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.

First Sunday Mass for Vocations from Our Own Families.

We would like to encourage all women who are praying for priests through the Spiritual Motherhood for Priests devotion to offer their Holy Communion and Mass on the First Sunday’s of the Month in honour of vocations to the priesthood from our own families.

Today’s technology offers us a unique opportunity to unite our prayers together in a tangible way for vocations. Through the convenience of the internet we can take action through prayer asking Our Lord to listen to this straightforward and simple prayer. One that he heard over one hundred years ago from the faithful mother’s who lived in the remote Italian village of Lu.

Prayer of the Mothers of Lu:

"O God, grant that one of my sons may become a priest! I myself want to live as a good Christian and want to guide my children always to do what is right, so that I may receive the grace, o God, to be allowed to give you a holy priest! Amen."

These women were a particular inspiration to us to start this blog, they offered:

*one visit a month to the Blessed Sacrament

*they united this prayer intention for vocations at Mass on the first Sunday of the month for vocations from their own families.

Their humble simplicity and fidelity to this prayer paid off in a very substantial and fruitful way. Their prayers rose up 323 priests and religious, including one blessed of the Church and an Archbishop.

* For those ladies who do not have any children, praying specifically for young relatives or for vocations from your parish or diocese would be very fitting.

Through the trusting prayer of these mothers and the openness of the other parents, "an atmosphere of deep joy and Christian piety developed in the families, making it much easier for the children to recognize their vocations."

They were not just physical mothers to there children, they were spiritual mothers to there children. They took their stewardship one step further by offering their children back to God not once but over and over, with confidence that He would do something beautiful with them for Himself.

The most generous act we can offer Our Lord is to offer our children back to Him. To be His and His alone. They are the most precious things to us and also the most precious things to Him as
Blessed Philip Rinaldi a son from the village of Lu says, "a faith that made our fathers and our mothers say; The Lord gave us our children, and so if He calls them, we can’t say no.’"

Here we can be a virtual village of Lu and pick up where these holy woman left off, praying that we may do great things as they did from this small village not so long ago.

We look forward to praying with you all."

Four Ways to Foster Vocations - Archbishop Timothy Dolan

Here is a very good article on what the wonderful Archbishop of New York sees as the four most important ways of fostering vocations.

I love the archbishops quote that "marriages that are lifelong, life-giving and faithful" are the best nurturing ground for a vocation.

Pope Benedict with his family

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.

Archbishop Dolan: On Fostering Vocations by Tim Drake


New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan; Over the weekend, 530 Serra Club members from 12 different countries gathered at their annual international conference in Omaha, Neb. “No one offers more support and encouragement for vocations than Serra,” said the host, Omaha Archbishop George Lucas.

Among the attendees was New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Archbishop Dolan told Serrans that vocations can be promoted by the laity in four distinct ways.

The first, said Archbishop Dolan, is by emphasizing the vocation of marriage and family. Citing data from a Pew Research Center study, Archbishop Dolan stated that only about 50% of Catholic young people are approaching the sacrament of marriage.

“Taking care of the first crisis will take care of the second,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Vocations to the priesthood and religious life come from lifelong, life-giving faithful marriages.”

Secondly, Archbishop Dolan spoke of re-creating a culture of vocations.

“There were no good old days in the Church,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Every era in Church history has its horrors and difficulties.”

“We need to recapture the climate/tenor/tone/ambiance in the Church where a boy or man isn’t afraid to publicly say, ‘I want to be a priest,’ and where his family, relatives, neighbors, parish, priest, sisters, teachers and even non-Catholics are robustly supportive.”


Thirdly, Archbishop Dolan said that the laity need to not be afraid to ask their priests to help them be holy.

“For a faithful Catholic, a priest is essential for growth in holiness because he gives us the sacraments, and without the sacraments we can’t be holy,” said Archbishop Dolan. “When you ask us to help you be holy, we realize that we must be holy, and you remind us that there is something unique in the Church that only a priest can do.”

Finally, Archbishop Dolan said that priests must be reminded that they are here to help the laity get to heaven.

“A priest is an icon of the beyond, the eternal, the transcendent,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Heaven gives us hope and meaning in life.”

An Inspiring Witness to Vocations.

I'm sure many of you may have seen this young man's interview. I thought it would be very apt to have it available here for a few reasons.

One: This young man is an inspiration to other young men who may be looking into the priesthood, especially in a world so secular which lacks understanding of the sacrifices these men make. Look at what this young man is giving up, to him not as much as he is gaining, as he will take up a life serving the Lord and King. In the eyes of the world he is giving up so much, a professional sporting career, money and with a very handsome appearance, a chance to live a life of conjugal happiness.
Two: This young man will need a lot of prayers. If you watch this video to the end you will understand what I mean. His words have much wisdom in them as he tries to deflect what the interviewer, in her ignorance of what his vows demand, makes reference to.
Three: He is asking for our prayers to sustain him in his long years ahead studying toward his ordination.
Four: As we will be launching a new spot on the blog for Seminarian's Spiritual Support I thought this would be a nice lead up to other related stories.
Keep an eye out - coming soon.

Here is a great in-depth article about Chase Hildgenbrinck's call to the priesthood.

This is a link sent through to an article from the Washington Times about Chase Hilgenbrincks Call also. His rationale of "Delayed obedience is disobedience", is a very worthy reminder of when God calls, don't delay - act, no matter what - be brave and He will sustain you.

First Sunday of the Month reminder

One of the special inititives of this blog is to encourage mothers throughout the world to pray for vocations within their families in a similar way that the Mothers of Lu had many years before.

For those ladies who do not have any children, praying specifically for young relatives or for vocations from your parish or diocese would be very fitting.

To read the story of the Mothers of Lu published in the Adoration, Reparation and Spiritual Mother for Priests booklet, visit our posting, In Imitation of the Mother's of Lu.

The mothers in the small Italian town of Lu prayed for vocations in this way:

"Under the direction of their parish priest, Msgr. Alessandro Canora, they gathered every Tuesday for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, asking the Lord for vocations. They received Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month with the same intention. After Mass, all the mothers prayed a particular prayer together imploring for vocations to the priesthood.

Through the trusting prayer of these mothers and the openness of the other parents, an atmosphere of deep joy and Christian piety developed in the families, making it much easier for the children to recognize their vocations."

From this flowed an abundance of vocations, as the photo above shows, 'the labours called to the harvest' which was quite notable in it's day for such a very small village...323 vocations in fact, 152 priests (diocesan and religious), and 171 nuns belonging to 41 different congregations. As many as three or four vocations came from some of these families.

This week in our Priests in Focus, we are praying for three priests who are all brothers, please remember them in prayer!

Here at Spiritual Motherhood for Priests, we hope to create a 'virtual' online gathering of mothers. We have our Adoration list in the righthand sidebar for ladies to show our solidarity together in offering one hour adoration a month. If you wish to have your name added to that list, please email us

We encourage mothers to offer their Holy Communion for family vocations on the First Sunday of the Month (the day chosen by the Mothers of Lu.) As well as offering this prayer below at Mass which was first composed for the Mothers of Lu:

We look forward to joining with you all in prayer and adoration, in union in the Mystical Body of Christ, praying for vocations within our families, within our parish!

St Augustine, St Monica & Spiritual Motherhood

I wanted to add some of my own thoughts to this beautiful story of Spiritual Motherhood. It firstly remindes us that it is not enough to be physcial mothers to our children, we are called to become spirtual mothers to our children and our most perfect example is our own spirtual mother, Our Lady.

The spiritual order is higher than the physical and no less real, if not MORE real, for we are not to just give our children life and to then see them lose their lives eternally with no resistance from ourselves. No, our true fullfilment as a mother is to also 'give birth' to our children's eternal life in heaven in co-operation with Our Lady. And it can be a birth that is sometimes no less painful than a physical birth!

So we are called to pray and even sacrifice for our children and their future vocations, it is part of our christion motherhood. Within christian motherhood there is always spiritual motherhood.

Our Lord Himself alludes to the fact there are two levels of mothering/parenting in Scripture, we cannot stop at one, we must have both:

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" ~ Luke 11:13

Our spiritual mothering never ends, not even in this life. I think of a mother I know who had prayed and sacrificed unceasingly for her wayward children and the conversions that took place only after her death.

Sometimes our spiritual mothering can be sorely tested, that we can question whether those prayers and sacrifices will come to anything, especially when things seem completely hopeless.

St Monica understands only too well this questioning, this temptation to doubt the efficacy of it all. In St Monica's case she was blessed to have a Bishop, a saint in fact, St Ambrose to give his paternal wisdom and advice.

Here is a quote from the book, The Life of St Monica that details the depths of her bitter sorrows and the comfort she received, both from God and St Ambrose:

"With bitter tears she cried on God to help her; her grief seemed greater than she could bear. At last the night came, and with it peace. As she slept, exhausted with weeping, she had a dream which brought her a strange sense of hope and comfort. It seemed to her that she was standing on a narrow rule or plank of wood, her heart weighed down with sorrow as it had been all through the day.

Suddenly there came towards her a young man radiant and fair of face. Smiling at her, he asked the cause of her tears. " I am weeping," she answered, " for the loss of my son." " Grieve no more, then," he replied, " for, look, your son is standing there beside you." Monica turned her head. It was true; Augustine stood at her side on the plank of wood. " Be of good cheer," continued the stranger, " for where you are there shall he be also."

Then Monica awoke; the words were ringing in her ears; it seemed to her that God had spoken. In the morning she went straight to Augustine and told him of her dream. " Perhaps," suggested her son, anxious to turn it to his own advantage," it means that you will come to see things as I do " No said Monica firmly, " for he did not say, Where he is you shall be, but, Where you are there he shall be. Augustine was even more struck by the earnestness of his mother's answer than by the dream itself, though he pretended to make light of both.

Not long after Monica went to see a certain holy Bishop (St Ambrose), that she might beg him to use his influence with Augustine to bring him back to the truth. The wise old man listened attentively to her story. " Let him alone for the present, but pray much," was his advice, " for as yet he is obstinate and puffed up with these new ideas. If what you tell me of your son is true, he will read for himself, and will find out his error."

Then, seeing the anguish of the poor mother, he told her that he himself in his youth had been led away by the Manicheans, and had even been employed in transcribing their works. It was that which had saved him; for, as he wrote, the truth became clear to him; he had seen how much their doctrines were to be avoided.

Then, as Monica wept for disappointment for she had counted greatly on his help a sudden pity seized him. " Go thy ways, and God bless thee," he cried. " It is impossible that a son of such tears should perish." Monica s dream and the words of the Bishop were like rays of light in the darkness. She drew fresh hope from them and redoubled her prayers."

It is always beautiful to see examples of mothers turning their children back towards the faith to then in that joy, see that child embrace a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. A famous modern example of this would be Father John Corapi. He attributes his conversion to his mother's prayers. He is truly a modern St Augustine!

Here is our feastday cake for our family that we made today, it's symbolism tells us that through St Monica's prayerful tears, she raised up a bishop, she raised up a saint!

To see how this was made see my posting over at Catholic Cuisine.

I would like to finish with a beautiful prayer that has come from the St Vincent Archabbey Vocations Site:

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

We thank You for our mothers to whom You have entrusted the care of every precious human life from its very beginning in the womb.

You have given to woman the capacity of participating with You in the creation of new life. Grant that every woman may come to understand the full meaning of that blessing, which gives her an unlimited capacity for selfless love for every child she may be privileged to bear, and for all Your children.

Watch over every mother who is with child, strengthen her faith in Your fatherly care and love for her and for her unborn baby. Give her courage in times of fear or pain, understanding in times of uncertainty and doubt, and hope in times of trouble. Grant her joy in the birth of her child.

To mothers You have given the great privilege and responsibility of being a child's first teacher and spiritual guide. Grant that all mothers may worthily foster the faith of their children, following the example of Mary, Elizabeth, and other holy women who follow Christ. Help mothers to grow daily in knowledge and understanding of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and grant them the wisdom to impart this knowledge faithfully to their children, and to all who depend upon them.

Assist all "spiritual mothers", those who, though they may have no children of their own, nevertheless selflessly care for the children of others -- of every age and state in life. Grant that they may know the joy of fulfilling this motherly calling of women, whether in teaching, nursing, religious life, or in other work which recognizes and fosters the true dignity of every human being created in Your image and likeness.

We beseech You to send Your Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to all mothers who sorrow for children that have died, are ill or estranged from their families, or who are in trouble or danger of any kind. Help grieving mothers to rely on Your tender mercy and fatherly love for all your children.

We ask your blessing on all those to whom You have entrusted motherhood. May Your Holy Spirit constantly inspire and strengthen them. May they ever follow the example of Mary, mother of Our Lord, and imitate her fidelity, her humility, and her self-giving love. May all mothers receive Your Grace abundantly in this earthly life, and may they look forward to eternal joy in Your presence in the life to come.

We ask this through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. AMEN.

Prayer to the Precious Blood for Priests & Vocations

The month of the Precious Blood is almost at a close but I wanted to share one of the most beautiful prayers, dedicated to priests and vocations through the power of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. I recommend this powerful prayer all year round! This prayer has come from a Precious Blood Manual called, "The Precious Blood and Mother" from the Sister Adorers of the Precious Blood in NY.

PRAYER FOR PRIESTS AND THOSE DESTINED FOR THE PRIESTHOOD

1. My beloved Jesus, by the Precious Blood which you shed on the day of the Circumcision, deign to watch over the infancy and early education of the children whom You have destined to minister at the altar, that they may be preserved spotless till consecrated to You by the holy unction. Bless the families that honor Your Precious Blood, and spread this devotion by choosing from them a large number of vocations to the preisthood, and by maintaining their fervor till the close of their lives.

Our Lady of the Precious Blood, watch over the living chalices of the Blood of Jesus. Amen

2. Lord Jesus, by the Precious Blood which You shed in the Garden of Olives, take pity on all aspirants to the priesthood who, through the temptations of the evil one or dread of the responsiblities of the sacred ministry, are in danger of losing their vocation. Impart to these tortured souls sufficient courage to make the sacrifices by which the Eucharistic Chalice must be purchased; and in return for their generosity, inebriate them deliciously at the altar with the Blood which, in heaven, will be their eternal source of delight.

Our Lady of the Precious Blood, watch over the living chalices of the Blood of Jesus. Amen

3. Lord Jesus, by the Precious Blood shed in Your painful Scourging, shield with Your own especial protection and that of Your Immaculate Mother, all the ministers of the sanctuary, so that having renounced the goods of earth in order to belong entirely to You, they may every day offer and receive Your Body and Blood with such pious dispositions as to enable You to find in their hearts "a paradise of delight."

Our Lady of the Precious Blood, watch over the living chalices of the Blood of Jesus. Amen

4. Lord Jesus, by the Precious Blood which You shed in Your Crowning with Thorns, we beseech You to maintain our clergy in such filial submission to the Holy See and its representatives, as will forever secure for them the veneration, confidence and docility of the faithful children of Holy Church.

Our Lady of the Precious Blood, watch over the living chalices of the Blood of Jesus. Amen

5. Lord Jesus, by Your Precious Blood shed on the way to Calvary, take pity on priests who are victims of injustice, and who, like their adorable Model, received in return for their devotedness, but crosses, trials and persecutions.

Our Lady of the Precious Blood, watch over the living chalices of the Blood of Jesus. Amen

6. Lord Jesus, by the Blood of Your Crucifixion, inflame with ever-increasing zeal the dispensers of Your Blood. Grant that thirsting like You for souls, they may continue the work of Your Bloody Passion, increasing its efficacy by applying its merits. Succor, most of all, the poor missionaries, who after watering with their sweat and their tears the soil in which they have sown the divine seed, may still be called upon to dye with their blood the land upon which they planted the cross.

Our Lady of the Precious Blood, watch over the living chalices of the Blood of Jesus. Amen

7. Lord Jesus, through the Blood and Water shed by You after death, take special pity, we beseech You, on those among Your ministers who will soon be mown down by death. If, through human frailty, they have become the debtors of Your justice, grant that this very day, the infinitely Precious Blood may discharge their obligations.

Our Lady of the Precious Blood, watch over the living chalices of the Blood of Jesus. Amen