Fr. John Hardon: Prayer to Mary, Mother of God and Mother of Priests

"In the name of God, I beg you, with all my being, to pray. Pray every day to our Lord. Pray for priests. Pray that priests may be priests not only in name, but in reality. What is a real priest? A real priest is one who loves Jesus crucified. A real priest is one who loves nothing more -- and I mean every syllable -- who loves nothing more than to suffer out of love for Jesus, who ordained him. A real priest is a living martyr. Pray for priests.

"For those of us who have remained faithful to the Christ who ordained us, pray for the priests who are struggling -- struggling, hear it, especially with temptations against the faith, and temptations against chastity. Pray that we priests, remain faithful believers, and thus be channels of the grace of faith to those who depend on our priestly ministry. Pray that we may preserve our chastity, even though it might mean martyrdom. From my first Mass, at every consecration, I have asked our Lord for the grace of martyrdom. Pray that we priests, if it is God's grace, die a martyr's death, that we might live, all of us, a martyr's life.

"I would like to close with a prayer:

"Mary, Mother of God and Mother of priests, we ask you to obtain from Jesus the light and strength for His priests to live a truly priestly life. So that, the priests that Jesus ordained might be priests who are living the lives of martyrs, who are ready to shed their blood for your divine Son.

"Mary, Mother of the Church, beg your Son to inspire thousands of young men to embrace the vocation to the priesthood, and thus become the communicators of grace; to a world which is starving, starving for the truth that priests are to teach; to a world that is dying, dying for the love that priests are to bring; a world that is suffering, but a world that shall love the cross, because priests have taught this world that the greatest joy on earth is to love Jesus crucified. Amen."

~ Servant of God Fr. John Hardon on his 50th anniversary of ordination ~

Prayer for the Beatification and Canonization of Father John Hardon

Almighty God, You gave Your servant,
Father John Anthony Hardon of the Society of Jesus,
the grace of consecration as a religious dedicated to the
apostolate and the grace of consecration as an ordained priest,
after the Heart of Your Divine Son, our Good Shepherd.

Through Father Hardon,
You provided for your Flock an extraordinary teacher of the faith.

You entrusted Father Hardon into the loving
care of the Blessed Virgin Mary
whose counsel, "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5)
he faithfully followed and whose intercession he unceasingly invoked.

If it be Your holy will, please grant the request I now make,
calling upon the help of Father Hardon,
so that his heroic sanctity may be recognized in the whole Church.

I ask this through Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
with You and the Holy Spirit, is one God forever and ever.
Amen.
~ Prayer from here. ~

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 of Priests. Amen.