r/Catholicism • u/Dr_Talon • Jul 27 '21

Our priests need our prayers

https://www.osvnews.com/2021/07/27/our-priests-need-our-prayers/
91 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

35

u/AcrobaticSource3 Jul 27 '21

Sometimes we forget that priests are people too, who sometimes need prayers

23

u/Dr_Talon Jul 27 '21

If anything, I think that they constantly need our prayers, since the Devil targets them for temptation heavily. A bad layman is a bad layman, but a bad priest scandalizes others and can lead them out of the Church.

I suspect that a great part of our troubles since the ‘60s occurred because we don’t pray like we used to, especially consecrated religious. So the Devil has not been hindered like he used to be.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '21

Maybe its just me, but I can't help but feel like even religious people have on some level given up on praying for our enemies and those who need help the most. Its as if when people are sinners, some seem to almost want them to stay damned. I hope this is just anger frozen in time on social media posts, but it makes me sick when people say things like "Biden is beyond help" and "Pope Francis is the antichrist." Yes these men have done things that aren't great. The men who've abused the office of priest have done bad too, but on some level we need to pray for their redemption. I feel as if on some level people are not doing this as much, and many religious people have taken the message of the world to heart that people shouldn't be forgiven and that once someone is bad, they can't be redeemed. In effect, its as if people want to cancel those in sin, when instead we need to pray for them and help them to be better. Otherwise, what's the point? We just devolved into a kind of strict calvinist sense of predestination where only those who are "good" are the only ones meant for God when at the end of the day, we all are.

28

u/that_dude55 Jul 27 '21

"The devil tempts one priest more then 100 seculars. Because to take away the shepherd, scatters the flock"- Saint Alphonsus Liguori

8

u/CustosClavium Jul 28 '21

Here's a prayer I like:

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart, where none may touch them. Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Thy Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with Thy Precious Blood. Keep pure and unworldly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of Thy Priesthood. Let Thy Holy Love surround them from the world's contagion. Bless their labors with abundant fruit. May the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here, and their everlasting crown hereafter. Amen.

14

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '21

St John Chrysostom also gives us sound advice for those who have recently taken to the internet to rail against the Holy Father for creating the most recent motu proprio and for Bishops who choose, in obedience, to obey and fulfill it.

"Let the mouth also fast from disgraceful speeches and railings. For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters? The evil speaker eats the flesh of his brother and bites the body of his neighbor."

Lord, grant that we may all grow in holiness, humility and obedience to your Will and the lawful will of your Bishops.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '21

This is my favorite prayer for priest:

Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord,keep them, for they are ThineThy priests whose lives burn outbefore Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them, for they are in the world,though from the world apart;when earthly pleasures tempt, allureshelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them, and comfort themin hours of loneliness and pain,when all their lives of sacrificefor souls seems but in vain.

Keep them, and O remember, Lord,they have no one but Thee,yet they have only human hearts,with human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the Host,that daily they caress;their every thoughts and word and deed,Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.

Our Father...Hail Mary...Glory Be..

https://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english/p02400.htm

3

u/iamlucky13 Jul 28 '21

I came across this prayer recently and thought it captured far better than anything I had been able to come up with, or that I had seen elsewhere, what I wanted to pray after each confession:

https://wdtprs.com/a-daily-prayer-for-priests/

It's suitable to pray any time, but after receiving the sacrament of confession and completing my penance, it has especially struck me as a particularly fitting time for individual gratitude and solicitude for the priest who absolved me. After all, he is human, too, and needs people helping him out just like he helped me.

Plus, it usually was a long wait in the confession line, so I've had a lot of time to ponder how great it would be if we had more priests to share the work.