O Jesus, keep them close to Your Heart...

 "By nature, the priest is like all other men; 
through his office, he surpasses everything that is on earth;

through his conduct, he must be comparable to the angels."

- St Bernard of Clairvoux

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 lonely and desolate 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 priest 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.

Daily Prayer of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Image:   Ordination ~ Neilson Carlin