St John Bosco, Priest: A Life Given for the Salvation of Souls

"Priest at the altar,

priest in the confessional,

priest among my boys,

and priest in the king's palace or his ministers' offices:

I will be nothing but a priest." 

~ St. John Bosco ~

Venerable Margaret Bosco to her son John:

"To see you with the cassock fills my heart with joy. But remember that the habit is not what gives honor to the state, but the practice of virtue. If at any time you should come to doubt of your vocation, I beseech you to lay it aside at once; I would rather have a poor peasant for my son than a negligent priest. When you came into the world I consecrated you to our Lady; when you began to study, I bade you honor her and have recourse to her in all your difficulties; now I beg you to take her for your Queen."

~ From Don Bosco, Seeker of Souls by Msgr. Paul E. Campbell ~

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.

Seminarian Declared Dead Recovers to Tell of Visions of Cardinal Van Thuan

"The late Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, a prisoner for thirteen years, nine of them spent in solitary confinement, has left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope. During thirteen years in jail, in a situation of seemingly utter hopelessness, the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope—to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude."

~ Pope Benedict XVI, from Spe Salvi ~

Doctors said Joseph Nguyen was dead. His heart rate was dropping beyond recovery, and all brain activity was gone. But while they wrote his death certificate, Joseph's parents were asking an old family friend for help: a Vietnamese cardinal who is being considered for beatification.

Joseph Nguyen has since re-enrolled in seminary. He's seen his own death certificate, now stamped “VOID.” He has only two memories of the 32-day coma, which he says felt otherwise like a “great night's sleep.”

During the weeks that he hovered between life and death in 2009, Joseph says he had two encounters with Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan.

“During my coma, there are only two things I remember,” he said. “The only two things I remember are two visions of Cardinal Van Thuan … He appeared to me twice.”

Joseph said he not only saw, but actually met and spoke with Cardinal Van Thuan, during two vivid incidents he described as a “separation of soul and body.” Although he said he couldn't reveal the details of the ecounters, he did say that he suspected that they occurred while his doctors were observing his loss of brain activity and decline in vital signs.

Joseph recalled that his experiences in the coma instilled “the virtue of hope” in his heart, giving him a message he hopes to share with those in desperate circumstances. “That's Cardinal Van Thuan in my life,” the future priest reflected. 

 ~ Excerpts from here ~

~ Related posts about Cardinal Van Thuan  ~

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.

Life at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary

The Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right canonically established by Pope John Paul II in 1988. The particular charism and mission of the Fraternity is to offer the Sacred Liturgy, including the Holy Mass and the Divine Office, as well as the sacraments, in all of their traditional solemnity, according to the Latin liturgical books of 1962. The Fraternity's name denotes our thanksgiving, filial love, and loyalty to the supreme Pontiff, who encourages our growth, as well as the brotherly unity in Christ which our priests strive to have characterized in their life and work.

Five seminarians will receive Subdiaconate and one other will Tonsure on Saturday, January 29th. Please keep these men in your prayers as that day approaches.

~ Excerpts from Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary website ~

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.

Transformation of Priests into Christ-Victim

"...sacrifice is one of the culminating points and is the base for transformation into Me who was a Victim from the very moment of My Incarnation on to My death.

"To be acceptable to My Father, a victim must be pure and sacrificed. My entire life is reduced to this beautiful work which synthesizes the essence of the Christian and even more that of the priest: immolation! I was voluntarily immolated on earth and I continue this life of immolation on the altars.

 "I came into the world to sanctify suffering and to take away its bitterness. I came to bring about love of the cross, and the most perfect transformation into Me must be brought about by loving suffering, by painful love.

"Thus then, a priest who wants to assimilate himself to Me as is his obligation, must love sacrifice, must aspire to voluntary immolation, by devoting himself, by renouncing his own self and sacrificing himself constantly on behalf of souls.

"Priests means one who offers himself and offers, who immolates himself and immolates.

"Priests must love the cross and be in love with Me crucified. I am their model" (Diary, Jan. 1, 1928).

"The Holy Spirit inspired My death on the Cross. This death was the work of infinite love toward My Father and toward souls, but with so noble a purpose as to associate very especially to My Cross, to a life of sacrifice, all My future priests, who on being other Christs, making themselves one with Me would have to perpetuate My Sacrifice in themselves and on the altars to honor My Father, offering themselves and Me as one sole Victim pure and holy who would glorify Him" (Diary, Dec. 12, 1931).

~ Jesus to Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida,

from Conchita, A Mother's Spiritual Diary ~

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.

Pope John Paul II and the Miraculous Healing of Sr. Marie Simon Pierre

"The commitment of holiness entails austerity of life,
serious control of one's desires and choices,
a constant commitment to prayer,
and an attitude of obedience and docility to the directives of the Church,
both in the doctrinal, moral, or pedagogical sphere."

~ Pope John Paul II ~
Pope John Paul II, pray for us!

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.

Fr. Nelson Baker Declared Venerable

~ More information about Venerable Fr. Nelson Baker ~

~ Related post about Fr. Baker ~

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.

Pope Benedict Blesses Lambs Whose Wool Will be Used for Palliums

VATICAN CITY, 21 JAN 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Apostolic Palace, following a centuries-old tradition, Benedict XVI blessed several lambs whose wool will be used to make the palliums bestowed on new metropolitan archbishops on the June 29 feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles.

In a 1978 document, "Inter Eximina Episcopalis," Pope Paul VI restricted use of the pallium to the Pope and to metropolitan archbishops. In 1984 John Paul II decreed that the pallium would be conferred on the metropolitans on 29 June.

The custom of blessing the lambs takes place every year on the 21 January liturgical memory of St. Agnes, a virgin who suffered martyrdom about the year 305 and whose symbol is a lamb. She is buried in the basilica named after her on the Via Nomentana in Rome, and it is there that the lambs are taken after the papal blessing.

The lambs are raised by the Trappist Fathers of the Abbey of the Three Fountains and the  palliums are made by the Sisters of St. Cecelia from the

newly-shorn wool.

Mother Teresa Casini: A League of Priests to Make Amends for Unfaithful Priests

"I will make the priestly spirit blossom in those dioceses where there is a small nucleus of priests to console my heart, to satisfy the justice of my divine Father, and to make amends for the harm done to souls by their unfaithful shepherds. According to their fervor I will unite them to my heart, filling them with charity and apostolic zeal; I will bless their undertakings and give them the grace to penetrate souls with the unction of their words and lead their brothers back to my heart. I will be their support in life, in temptation, and in spiritual conflict, and I will be near at the time of death; I will comfort them and unite them to my infinite love."

"I desire a League of Priests united in the single purpose of charity to offer themselves with Me as victims of expiation to My Divine Father, for those of the clergy unfaithful to their sublime vocation."

~ Jesus to Mother Maria Teresa Casini, Foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart ~

"On December 8, 1884 the Divine Redeemer manifested Himself again to me. He showed me His pierced Heart and asked me to share in His suffering so that I might console Him. Then He added '... this pain is inflicted on my Heart by those priests who, forgetful of their sacred character, offend my heavenly Father with their infidelity.'"

"These desires of the Heart of Jesus remained impressed on my heart, nor could time erase them. I understand clearly that every priest, "ex officio" is a victim with Christ; but I have always felt that a league of priests who, over and above the call of duty, could become Victims of Expiation in union with the Heart of Christ for their unfortunate brother priests, would be most compatible with their priestly character of victimhood; the Heart of Christ would be satisfied; and He would pour into these priestly souls His merciful graces. Many times these graces are held back precisely because such graces are not granted except at the high cost of sacrifices of expiation. If only there were a small group of such priests in every diocese according to the desire of the Heart of Christ, certainly priests would return to their former fervor and persevere. In my heart there was the constant conviction that the desires of the Divine Redeemer would be fulfilled. How? When? By whom? I do not know, nor do I desire to know. " (Source of quotes)

~ Mother Maria Teresa Casini ~

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.

Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Lives Offered for Priests

"Give Me holy priests."

~ Jesus to Venerable Mother Maria Teresa Casini ~

Foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were founded by Mother Teresa Casini in Grottaferrata, Italy on February 2, 1894. They are women who strive to attain union with God by offering their lives for the diocesan priesthood. Their special charism is both spiritual and ministerial. The sisters are called first of all to pray for priestly holiness and to offer the joys and sorrows of their lives for the good of priests. Ministerially, the sisters care for retired and convalescent priests and collaborate with them in parish ministry which includes teaching, directing religious education, hospital visitation and distribution of the Eucharist to the homebound.  (Source)

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.

Memories of Pope John Paul II

“Our communal worship at Mass must go together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic adoration in order that our love may be complete. … Our essential commitment in life is to preserve and advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to grow spiritually in the climate of the Holy Eucharist.”

~ Pope John Paul II, Redeemer of Man ~

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.

Beatification of Pope John Paul II Scheduled for May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday

"I am often asked, especially by young people, why I became a priest. Maybe some of you would like to ask the same question. Let me try briefly to reply. I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely. For it remains a mystery, even to myself. How does one explain the ways of God? Yet, I know that, at a certain point in my life, I became convinced that Christ was saying to me what he had said to thousands before me: 'Come, follow me!' There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own. Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest.

"And you can probably tell that I am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood. Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy that to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God's people in the Church. That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest. Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope."

~ Venerable Pope John Paul II, Los Angeles, USA, September 14, 1987 ~

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.

Final Days Before Announcement of Beatification Date for Pope John Paul II

The beatification of John Paul II is just one step away. The cardinals of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints have approved a miracle through the intercession of John Paul II. This is the necessary step before the Pope convenes the beatification.

Benedict XVI will meet in the coming days with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, for final approval of the miracle and the announcement date of the beatification.

The miracle is the instant and unexplainable healing of the French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who suffered from a form of Parkinson's. The disease forced her to retire from her duties as a nurse in the maternity hospital of Arles, France. In June 2005, after praying to John Paul II for an improvement in her disease, the Parkinson's totally disappeared. ( From Rome Reports)

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.

Pope John Paul II: Thank God for Vocations and Pray for Those Being Called

I invite you all to pray for those young people who, throughout the world, hear the call of the Lord and for those who may be afraid to answer that call. May they find educators at hand to guide them! May they perceive the grandeur of their vocation: to love Christ above all else as a call to freedom and happiness! Pray so that the Church may help you in your search and in arriving at a correct discernment! Pray so that Christian communities may always know how to pass on the call of the Lord to the younger generations! With me, thank the Lord "for the gift of a vocation, for the grace of priesthood, for priestly vocations throughout the world" (Gift and Mystery, 10)! Let us thank him for consecrated persons! Let us thank him for families, parishes and movements, the cradles of vocations!

~ Pope John Paul II, Paris 1997 ~

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. 

Prayer for Holy Catholic Priests

Lord Jesus, we pray to you for the Catholic priesthood. Give us more priests, but most especially we ask you to give us holy priests. Messengers of a truth that is all-encompassing and eternal, holy priests who know how to offer this truth to the people of their own time and place. Holy men for today, priests firmly rooted in the tradition, yet imbued with the spirit of this age. They have undertaken a mission in your name, Lord. May the reflection of your power in them always make it clear that they are your witnesses.

Grant that they may conform their lives to the paschal mystery that they celebrate each day in the Eucharist. May they sense in this mystery the anxious hunger of the world and of their own brothers and sisters for salvation.

May they know, despite this hunger, how to respect the spiritual freedom of others; for it is your word which has given the world a taste for this freedom. May they understand and speak the language of their own time. And may they be careful never to compromise, with opinions that come and go, the imperishable newness of your Gospel.

May they always keep through the dark wintry night of the soul an obstinate hope for the springtime to come. And when they meet those who persecute you, may they always remember the road to Damascus and the hidden ways of your providence.

 

~ This prayer and many more prayers for vocations from the USCCB  ~

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.

What Catholics Can Do to Promote Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

WASHINGTON—The Catholic Church celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week January 10-16. To encourage Catholics to foster vocations, Father David Toups, interim director of the Office of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offers “Ten Things” Catholics can do to promote vocations to priesthood and religious life.

The first five steps on this list are directed toward all Catholics. The second five are specifically an invitation to younger Catholics to consider saying “yes” to a religious vocation. The list follows:

Ten Things That Promote Vocations

By Father David Toups

For all Catholics:

1.  Pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Jesus says in Matthew 9:38 “to beg the master of the harvest to send laborers into the vineyard.” If we want more priests, sisters and brothers, we all need to ask.

2.  Teach young people how to pray. Pope Benedict XVI said that unless we teach our youth how to pray, they will never hear God calling them into a deeper relationship with Him and into the discipleship of the Church.

3.  Invite active young adults and teens to consider a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life. A simple, sincere comment should not be underestimated. An easy way to do this can be remembered by four letters: ICNU. “John, I see in you (ICNU) the qualities that would make a good priest, and I want to encourage you to pray about it.” It is a non-invasive way to encourage openness to a religious vocation.

4.  Make it attractive. Show the priesthood for what it truly is – a call to be a spiritual father to the whole family of faith. Similarly, the consecrated life for a young woman is a call to be united to Christ in a unique way, and to be a spiritual mother to those she encounters in her life and service. The challenge for priests and religious is to be joyful models of their vocations.

5.  Preach it, brother! Vocations must be talked about regularly if a “vocation culture” is to take root in parishes and homes. This means, first and foremost, the people need to hear about vocations from priests through homilies, prayers of the faithful, and discussions in the classroom. Vocations kept out of sight are out of mind.

For those considering a vocation:

6.  Practice the faith. We all need to be reminded that the whole point of our lives is to grow in a deep, intimate and loving relationship with God. This is the first step for any young person desiring to discern any call in life.

7.  Enter into the Silence. Silence is key to sanity and wholeness. We can only “hear” the voice of God if we are quiet. Take out the ear buds of your iPhone, iPod, and iTunes and listen to God, the great I AM. Young people should try to spend 15 minutes of quiet prayer each day – this is where you can begin to receive clear direction in your lives.

8.  Be a good disciple. Some bishops say, “We do not have a vocation crisis; we have a discipleship crisis.” Young people can become true followers of Jesus Christ by serving those around them. By discovering your call to discipleship, you also discover your particular call within the Church.

9.  Ask God. Ask God what He wants for your life and know He only wants what is good for you. If, in fact, you are called to the priesthood or consecrated life, it will be the path to great joy and contentment.

10.  In the immortal words of a famous sneaker manufacturer: “Just do it!” If you feel that God is inviting you to “try it out,” apply to the seminary or religious order. Remember, the seminary or convent is a place of discernment. You will not be ordained or asked to profess vows for many years, providing ample opportunity to explore the possibility of a call to priesthood or religious life.  (Source:  USCCB)

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.

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for Priests

Remember, 0 most loving Heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom You prayed so earnestly the night before Your death. These are they to whom You look to continue with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, who share Your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to Your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord. Remember, O Heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the world's hatred and Satan's deadliest snares. Keep them then, 0 Jesus, in the safe citadel of Your Sacred Heart and there let them be sanctified in truth. May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in You and love You.

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.

Pope John Paul II: God Promises the Church Shepherds "After His Own Heart"

...The entire People of God should pray and work tirelessly for priestly vocations. Candidates for the priesthood should prepare themselves very conscientiously to welcome God's gift and put it into practice, knowing that the Church and the world have an absolute need of them. They should deepen their love for Christ the good shepherd, pattern their hearts on his, be ready to go out as his image into the highways of the world to proclaim to all mankind Christ the way, the truth and the life.

I appeal especially to families. May parents, mothers in particular, be generous in giving their sons to the Lord when he calls them to the priesthood. May they cooperate joyfully in their vocational journey, realizing that in this way they will be increasing and deepening their Christian fruitfulness in the Church and that, in a sense, they will experience the blessedness of Mary, the virgin mother: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Lk. 1:42)

To today's young people I say: Be more docile to the voice of the Spirit, let the great expectations of the Church, of mankind, resound in the depths of your hearts. Do not be afraid to open your minds to Christ the Lord who is calling. Feel his loving look upon you and respond enthusiastically to Jesus when he asks you to follow him without reserve.

The Church responds to grace through the commitment which priests make to receive that ongoing formation which is required by the dignity and responsibility conferred on them by the sacrament of holy orders. All priests are called to become aware how especially urgent it is for them to receive formation at the present time: The new evangelization needs new evangelizers, and these are the priests who are serious about living their priesthood as a specific path toward holiness.

God promises the Church not just any sort of shepherds, but shepherds "after his own heart." And God's "heart" has revealed itself to us fully in the heart of Christ the good shepherd. Christ's heart continues today to have compassion for the multitudes and to give them the bread of truth, the bread of love, the bread of life (cf. Mk. 6:30ff.), and it pleads to be allowed to beat in other hearts - priests' hearts: "You give them something to eat" (Mk. 6:37). People need to come out of their anonymity and fear. They need to be known and called by name, to walk in safety, along the paths of life, to be found again if they have become lost, to be loved, to receive salvation as the supreme gift of God's love. All this is done by Jesus, the good shepherd - by himself and by his priests with him.

~ Excerpt from Pastores Dabo Vobis ~

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. 

St. John Neumann and Forty Hours Devotion in the USA

Saint John Nepomucene Neumann (1811–1860), Bishop of Philadelphia from 1852–1860, was graced with an intense devotion to Our Lord in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist. His personal experience as a boy in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic), then as a priest in the United States, and finally as a Redemptorist, — a spiritual son of the incomparable Saint Alphonsus Liguori — impelled him to promote prolonged prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance. No sooner had he become bishop of Philadelphia than he sought to introduce the Quarant’ Ore, or Forty Hours Devotion, already practiced for three hundred years in Europe, to the Church in the United States.

The good priests of Philadelphia were, for the most part, opposed to the introduction of the Forty Hours Devotion, fearing that, given the prevailing climate of violent anti-Catholicism nurtured by the Know Nothing Movement, it might exacerbate hostilities against the Church and even expose the Most Holy Sacrament to profanation.

Bishop Neumann had very nearly renounced his project when, overcome by exhaustion late one night, he fell asleep while writing at his desk. A burning candle ignited the papers lying before him. He awoke to smoke rising from the incinerated papers. One document alone remained unscathed; it was the letter he had written to propose the Forty Hours Devotion. Bishop Neumann fell to his knees to give thanks for having been preserved from harm and, as he did so, he experienced a kind of locution. God spoke to him inwardly saying, “As the flames are burning here without consuming or injuring this writing, so shall I pour out My grace in the Blessed Sacrament without prejudice to My honor. Therefore, do not fear profanation, and do not hesitate any longer to carry out your designs for My glory.”

Convinced by this sign, Bishop Neumann overrode the objections of his clergy and initiated the celebration of the Forty Hours at the First Diocesan Synod of Philadelphia in April 1853. The Church chosen for the first Forty Hours was that of Saint Philip Neri.. It was the latter saint who had, in fact, introduced the Quarant’ Ore to the city of Rome. Bishop Neumann astonished — and edified — his clergy and faithful by spending the greater part of the three days on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament in Saint Philip Neri Church. There was no anti-Catholic backlash. Great crowds of the faithful came, by day and by night, to adore Our Lord exposed to their gaze in the Sacrament of the Altar.

Bishop Neumann carried out his original inspiration by organizing the Forty Hours Devotion in the entire diocese of Philadelphia in such a way that each parish would celebrate it in turn during the course of the year. He edited a booklet to facilitate the worthy celebration of the Quarant’ Ore, and secured indulgences for the faithful who would participate in the devotion. So successful was the Forty Hours in the diocese of Philadelphia that it spread from there to other dioceses of the United States. In 1866 at the Plenary Council of Baltimore the Forty Hours Devotion was ratified for the whole country.

One of the conclusions of the 2005 Vatican Synod on the Eucharist was the recommendation that the Forty Hours Devotion be reinvigorated and reintroduced everywhere in the Church. This, of course, is fully consonant with the repeated exhortations to Eucharistic adoration of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

~Fr. Mark Kirby:  from his inspiring  2008 post on Vultus Christi ~

 

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.

Miracle Approved for Beatification of Pope John Paul II

"The priestly vocation is essentially a call to sanctity, in the form that derives from the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Sanctity is intimacy with God; it is the imitation of Christ, poor, chaste and humble; it is unreserved love for souls and self-giving to their true good; it is love for the church which is holy and wants us to be holy, because such is the mission that Christ has entrusted to it. Each one of you must be holy also in order to help your brothers pursue their vocation to sanctity."

~ Pope John Paul II, Rome, Italy, October 9, 1984 ~

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.

Pope John Paul II: The Desire to See Jesus In His Priests

"The world looks to the priest, because it looks to Jesus!

No one can see Christ; but everyone sees the priest,

and through him they wish to catch a glimpse of the Lord!

Immense is the grandeur of the Lord!

Immense is the grandeur and dignity of the priest!"

~ Pope John Paul II, Rome, Italy, October 13, 1979 ~

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.

 

Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI

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.

I'll Sing a Hymn to Mary the Mother of My God

HAPPY FEAST DAY, BLESSED MOTHER!

HAPPY FEAST DAY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

AND A BLESSED 2011 TO ALL OF HER CHILDREN!

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.