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.
