodness upon my life. I desire nothing else. I want to love Thee more each day; I want to be the faithful adorer of Thy Eucharistic Face and the consoling friend of Thy Sacred Heart hidden in the tabernacles of the world, where it beats, wounded by love, forgotten, forsaken, and waiting for the adoration and for the love of even one priest.
Amen.



Friday - Dedicated to Christ's Passion and His Sacred Heart. Here is a link to an inspirational post by Father Mark from Vultus Christi on "Sharing in the Passion of Christ" and on Blessed Dom Marmion, formed by the contemplation of Love Crucified.


Christ revealed to St Margaret Mary 12 promises to those who show devotion to His Sacred Heart. Each Friday these promises could be renewed to keep us pure on our path to holiness:


1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.

2. I will give peace in their families and will unite families that are divided.

3. I will console them in all their troubles.

4. I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.

5. I will bestow the blessings of Heaven on all their enterprises.

6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and Infinite Ocean of Mercy.

7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8. Fervent souls shall rise quickly to great perfection.

9. I will bless those places wherein the image of My Heart shall be exposed and honoured and will imprint My love on the hearts of those who would wear this image on their person. I will also destroy in them all disordered movements.

10. I will give to priests who are animated by a tender devotion to my Divine Heart the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be effaced.

12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence: they will not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their Sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

(The Nine Fridays must be made in honour of His Sacred Heart, meaning, practicing the devotion and having a great love of His Sacred Heart. They must be on the first Friday of the month for nine consecutive months, and Communion must be received.)


O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I Place My Trust in Thee

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee, Whatever may befall me, Lord, though dark the hour may be; In all my woes, in all my joys, though nought but grief I see, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee.
When those I loved have passed away, and I am sore distressed,0 Sacred Heart of Jesus, I fly to Thee for rest. In all my trials, great or small, my confidence shall be Unshaken as I cry, dear Lord, I place my trust in Thee.
This is my one sweet prayer, dear Lord, my faith, my trust, my love, But most of all in that last hour, when death points up above, O sweet Saviour, may Thy face smile on my soul all free. Oh may I cry with rapturous love, I've placed my trust in Thee.

Amen.

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

Saturday - Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Heart. Our Lady knows her priests' hearts better than anyone else other than her divine Son Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is a beautiful prayer to use on a Saturday - her day, Our Blessed Mother Mary.


Marian Prayer For The Year Of The Priest

O Virgin Mary, we commend to you those who seek to follow your Son as priests.
You know the difficulties, struggles and obstacles they will face. Assist them to utter their "yes" to the Divine Call as you did at the invitation of the Angel.
Draw them near to your heart so they may understand. With you the joy and beauty that awaits when the Lord calls them into His intimacy.

Make them witnesses of His Love. Enable them to inspire the Church with their consecration. May your all powerful intercession touch the hearts of many that they respond to the Lord’s call. Repeat to them in the depth of their hearts what you said to the waiters at Cana: "Do whatever Jesus asks."
We ask this in your Son’s name.
Amen.

posted by Zeliemum.