Do you pray for the priests who gave you sacraments?

bumper_sticker prayI noticed that today is the 55th anniversary of my baptism.  I will say a prayer or two for the one who baptized me and for my godparents, one of whom is deceased.

Do you pray for the priest (or ministers if you are converts) who baptized you?

Do you pray for the priest who married you?  Heard your first confession?  Gave you first Communion?  The bishop who confirmed you?  Married you?  Anointed you in an emergency?

Come to think of it, do you pray for your parish priests? For your bishop?

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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38 Comments

  1. Charles E Flynn says:

    Every time I receive Holy Communion, I say a prayer for the priest who spent two and a quarter hours with me on 8/8/88, hearing my first confession in seventeen years, and giving me counseling that has served me without fail. The moment he gave me absolution, he looked me in the eye and said, “Remember me in your Communion.”

  2. This is a great idea to mention Fr. We should especially pray for our priests to be serious in their carrying out of the Sacred Liturgy, and to be great confessors taking that Sacrament highly seriously. For the ones who give us such and are not afraid to unmask the true culprit of sin, the Devil, in confession or preaching, I try to keep those priests in my prayers. I am not great at it but I try and hope the rest of the Zedheads will as well.

  3. Siculum says:

    Happy Baptism day Father Z! Mine was July 4th of the year I was born. Nothing like being independent from original sin.

  4. jfk03 says:

    Yes, I do. I pray for the priest who brought me into the church, for the priest who married me and my wife and baptized my son, and for the priests who hear my confessions. I have a list because I can’t rely on my memory.

    In the past I did not pray for priests. However, I have slowly come to understand the graces that come from intercessory prayer. I have been guilty in the past of failing to pray for others; it is a sign of lack of faith in the Lord and lack of faith in His attentiveness to our prayers.

  5. acardnal says:

    This is the prayer I pray regularly after holy communion:

    O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely and desolate priests; for Thy young priests; for Thy aged priests; for Thy sick priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in Purgatory.

    But above all I commend to Thee 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 Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed or helped me and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly (your priest’s name here). O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen. Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us; obtain for us many and holy priests. Amen.

  6. suedusek says:

    Yes, I do. I pray St. Therese’s prayer for priests–the shorter version. Sometimes I pray the longer version, posted above by acardnal.

    The shorter version:

    A Prayer for Priests
    By St. Therese of Lisieux

    O Jesus, eternal Priest,
    keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,
    where none may touch them.

    Keep unstained their anointed hands,
    which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

    Keep unsullied their lips,
    daily purpled with your Precious Blood.

    Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,
    sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

    Let Your 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.

    (from the Catholic News Agency website)

  7. andia says:

    I say a rosary of thanksgiving for the priests who mean the most to me and an MIC brother, daily. Then I say a rosary for their needs and intentions, also daily.

    the third rosary of the day ( if there is one) is for the bishops- and the priests who have to live under them.

    but I can’t say I pray for those who you specify mainly because those priests I remember as abusive and can only pray for their freedom from purgatory-sorry it’s the best I can do, and often I do it through tears

    There are days that the only prayers I can say are those for priests- I rarely pray for myself.

  8. Boniface says:

    When I pray my morning offering, I always pray for my bishop, auxiliary, pastor, assistant pastor, “all the priests who have ever ministered to me, especially Fr. A, B, C [according to whoever asked, or whoever I know has a particular intention or need that day].

  9. Grumpy Beggar says:

    There is a special personal prayer that I pray for the priest during Mass at the moment he is consuming the Precious Blood . At that same moment, I also pray it for any concelebrants and for priests who have ministered to me in my lifetime, often naming the ones I know.

    When we stand piously after the final blessing, while waiting for the presider (and concelebrants) to exit the sanctuary area, there is always enough time to recite a Hail Mary for them. I try to make use of that time.

    One of the things I like about the Holy Rosary’s Mysteries of Light , given to us by St. John Paul II , is that on the fifth mystery – Jesus Institutes the Holy Eucharist , I am automatically reminded to pray for our priests.

  10. Latin Mass Type says:

    A rosary for priests every day. For those I am acquainted with and for those whom I have not met.

    A Facebook friend posts a picture a day of a priest to pray for and I do.

    I pray for our seminarians–there is one local seminarian who loves the EF–I pray he has support in learning it!

    I pray for the souls of priests in purgatory.

    I pray for priests who have irritated me.

    I love the suggestions being given here!

  11. cdet1997 says:

    During my trip to Rome last year, I prayed for every priest who hears my confession before the chains of St. Paul.

  12. GregH says:

    I pray for priests using the book from Angelus Press….wonderful book with many, many excellent prayers for priests, vocations and the souls of priests in purgatory.

  13. ASPM Sem says:

    I ran into the priest who baptized me, Fr. Thomas McCabe, at the Chrism Mass. He was very pleased to learn that someone he baptized is now in the seminary!

  14. Skeinster says:

    Cdnl. Kung’s Prayer fro Priests is a good one:
    http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org/pm/PMprayerforpriests.php

    I say it twice, once for priests, and once for bishops by making the necessary substitutions and
    deletions.

  15. PA mom says:

    When I first read your suggestion to pray for priests daily, I was learning the Angelus. Since then, I try to pray the Angelus every day for priests, especially our current priests, bishop and seminarians. Sometimes I specify others, like confessors as well.

    It was the start of a more structured prayer life for others outside my immediate family. Many thanks for such good spiritual direction, Fr Z!

  16. akp1 says:

    Yes! Every day! I pray for a number by name and also for “all those priests who have ever given me the Sacraments or prayed for me or helped me to come closer to God in any way”.

  17. JackG says:

    I’m in San Francisco. I pray for Archbishop Cordileone who is under attack for trying to be a good bishop. My parish is Star of the Sea where Frs. Illo and Driscoll are under attack for trying to be good priests.

  18. Priam1184 says:

    Now that I think about it I never do pray for the priest who baptized me. The man passed away when I was still pretty young. I will have to correct that. Thanks Father.

    Good luck JackG with all of the mess that has been thrown at your parish and at your bishop. You have two great priests there.

  19. chantgirl says:

    JackG- It is good to see Fr. Driscoll is doing good work out there. We miss him in St. Louis. I asked him to hear the first Confession of my special needs daughter, and he did such a wonderful job. He is a truly kind man.

  20. vandalia says:

    In high school, I was taught by the pastor to always pray for the priest as he begins the Homily. I still do if for some reason I am not the one delivering it – i.e., the Bishop is present, another priest, a deacon. In the 30 years since then, I have sat through some very bad homilies. However, I cannot recall one that has ever been truly heretical. I don’t believe that this is due simply to the “luck of the draw.”

  21. chris_R says:

    I try to remember every priest I’ve ever encountered in my prayers — especially the ones who are hated by their parishes because they merely are doing their jobs of saving souls (as is the case with a priest whom I’ve known for 20 years who gets verbally abused and beaten by parents whose children he doesn’t want to recommend to the bishop for Confirmation because the children simply aren’t ready or don’t care to prepare and this problem is brought up.)

    My confessors as well, as few in number as they are. The last thing that I say to the priest after all is done and I’m about to exit the confessional is something like, “Thank you, father, for hearing our confessions and bringing us God’s mercy. You are in my prayers.”

  22. SanAntonioQueen says:

    Yes, I pray for all priests, deacons, and seminarians everyday, especially in my daily rosary. I pray also for apostate and unfaithful priests that their hearts may be converted and return to the Lord and the Church. I pray for priests who are in Purgatory and for those who have no one to pray for them whether in Purgatory or among the living. When I am preparing myself for Confession I always pray for the priest who is going to hear my confession that he may be guided by the Holy Spirit to give me the direction that I need and also that he may receive many graces for administering the sacrament not only to me but to all those whom he absolves from their sins. Our parish has three hours of Eucharistic adoration one day a week; I have made it my practice to offer all those hours of adoration for priests and seminarians.

  23. Nun2OCDS says:

    Yes. Each day a prayer for the Holy Father, a prayer for my bishop, a prayer for Pope Benedict and a prayer for “all the priests who minister to me especially … “.

  24. AnnetteJoan says:

    I pray often for the very holy priests I have known in my life…the priest who catechised me and baptized me, and to whom I will always be thankful for saving me from the horrid catechesis so rampant in the 1970s!….to the very holy traditional priests I was so honored to know and receive Our Blessed Lord from the holy hands of in Holy Communion…men who risked everything to preserve the True Mass in a time when trads were so horribly persecuted and ostracized…men who flew from one end of the country and world to another to give the faithful the Sacraments….these men in normal times would have been canonized.

  25. benedetta says:

    I certainly do and will continue.

    No matter the sort of liturgical preferences, or even if a priest prefers to be identified with various dissenting political agendas in our time, the fact remains that any ordained a priest in our times is going to be in particular and very grave need of our prayer and fasting.

    I pray with gratitude for the priests who give us the sacraments, ongoing. I pray for priests in formation and those in discernment. Additionally, I have always and do continue to actively pray, with particularity, for a few who have hurt me or those whom I love, those who have left the priesthood and the Church entirely and done public things to harm her, those who are falsely accused, those who teach heresy. I have not added but I am thinking now that I ought to add another category for the priests and pastors who celebrate the beige, the just nice and the lukewarm, likely out of fear.

    It really doesn’t matter, in the details, how the attacks come, and if there is one thing I have observed as a commonality about all of the priests I have met and known over the years it is that the attacks do and will come — in our times especially it is inevitable. There is only the one way to resist, which is common to priests and us all: personal holiness. The ones who do not know how to resist, fear excessively, and capitulate to these with little consideration, discernment, or fortitude in the attempts will cause terrific harm to the faithful and to the Church. This is why for us mothers, also of course under particular attack in these times, it is a parallel essential that we instruct our children in the authentic faith and give them opportunities and an experience with all that is needed to resist and to persevere: recourse to the sacraments, friendship with the saints, tradition and orthodox teaching, prayer, discernment, healthy friendships, purity, reading scripture, authentic beauty in literature, the arts, and music, worthy liturgy, household recognition and celebration to accompany the seasons of the Church.

  26. This is a noble habit that has much to recommend it. In particular, I keep the priest who witnessed my parents’ wedding in my prayers as well as previous pastors, bishops, and popes of mine. I usually offer a prayer for the priests who have to put up with my confessions as they no doubt suffer much. I really do believe that Satan has special contempt for priests and works extra hard to derail them in any possible way.

  27. lsclerkin says:

    Yes. Yes. Yes.Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

  28. Carlos says:

    Father, what about Deacons? Who carry the precious mysteries in their hands? Or the subdeacons who assist in the celebration of the mysteries of faith as well?

  29. marthawrites says:

    The Harrisburg, PA diocese provides a card with the names of all priests serving in the diocese, a half dozen or so names for each day of the month in addition to the names of seminarians, each seminary at which the men are assigned having a designated day of the week. Copies of this card are placed in the deanery Perpetual Adoration Chapel and in our parish chapel with adoration material. The St. Therese Society also prints a pamphlet with a prayer for priests specifying all the categories you mentioned, Fr. Z, another prayer for seminarians and a third for diocesan vocations, so yes, I do pray for priests every day.

  30. marthawrites says:

    I also pray two prayers daily for FSSP priests because some family members go out of their way to attend EF Masses. At the conclusion of receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation I usually remember to say, “Thank you for being a priest.”

  31. AlexandraNW says:

    April 10 this year was the 44th anniversary of my baptism, which was very public at Easter vigil. I had nothing white to wear, so wore black, which was perhaps prophetic. I was cathechized privately by a very dear, somewhat shy priest who seemed very worried and overworked. Nevertheless he did a very good job.

    Of course what he taught me was all taken away soon enough, and I lost my dear, dear Church, but never my faith, by the grace of God. No matter what happens, no matter what people say, they cannot make God not be, and they cannot disprove Jesus. Acts 14:3 is why we’re all still here today.

  32. Bea says:

    I have a little book of “prayers for priests.”
    One of my favorites is the prayers for priests who have
    baptized you,
    confirmed you,
    heard your first confession,
    given you your first communion,
    advised you or given you help and direction.
    I’ve written their names on the margin of this particular prayer so as not to miss anyone.

    Admittedly I don’t say it all the time but at daily Mass (when I can make it), I pray for the Bishop, our pastor and priests and other priests, courageous bishops and cardinals, those who have crossed my path. You, too, Fr. Z. Sometimes by name (when facing particular hard times) and sometimes just lumped together.

    Priests are so much in need of our prayers in these trying times. When I was younger I used to wonder; “Why would they ask for our prayers? They’re already Holy.”

  33. Bea says:

    PS
    My husband and I already have a similar “pray for priests” bumper sticker on both our cars.

  34. AlexandraNW says:

    And yes, I pray for that dear priest who cathechized and baptized me. This post is a good reminder to pray for those who, in their zeal for reform, have made it so clear to me personally that there is no place for me in the V2 church. It was a blessing to me that they did so. My faith is so much stronger than it ever would have been otherwise. God bless them.

  35. Rob in Maine says:

    I pray for the Priest who officiated my marriage. Oh boy, do I! What else can I do after he insulted me from the pulpit? “What are you supped to be, some kind of cowboy?” I was wearing a tuxedo with a mandarin collar and studs instead of a tie.

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  37. mrsmontoya says:

    I offer the Rosary every Tuesday and Thursday for all priests specifically, and at other times of course.

  38. Suudy says:

    I’m a convert . Though I was previously (re-?)baptized when I was a teenager in an Assembly of God congregation (my father didn’t remember if I had been baptized as a child in the Episcopal tradition), I don’t know the date. And given the apparent emphasis in protestant tradition that oneself must choose when to be baptized, I find it strange that none of the Protestants I know (or knew) remember their baptism date.

    However, my wife (a cradle Catholic), her family, and many of my Catholic friends, remember their baptism date. And a tradition my wife’s family celebrates–and one we’ve adopted as well for our family–is to celebrate our baptism days. We have our children’s baptism candles, and we light them, say a prayer, and treat the baptism day like a birthday. And it really is. Our children are as excited for their baptism day as they are for their birthday. I find the tradition a wonderful reminder of God’s work in our lives, and one that I wish I had growing up.

    Kudos to you Fr Z and your family for remembering your baptism day!

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