Prayers for Priests

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Let us join together in unison to pray for our priests. Please feel free to add in your prayers for them

Artist Daniel Gerhartz

 

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O Jesus,

I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;

for your unfaithful and tepid priests;

for your priests laboring at home or abroad

in distant mission fields; for your tempted priests;

for your young priests; for your dying priests;

for the souls of your priests in purgatory.

But above all, I recommend to you the priests, dearest to me:

the priest who baptized me;

the priests who absolved me from my sins;

the priests at whose Masses I assisted;

and who gave me your Body and Blood

in Holy Communion;

the priests who taught and instructed me;

all the priests to whom I am indebted

in any other way (especially...).

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,

and bless them abundantly

in time and in eternity.

Amen

~St Therese of the Child Jesus​

 

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Meditation of the Wounds of Christ for a priest or bishop
​

Using rosary beads, pray a simple phrase.

Offer a decade for each meditation.

"By the merits of the wound of your ___________*

(*left hand, left foot, right foot, pierced side, right hand), have mercy on _______."

An additional meditation flows from this, considering other wounds of Christ.

Offer a decade for each meditation.

"By the merits of the wounds from your crown of thorns,

purify ______'s thoughts."

"By the merits of the wounds of your back,

heal _________in the areas of need."

"By the merits of the wounds of your knees,

fortify and deepen _________'s prayer life."

"By the merits of the wounds on your feet,

make straight the way for _______."

"By the merits of the wounds of

insults and spittle,

increase _________'s humility."

Amen

 

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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 the priesthood.

Let Thy Holy Love surround them

and shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit,

and may the souls to whom they minister be their

joy and consolation here, and in Heaven their

beautiful and everlasting crown.

Amen.

~St Therese of Lisieux

 

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Let us join together in unison to pray for our priests. Please feel free to add in your prayers for them

View attachment 351245

Artist Daniel Gerhartz

Found a whole bunch of prayers for priests.

Catholic Prayer:
Prayer by St. Faustina

Heavenly Father, grant that our priests be strengthened and healed
by the power of the Eucharist they celebrate.
May the Word they proclaim give them courage and wisdom. We pray that all those whom they seek to serve
May see in them the love and care of Jesus,
Our Eternal High Priest, who is Lord for ever and ever. Amen.
Mary, Mother of the Church, look tenderly upon your sons, our priests.
St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us all.
O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church:
Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit
and give power to the words of priests
so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance
and return to You, O Lord.
Lord, give us holy priests;
You Yourself maintain them in holiness.
O Divine and Great High Priest,
may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them
from the devil's snares which are continually being set for the souls of priests.
May the power of Your mercy, O Lord,
shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests,
for You can do all things

Source:

https://www.phillyevang.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Prayers-for-Priests-all.pdf

Protestant Prayer (with the word "pastor" replaced by "priest"):

Dear Father,

Thank you for a priest that seeks You with a whole heart. The priest’s singular desire, Lord, is to serve and please You. So, Father, show the priest the way. Give the priest Your vision. Grant Your clarity. Make the complex simple. And then give the priest boldness to step out in faith to accomplish Your plans for our ministry and for our church. It’s easy to be distracted by many voices, so Father let the priest hear but one voice, and let that voice be Yours. These things I pray with hope and expectation, in Jesus’ name.

Source:

https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/blog/7-verses-and-7-prayers-for-your-pastor/

 

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St Augustine Holy Spirit prayer for priests

​

Breathe into ______, O Holy Spirit,

that his thoughts may all be holy.

Move in ______, O Holy Spirit,

that his work, too, may be holy.

Attract his heart, O Holy Spirit,

that he may love only what is holy.

Strengthen ______, O Holy Spirit

that he may defend all that is holy.

Protect ______, O Holy Spirit,

that he always may be holy.

Amen

 

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Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for Priests

​

1951 vintage prayer card​

Remember, O most loving Heart of Jesus, that Your sacred ministers for whom I pray, especially for __________.

They are those for whom You Yourself prayed so earnestly the night before Your death,

"Holy Father, keep them in Your name that you have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are" (Jn 17:17).

You look to them to remain united with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, to share Your griefs.

They have inherited Your persecutions, according to Your word that "a servant is not greater than his master" (Jn 13:16).

Remember O loving Heart of Jesus, that these Your sacred ministers are the objects of the world's hatred and Satan's deadliest snares.

Send, therefore Your Holy Angels to strengthen them, as an Angel strengthened You in Your agony;

May the Immaculate Heart of Your Mother be their comfort in their trials.

Keep them, O Jesus, in the safe stronghold of Your Sacred Heart and enkindle in them Your Divine-human Love so that they may not

succumb to the world's temptations but be ever more conformed to Your Sacred Heart.

May they all be one with You and among themselves, and grant that through Your Words, spoken through them in Your Name and in the

celebration of Your Sacraments, the faithful be brought to believe in You more firmly, love You more ardently and, thus, be saved by you.

Amen

Most Sacred Hear of Jesus, have mercy on our priests!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for our priests!

Holy Angels, enlighten, guard and strengthen them!

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary keep our priests in Your Hearts!

 

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Try praying these prayers while in Adoration, at a Parish or even at home, using the full screen option:

 

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Pray for specific graces each week or each month. Examples are: sanctity, fidelity, perseverance, mercy, or other virtues; the gifts of the Holy Spirit; living of the beatitudes; growth in the sacramental life.

 

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Pray the Rosary. This time-honored devotion to Our Lady is upheld by the Church as one of our greatest treasures. It can be a powerful way to pray for the priest’s deepening devotion to Our Lady and place him under her protection.

Leanne Bowen, Artist

 

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Pray the Liturgy of the Hours. The priest has made a commitment to pray faithfully the prayer of the Church known as the Liturgy of the Hours. If desired, morning prayer, midday prayer, evening prayer, or night prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours could be prayed as an offering for the priest’s faithfulness to this commitment.

 

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Heavenly Father, grant that our priests be strengthened and healed
by the power of the Eucharist they celebrate.
May the Word they proclaim give them courage and wisdom.

We pray that all those whom they seek to serve
May see in them the love and care of Jesus,
Our Eternal High Priest, who is Lord for ever and ever. Amen.

Mary, Mother of the Church, look tenderly upon your sons, our priests.
St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us all.

O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church:
Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit
and give power to the words of priests
so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance
and return to You, O Lord.

Lord, give us holy priests;
You Yourself maintain them in holiness.
O Divine and Great High Priest,
may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them
from the devil’s snares which are continually being set for the souls of priests.
May the power of Your mercy, O Lord,
shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests,
for You can do all things.

St. Faustina​

 

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Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for our priests and place them under your protective mantle