Fr. Gordon MacRae: The Scandal of False Accusations Against Priests

"In my review of David F. Pierre’s landmark book, Catholic Priests Falsely Accused, I pointed out the hard evidence raised by former Los Angeles prosecutor Donald Steier that a full fifty percent of the claims against Catholic priests have been false and tainted by the lure of money. This aspect of the scandal has been grossly overlooked by the entire Church, and a part of our sacrifice as a Church must not be to sacrifice justice for priests falsely accused. Someone might argue that I have a vested interest in taking that position. Perhaps that’s true, but no justice afforded to me now will give me back even one of the 6,361 days and nights taken from me in prison. Those are my sacrifice, and this Lent I offer that sacrifice for the Church, for the priesthood, and for the readers of These Stone Walls who come here from the city on a hill with a search for truth and justice in their hearts."

~ Fr. Gordon MacRae, excerpt from here ~

*EXCLUSIVE REPORT* Alarming New Evidence May Exonerate Imprisoned 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.

St. Padre Pio and Fr. Stefano Manelli, His Spiritual Child

Today is the Feast of St. Pio, affectionately known as Padre Pio, a modern miracle worker who had the stigmata of Our Lord's wounds imprinted visibly on his flesh. He was spiritual director of Fr. Stefano Manelli, our founder, and his entire family.

Mass offered by Fr. Stefano Manelli:

Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli was born in Fiume/Rijeka (Hrvatska), Italy on May 1, 1933. His parents were Servant of God Settimio Manelli and Servant of God Licia Gualandris, spiritual children of St. Pio of Prietrelcina. He was the sixth of the twenty-one children.

He received his first communion from Padre Pio himself in 1938.

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. Raymond Nobiletti, M.M.: Maryknoll Priest, 9/11 First Responder and Survivor

"...the phone rang and a neighboring parish priest asked if I could go immediately to the World Trade Center. Priests were needed to minister to the wounded. The office TV then revealed that this was no small plane crash."

"Stunned by the image of the towering inferno, I was in a daze while collecting the Holy Oils, stole, and prayer book needed to administer the Sacraments. This would not be the first time in 30 years of priesthood that I would walk into a disaster such as this. In 1972 in Hong Kong, I was waist deep in the mud of a landslide that took the lives of 72 people. I learned how important it was to be an instrument of God’s presence and am still humbled by that privilege. I knew that the presence of a priest would be important to both survivors and responders that morning at the World Trade Center."

"God’s presence was made visible in the Sacraments of the Church, the ministry of the priesthood, and the compassion shown toward the victims by the first responders. It was spontaneous and unexpected as are so many important and meaningful occasions of God’s presence in the face of evil. God’s grace led me down to the World Trade Center that day. The needs of the people and victims were more important than the risk of being there. I did think that I would see God face-to-face that morning."

"The recognizable presence of a priest who represents the compassion and forgiveness of God should never be underestimated, especially in the midst of sudden crisis or in the face of such evil. The presence of God and the grace of God was and still is tangible at Ground Zero.

What a gift and privilege it was to be an instrument of God’s grace and part of the team of people from all walks of life who made God so present to all on that day. In our own life journey everyday, we continue to experience God’s presence in these people and this place.

 

Father Raymond Nobiletti, M.M., excerpts from his remembrance of 9/11

Chinatown, New York City,

September 2011

Lord, give me comfort, give me strength, give me hope in the face of sorrow. Give me the knowledge that you are beside me today and every tomorrow. Let me be there for others who reach out to me in their time of need. Let me follow the path you set for me, no matter where it may lead.

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.

Archbishop Charles Chaput: Requirements for Real Reform in the Church

"...Bishops, priests, and deacons are too often weak and sinful. They need to be held to high standards. Some deserve to be chastised. The clergy’s leadership in the Church should always be marked by humility and service, and never by a sense of entitlement. But men and women didn’t found the Church, they don’t own her; and they have no license to reinvent her. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ, and the different roles with the Christian community – clergy, laity, and religious life – have equal dignity but different purposes. Sin and failure, including by the clergy, need to be named. But when people deride their bishops and priests out of pride and resentment or some perverse desire for they perceive as “power,” they undermine the Church herself, and they set themselves against the God whose vessel she is. And that, as Scripture suggests, leads in a painful direction.

"All real reform in the Church requires two things...Renewal begins not in vilifying others, but in examining ourselves honestly, repenting of our sins and changing ourselves. This applies to every baptized person, from the Pope to the average man or woman earning a wage. We are all sinners. We are all in need of repentance and God’s mercy. When we really understand that, we can speak to each other with both honesty and love, and restoring the mission of the Church can begin.

"Today’s Gospel gives us the second thing needed for any lasting reform: faith. Not faith as theology, or faith as a collection of doctrines and practices; but faith as a single-minded confidence in God; faith as the humility – and in a sense, the imprudence, the passion, the recklessness – to give ourselves entirely to Jesus Christ. That kind of faith changes people. That kind of faith shifts the world on its axis, because nothing can stand against it. As long as Peter keeps his eyes and his heart fixed on Jesus Christ, he can do the impossible – he can walk on the water. The moment he gives in to doubt and fear, he begins to sink. So it is with our personal faith, and so it is with life and the health of the Church.

"...God is calling each of us here today – clergy, lay, and religious – to love him with all our hearts and to renew the life of his Church. God is calling us now. Tomorrow will be too late. So let’s pray for each other, and support each other – and begin."

~ Archbishop Charles Chaput; excerpt from homily ~ 

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. Jean Vianney: Role Model and Patron for all Priests

"Behold the power of the priest!

The tongue of the priest makes God from a morsel of bread!

It is more than creating the world...

The Blessed Virgin cannot make her divine Son descend into the host.

A priest can, however simple he may be."

~ St. Jean Vianney ~

John Cardinal Carberry's Prayer for Priests

O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life.

In their loneliness, comfort them. In their sorrows, strengthen them. In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests, take to your heart your sons who are close to you because of their priestly ordination and because of the power which they have received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs them so much. Be their comfort, be their joy, be their strength, and especially help them to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy.

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.

Abp. Chaput: Priests Needed for the Ongoing Presence of Christ in the World

"No matter how many other things bear good fruit for the Gospel in our day, there is no ongoing presence of Jesus Christ in the world without the Church; there is no Church without the Eucharist; and there is no Eucharist without the priest.

"As a result, in every generation, we always need good priests: well-formed men of hope and courage; men who love Jesus Christ, love the Church and are eager to serve God’s people. And—equally important—we need a community of believers that will encourage these men, and support them as a family in their sacrifices."

~ Archbishop Charles Chaput; excerpt 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 for priests.  Amen.

Invitation to Join the Handmaids of the Precious Blood in Strengthening Priests

“In strengthening the priest you strengthen the whole Church....

Strengthen the priest and you strengthen the whole foundation,

you strengthen everything in the Church.”

“He who would truly honor the priesthood must do so by helping priests.
I would rather have a hand in getting one priest back to the altar of God
than to write a thousand books on the priesthood,
or to preach a million sermons on the glory of the priesthood,
for neither the sermons nor the books
can hold Christ in their hands and offer Him to the Father.”

~ Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, s.P.,  Founder Handmaids of the Precious Blood ~

From Handmaids of the Precious Blood:

Our spirit is that of unbounded love of Jesus Christ in His Priests. All that we do, in union with and in imitation of the Precious Blood, is directed so that priests be holy priests. We offer ourselves in immolation and reparation for all priests, particularly for those who have lost sight of their sublime calling, praying for the grace of their conversion. We sacrifice our lives completely for the souls of priests, mindful of the vast numbers of souls just one priest can influence in his lifetime.

About our External Prayer Apostolates:

Did you know that since we began the Lay Associates of the Priesthood, we have registered more than 29,500 people who have adopted a particular priest to pray for? But currently there are over 40,000 priests in the United States and we need more volunteers willing to pray for them. Any practicing Catholic can send us their mailing address and be assigned their own priest to pray for daily.

We Invite Everyone to Join us in Strengthening the Priest

One does not need to be a nun to offer every aspect of one’s life for the sanctification of God’s anointed ones. Anyone can pray and sacrifice for priests, which is why we began our prayer associations to allow those outside our cloister to join us in spirit before Our Lord in the Monstrance praying for His priests.

Lay Associates of the Priesthood

Lay Associates of the Priesthood spiritually adopt a priest to pray for anonymously by first name. The Association of lay men and women began in February of 1971 and it has since registered well over 29,500 members. There are no meetings, fees, or dues. Just daily prayer for a specific priest.

Confraternity of Mary, Mother of Priests

The Confraternity of Mary, Mother of Priests welcomes priests, religious, and deacons to also spiritually adopt their own priests. The Confraternity is structured similarly to the Lay Associates: no meetings, fees or dues. Just daily prayer for a specific priest.

Oblates of the Precious Blood

Begun under the guidance of the Servant of God Father John A. Hardon, S.J. on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 21, 1981, the Oblates of the Precious Blood program was founded to allow priests, religious, deacons, and laity to more closely affiliate themselves with the mission and spirit of the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. Oblates of the Precious Blood bind themselves to our apostolate of prayer and sacrifice for priests by willingly committing themselves to lives completely dedicated to God, doing everything out of love for God and for the sanctification of priests. From their homes, their families, their work, their rectories, their dioceses, their missions, their hermitages, and their cloisters they reach out spiritually to priest souls in need, offering every joy and sorrow, all pain and suffering to God in love on behalf of priests. They dedicate themselves to learning the spirituality of our Founder, Father Gerald Fitzgerald, s.P. and give themselves in a lifelong resolution to live for God alone. Candidates undergo a formation period by correspondence conducted from our Motherhouse in New Mexico before making a private Solemn Resolution of Love. The Oblates are not a third order and members of third orders may apply for candidacy. World wide, there are at present over 420 Oblates of the Precious Blood.

~ For more information, go the the Handmaids of the Precious Blood 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.

Bishop Rene Gracida: Golden Jubilee Homily

"As the date, May 23, 2009, approached I was under increasing pressure from friends to permit them to organize a big celebration in observance of the 50th Anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Believe it or not, I am a shy person. Actually, I am an introvert. My Myers-Briggs personality profile is INFJ. It is only by the grace of God, given to me by the Holy Spirit, that I am able to summon the courage to speak before large gatherings. I nearly died of stage fright when, at Cardinal Deardon’s invitation, I gave the homily at the Mass for Youth in 1976 before 10,000 people just a few years after my Episcopal ordination.

"So, in 2009 I resisted all efforts to make my Jubilee an occasion of some big public show such as a banquet or even a Mass. Yet, I did want to give thanks to God in a celebration of a public Mass. So, on Saturday, May 23, 2009, I called the Rector of Corpus Christi Cathedral and asked him if he would permit me to celebrate the regular 9:30 parish Mass the next morning. He readily agreed and so I did appear unannounced and celebrated that Mass as my Jubilee Mass. The YouTube video shows the homily of the Mass. I have written this so that you will understand the bewilderment of the congregation when I announced in my homily that it was my Jubilee Mass."

~ Bishop Gracida, from his blog ~

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.

Lest You Be Judged: Praying for Priests Instead of Judging Them

"...you ought to pray for them.

But you are not to judge them.

Leave the judging to me,

and I, because of your prayers and my own desire, will be merciful to them."

 ~ God the Father to St. Catherine of Sienna concerning his priest sons ~

"Reading some of the comments on his blog I am appalled at the viciousness of some of them. It is obvious that there is very little if any love in the hearts of some of the writers. It is almost as though some of those writers are filled with hatred for the Catholic Church and/or its priests. It is possible to disagree about almost anything without resorting to ad hominem personal attacks."

~ Bishop Rene Gracida; excerpt from A Few Thoughts on Fr. Corapi's Announcement Yesterday ~

"From the email I am receiving and a few blogs I have read reacting to Fr. Corapi’s video message, it strikes me that a lot of people are doing neither themselves nor Fr. Corapi any good. Charity requires us to consider the good of others. I can’t see how the way some people are talking about Fr. Corapi does anyone any good."

"The enemy hates priests and bishops.  Let me say that again. The enemy hates priests and bishops. When priests and bishops start making inroads, they will be attacked with intensity.

"But priests and bishops remain men and remain sinners. We need the support of prayers especially regarding the primary goal of saving our souls. We must, for the love of God, help each other.

"I will keep Fr. Corapi on my prayer list, and will remember him in a special way, hoping that through the help of the Holy Spirit, who bends the rigid and heals the broken and consoles those who are in pain, he will have some peace whether he is able to return to active ministry or not, whether he wants to or not. He is a priest forever and he is my brother in that indelible mark received from Christ the High priest. And because he is a priest forever, the devil will not relent in attacking him until he dies. Nor will the devil relent in attacking anyone who has authority over him.

"It is what we signed up for, but sometimes it can be very hard.

"Please remember, please, that all priests are human beings and subject to the afflictions of the world the flesh and the devil. If you look at them in some other way, you do them and yourselves a disservice.

"In these difficult times, when we are seeing the lion and hearing the lion roaring around even more, I ask for your prayers for myself and for all the priests you know, whether they are in active ministry or they are for whatever reason not active, whether they have been exemplary according to how you think they ought to be, or whether they have made mistakes and are suffering the consequences.

"They have immortal souls and they, like you dear lay people, are working out their eternal salvation with fear and trembling with the additional burden of knowing that they will be priests forever, in heaven or in hell. Ask St. John Vianney for help. And, since St. “Padre” Pio has been on my mind with increasing frequency lately, perhaps ask him as well."

~ Fr. John Zuhlsdorf; excerpt from About Fr. Corapi with observations about our times ~

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. John Corapi: Introduction of "The Black Sheep Dog"

Uploaded by TheBlackSheepdog1 on Jun 17, 2011:

Fr. John Corapi's much anticipated announcement, proclaiming the introduction of "The Black SheepDog." Within this announcement is an update regarding the most-recent accusations, his response, his mission, as well as his gratitude for all who have supported his priesthood. For more information please visit his blog-site: www.TheBlackSheepDog.us ! As always, God Love You, and God Bless You!

6/23/11:  Comments will no longer be published for this post. 
If you wish to express your opinion, I suggest you do it directly to Fr. Corapi here.

IT IS TIME TO PRAY FOR FATHER CORAPI AND FOR THOSE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN HIS SITUATION!  LET US NOT WASTE TIME ON WHAT WILL NOT HELP SOLVE ANYTHING:  GOSSIP, OPINIONS, SUPPOSITIONS, CRITICISMS, RASH JUDGMENTS AND LACK OF RESPECT  FOR FATHER CORAPI AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIFFERING OPINIONS ON THIS ISSUE ARE RAMPANT.   THE DEGREE OF VITRIOL FROM   MANY OF THOSE WHO ARE WRITING ABOUT AND TO FATHER CORAPI  IS SCANDALOUS AND DISHEARTENING.  THANK GOD THAT HE IS OUR JUDGE--AND NOT OUR FELLOW CATHOLICS! 

Related post added 6/23/2011:  Lest You Be Judged:  Pray for Priests Instead of Judging Them ~

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.

To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood

"There's an old expression in the Catholic Church...'He who saves a priest saves a thousand souls'.  It means that if a priest is in trouble, maybe thinking of leaving active ministry, and someone is able to get him back and strengthen him, they save a thousand souls.  And actually it's an understatement because the active diocesan priest, any priest, affects hundreds of thousands of souls in his life as a priest."

"The priesthood brings the love and forgiveness of Jesus to earth.  That's what priests do."

"I think sometimes we pray for an apple--we should be praying for an orchard.  This is a new springtime of Christianity,  and I really believe that Jesus wants us to fill up every seminary in the nation."

~ Fr. Brett A. Brannen, Vice Rector of Mount St. Mary Seminary,

Author of To Save a Thousand Souls:  A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood ~

 ~ Order Fr. Brannen's book 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 for priests.  Amen.

Fr. Robert Barron: It's a Great Time to Be a Priest

"This is the time, I think, for all of us involved with the Church to be part of the solution;

and that's an exciting time."

~ Fr. Robert Barron ~

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.

Postulator Discusses the Cause of Servant of God Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

"There is no greater profession of faith possible for a human being to make here on earth

than during prayer before the Holy Eucharist;

so we ask, why should prayer before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament
be so powerful in obtaining miracles of conversion--

is because it is prayer rising from faith in the cardinal mystery of Christianity."

~ Servant of God Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. ~

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 religious and priestly consecration after the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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.

~ Source: official website for Fr. Hardon ~

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 Christ Priest: Prayer and Sacrifice for Priests and Seminarians

Many people think that contemplative life belongs to the ancient times: Carmelites, Franciscans, Jesuits… they all have a long history within Church. Nevertheless, God, not only continues to call many others to a total and exclusive dedication but, He also continues to entrust some persons with the high mission of founding new communities according to the needs of his Church. That was the case of José María García Lahiguera and Maria del Carmen Hidalgo de Caviedes y Gómez, a bishop and a young lady who lived in the Spanish XX century.

20 July 1936. Spanish Civil War. A 23 years-old young lady is praying at the church of Capuchins before the celebration of the Holy Mass. Bombing at the "Barracks de la Montaña", Madrid. Bombs, explosions; in view of an imminent threat, the nuns try to find their chaplain all over the place so that they can go to confession. The young lady is seeking the priest but she is not able to find him. Right then, she strongly understands the vital role of priests within the Church, their irreplaceable mission of reaching souls in God’s plan of salvation. In front of the temple’s altar that looked threatening to fall down, this young lady, inspired by the Holy Spirit, offered her life to God for the priests. That young lady was named MªCarmen Hidalgo de Caviedes y Gómez.

Just a few months before (9 March 1936), José María García Lahiguera -Spiritual Director of the Minor Seminary- writes in his spiritual notes:

"And as sanctity is an act from grace, and this is reachable through prayer, there is an urgent and imperative need to embark on a crusade “Pro Sacerdotio” based on prayer and sacrifice. (…). But, since we are talking about something permanent and stable as priesthood is, the sacrifice for their sanctity has to be uninterrupted; this is not reachable if work is addressed or encourages only one person. I do think that it is necessary to pray to our Lord in order to determine whether it is convenient to start to think about the foundation of a religious cloistered order of nuns, whose main aim -not to say exclusive- shall be prayer and sacrifice for youth and seminarians and, whose distinctive shall be: the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience; public, official and solemn offering (...) to be victims for priests and seminarians." (Free translation)

***

“The soul of the Oblate shall go beyond the wall of her monastery and cut through the seas until the last corner in earth with the same love as Christ is present, with His same Redemptory Love...And that lost missionary, unknown in his mission; that unappreciated priest; other who is in danger; the one who is full of expectations but without opportunities; (…) All that world of priests, man among men, segregated to be another Christ where He may deposit His own power. What does the Heart of Christ feel? He made them “another He” and only Christ shall be their life and exigency...They have to be in the world but being of God; they have to give themselves to the souls keeping their permanence only in God. That world of danger, fight, difficulties, temptation, pressure, undefined road….”

~ Mother María del Carmen ~

~ All text from the Oblate Sisters of Christ Priest 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.

Blessed John Paul II: Eucharistic Adoration in the Life of St. Jose Maria Rubio

"The most important aspect of the apostolate for Fr Rubio was prayer; adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was the centre of his entire life. The love of Christ was what Fr Rubio wanted to give to the poor. For him and his collaborators, prayer came first, and it was through this intense prayer life that they received the strength to minister in the poorest and most abbandoned areas of Madrid and to assist the people spiritually."

~ Excerpt from Homily of Blessed John Paul II ~

"Are you truly making an effort to adore God? In this Sacred Host lies the whole of His omnipotence, all His wisdom, the perfect goodness of Jesus Christ, since therein rests His living heart as it is also in heaven. When we adore in this way, we adore in spirit and in truth." (Source)

~ St. Jose Maria Rubio, S.J. ~

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.

Bishop Alexander Sample: In the Wake of Scandal--Transformation and Renewal

"A lot of young men looked at what was happening to the priesthood through the scandals, looked at what was happening to the Church, and somehow felt a deep call to come forward and to be part of a transformation, a renewal, bringing about a completely new age for the Church, a new Pentecost."

~ Bishop Alexander Sample ~

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 & Fr. Arellano: Priest Penitents and Ministers of Penance

"...The priest's celebration of the eucharist and administration of the other sacraments, his pastoral zeal, his relationship with the faithful his communion with his brother priests, his collaboration with his bishop, his life of prayer-in a word, the whole of his priestly existence, suffers an inexorable decline if by negligence or for some other reason he fails to receive the sacrament of penance at regular intervals and in a spirit of genuine faith and devotion. If a priest were no longer to go to confession or properly confess his sins, his priestly being and his priestly action would feel its effects very soon and this would also be noticed by the community of which he was the pastor.

"But I also add that even in order to be a good and effective minister of penance the priest needs to have recourse to the source of grace and holiness present in this sacrament. We priests, on the basis of our personal experience, can certainly say that the more careful we are to receive the sacrament of penance and to approach it frequently and with good dispositions, the better we fulfill our own ministry as confessors and ensure that our penitents benefit from it. And on the other hand, this ministry would lose much of its effectiveness if in some way we were to stop being good penitents. Such is the internal logic of this great sacrament. It invites all of us priests of Christ to pay renewed attention to our personal confession.

"Personal experience in its turn becomes and must become today an incentive for the diligent, regular, patient and fervent exercise of the sacred ministry of penance, to which we are committed by the very fact of our priesthood and our vocation as pastors and servants of our brothers and sisters. Also with this present exhortation I therefore address an earnest invitation to all the priests of the world, especially to my brothers in the episcopacy and to pastors of souls, an invitation to make every effort to encourage the faithful to make use of this sacrament. I urge them to use all possible and suitable means to ensure that the greatest possible number of our brothers and sisters receive the "grace that has been given to us" through penance for the reconciliation of every soul and of the whole world with God in Christ." 

~ Pope John Paul II; excerpt from Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, December 2, 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.

Fr.George Byers Establishes Holy Souls Hermitage: A Priest Helping Priests

"My vocation has always been marked with a concern for the sanctification of priests, which is what led me to teach in seminaries right around the world.

"Holy Souls Hermitage is no different. Prayer and adoration and sacrifice is offered for the sake of the sanctification of bishops and priests in the purgatory of this life and the next."

~ Fr. George Byers, Father of Mercy, excerpt from Holy Souls Hermitage ~

 Thanks to  Spiritual Mothers of Priests for reporting information learned from Mulier Fortis about a Father of Mercy and his new way of life as a hermit.

Fathers of Mercy Vocations Video

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.

Film About St. Josemaria Escriva: "There Be Dragons" Coming Soon

“This film served to remind me of the thousands of priests, from years past but also the current generation, they spend their lives with joy in the service of souls, in the service of society.”

~ Bishop Javier Echevarrí, Prelate of Opus Dei ~

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. P. Josef Moreno: Discourse to Priests on Devotion to Saint Joseph

"To you I now turn, venerable Ministers of the Altar, Priests of the Most High, wise dispensers of the Blood of Jesus Christ, and entreat you to execute the command which God has given to you, by the mouth of a great king : 'Go to Joseph, and do all that he shall say to you'.(1) And, since one of the most illustrious Doctors who have flourished in the schools assures us that St. Joseph must be regarded as the exemplar of all those who held any considerable position in the Church, (2) you cannot excuse yourselves from choosing him as the object of your particular devotion. You, then, I conjure who so often touch the Body of Jesus Christ, love this saint, who was the first of all men who had the honour to receive the Saviour into his hands. You, who sacrifice Jesus on the altar during the Divine Mysteries, venerate this saint, who may glory in having offered to the Eternal Father the first-fruits of the Adorable Blood of the Incarnate Word in His Circumcision. Consider Jesus on the altar lying on the sacred corporal, as Joseph contemplated Him in the Crib wrapped in His poor swaddling-bands; bear this Man-God through the streets of our cities, and to the houses of the sick, but let it ever be with the same sentiments of piety with which St. Joseph was animated when he held Him in his arms during the journeys he made. Finally, distribute to the faithful this Divine Saviour hidden under the appearance of bread, but endeavour at the same time to do this with all the reverence wherewith St. Joseph presented Him to the shepherds who came to adore Him." (3)

1 Gen. xli. 55.    2 Albert the Great, in Lucam, cap. i.    3  Fr. P. Josef Moreno, Diicurso viii.

 ~ Fr. P. Josef Moreno ~ 

Excerpt from The Life and Glories of Saint Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A.

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.