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.