Prayers for Priests
Pray for Priests every day
( a prayer for each day of the week )
1. Monday... Thérèse of the Child Jesus
O Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;
for your unfaithful and tepid priests;
For your priests laboring at home
or abroad in distant mission fields;
for your tempted priests;
For your lonely and desolate priests;
For your young priests;
for your dying priests;
for the souls of your priests in purgatory.
But above all, I recommend to you 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 your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way ( especially……)
O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart and bless them abundantly in time and eternity.
Amen
2…Tuesday … Pope Benedict XVI
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal High Priest, you offered yourself to the Father on the altar of the cross and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave your priestly people a share in your redeeming sacrifice.
Hear our prayer for the sanctification of our priests. Grant that all who are ordained to the ministerial priesthood may be ever more conformed to you, the Divine Master.
May they preach the Gospel with a pure heart and clear conscience.
Let them be shepherds according to your own heart, single-minded in service to You and to the Church, and shining examples of a holy, simple, and joyful life.
Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, your Mother and ours, draw all priests and the flocks entrusted to their care the fullness of eternal life where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen
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3.. Wednesday - St. Teresa of Calcutta
Mary, Mother of Jesus, throw your mantle of purity over our priests. Protect them, guide them, and keep them in your heart. Be a Mother to them, especially in times of discouragement and loneliness. Love them and keep them belonging completely to Jesus
Like Jesus, they, too, are your sons, so keep their hearts pure and virginal. Keep their minds filled with Jesus, and put Jesus always on their lips, so that he is the one they offer to the sinner and to all they meet.
Mary, Mother of Jesus, be their Mother, loving them and bringing them joy. Take special care of sick and dying priests, and the ones most tempted. Remember how they spent their youth and old age, their entire lives serving and giving all to Jesus.
Mary, bless them and keep a special place for them in your heart. Give them a piece of your heart, so beautiful and pure and immaculate, so full of love and humility, so that they, too, can grow in the likeness of Christ. Dear Mary, make them humble like you, and holy like Jesus. Amen.
4… Thursday - St. Faustina from her Diary
O my Jesus, I beg you on behalf of the whole Church: Grant it love and the light of your Spirit, and give power to the words of priests so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to you, O Lord.
Lord, give us holy priests. You, yourself maintain them in holiness.
O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares which are continually being set for the souls of priests.
May the power of your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests, for you can do all things. Amen
5… Friday - St. John Vianney
God, please give to your Church today many more priests after your own heart.
May they be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.
May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance; be examples of humility and poverty;
May their loving devotion to your Son Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary his Mother be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry.
Amen
6… Saturday - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Gracious and loving God, we thank you for the gift of our priests. Through them, we experience Your presence in the sacraments.
Help our priests to be strong in their vocation. Set their souls on fire with love for your people.
Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom.
Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel. Allow them to experience joy in their ministry.
Help them become instruments of your divine grace. We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest.
Amen.
7… Sunday - Cardinal Justin Rigali
A Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament for the Increase of Priestly and Religious 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 the holy and generous priests that are so needed in your Church today. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
Amen.