The Beautiful Hands of a Priest

The following poem by an unknown author reminds us of all the ways that we depend on priests in important moments of our lives.

**

THE BEAUTIFUL HANDS OF A PRIEST

We need them in life's early morning,

We need them again at its close;

We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,

We seek them when tasting life's woes.

When we come into this world we are sinful,

The greatest as well as the least,

And the hands that make us pure as angels

Are the beautiful hands of a priest.

At the altar each day we behold them,

And the hands of a king on his throne

Are not equal to them in their greatness,

Their dignity stands all alone.

For there in the stillness of morning

Ere the sun has emerged from the East,

There God rests between the pure fingers

Of the beautiful hands of a priest.

When we are tempted and wander

To pathways of shame and of sin.

'Tis the hand of a priest that absolves us,

Not once, but again and again.

And when we are taking life's partner,

Other hands may prepare us a feast,

But the hands that will bless and unite us

Are the beautiful hands of a priest.

God bless them and keep them all holy,

For the Host which their fingers caress.

What can a poor sinner do better

Than ask Him, who chose them, to bless?

When death's dews on our eyelids are falling,

May our courage and strength be increased

By seeing raised o'er us in blessing

The beautiful hands of a priest.

**

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests, and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.