Digital Marian Helper Winter_2019

In her Diary , St. Faustina frequently wrote how important priests were to her for spiritual direction, and she often prayed and offered sacrifices on their behalf. Below is St. Faustina’s prayer for holy priests as recorded in her Diary, 1052: O my Jesus, I begYou 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 toYou, 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 traps and 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’s prayer for holy priests deny ourselves; to die to ourselves so that we may not be afraid to lose ourselves in the Community for the greater glory of God and the good of the Church; to shine forth like a candle on the altar; to be consumed for the glory of God like grains of incense which give off a sweet fragrance; let us not be afraid to be worn out, used up, diminished for the greater glory of God ( Journal, 88). Our prayers help ensure that our priests, through the truth they preach and the truth they live, remain faithful to Christ, faithful to their vocation, and faithful guides of God’s people. The ministry at St. Mary began more than a decade ago in the home of Lydia Krantz. She was inspired to draw parishioners together after she came upon a quote that said something along the lines of: “There is no such thing as a bad priest — only one who hasn’t been prayed for enough.” “It was like an arrow to my heart,” she says. The ministry eventually moved to the church, before the Blessed Sacrament, at the suggestion of Fr. Matthew Lamoureux, MIC, pastor of St. Patrick’s. The prayer gatherings serve as a weekly act of love and thanksgiving for priests as well as an acknowledgment that priests are targets of the evil one and are in need of divine assistance. “It’s just the most important thing we can do right now — praying for priests,” says Teresa. “We need priests. We need holy priests. We need the Eucharist. We need all the Sacraments. There’s so much negativity about priests. But if some priests are weak, it’s because people aren’t praying for them.” Father Andy Davy, MIC, p astor of St. Mary Church, says he and his fellow Marians are deeply indebted to parishioners who pray for them. He’s specifically touched that they turn to the Blessed Mother for her intercession. “In watching ‘The Passion of The Christ,’ remember the scene where Jesus is being scourged by the Roman sol- diers?” he says. “He gains new strength by gazing into the eyes of His Mother Mary and is able to stand up, even to the amazement of the soldiers. “The special call of praying for priests is being like Mary in this moment of ‘The Passion.’ Priests are called to be alter Christus (another Christ), bringing His presence more deeply into the world. At all times, the priesthood has been under attack. But especially in our times, we have experienced both the brokenness of priests who have fallen in their vocation, as well as the suffering heroic priests who are persecuted as white and red martyrs. “Praying for priests,” said Fr. Andy, “is the call to gaze into the wounded, scourged Christ, so that the priesthood might rise in strength against the temptations that seek to destroy it, as well as receive the strength to offer them- selves more completely to the Heart of Christ. “Priests need prayer intercessors more than ever, or they will be swept away by the malicious will of the enemy. Please pray for us priests that we might rise amidst the scourging, and become more conformed to the Divine Mercy, Jesus Christ.” MH MH M arian H elper • W inter 2019-20 • marian . org 15