Praying for Our Priests

Image courtesy of Amy Marie Photo and Design

“In union with Mary, Mother of the one Eternal High Priest, we exercise a true spiritual maternity to Christ’s priests, clergy, and seminarians through daily self-offering in prayer and sacrifice particularly through daily Eucharistic adoration." - MSSR Constitutions

​August 4 is the feast day of St. John Vianney, a much-loved saint in the Church, a dedicated shepherd to his flock, and the patron saint of parish priests. In our community, the feast day is a reminder to renew our efforts and intention to pray for our priests, starting in our diocese, and extending to the universal Church. Each morning, we begin our holy hour with the invocation: “O Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us, obtain for us many and holy priests.” We offer adoration and reparation in a special way for priests and vocations to the priesthood.  Without the priest, there is no Mass, no Eucharist, no Confession. Through the priest, Christ is present to his Church on earth. Yet, the priest is fallible, much like ourselves, and in need of prayer. 

On this feast of St. John Vianney, let us pray for all our priests: 

​A Prayer for Priests

by Richard Cardinal Cushing

​O Almighty Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Son, and for the love of Him who is the eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the bishop's hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.

O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory.

​But above all I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted, and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly N. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.