Today is the Feast of St. John Eudes, a great saint of the 17th c. A great missionary. He was a promoter of devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and spiritual writer. Canonized in 1920’s, he has a gigantic statue in a niche in Saint Peter’s Basilica. He founded the “Eudist” fathers.
I have posted this from St. John Eudes before, from The Priest: His Dignity and Obligations – HERE
On bad priests…
Bad priests are a sign of God’s anger
The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. Instead of nourishing those committed to their care, they rend and devour them brutally. Instead of leading their people to God, they drag Christian souls into hell in their train. Instead of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, they are its innocuous poison and its murky darkness. St. Gregory the Great says that priests and pastors will stand condemned before God as the murderers of any souls lost through neglect or silence….
When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people, and is visiting His most dreadful anger upon them. That is why He cries unceasingly to Christians, “Return, 0 ye revolting children . . . and I will give you pastors according to my own heart” (Jer. 3, 14-15). Thus, irregularities in the lives of priests constitute a scourge visited upon the people in consequence of sin.
A good priest…
He is an ever burning and shining light set in the candelabra of Mother Church, burning before God and shining before men: burning in his own love for God, shining by his charity for his fellow man; burning with the perfection of his inner life, shining by the perfection of his exterior deportment; burning in fervent prayer for his people, shining by his preaching of the word of God. The priest is a sun cheering the world by his presence and bearing. He brings heavenly blessings into every heart. He dispels the ignorance and darkness of error and radiates on every side bright beams of celestial light. He extinguishes sin and gives life and grace to the multitudes. He imparts new life to the weak, inflames the lukewarm, fires more ardently those who are aglow with the sacred flame of divine love. He is an angel purifying, illuminating and perfecting the souls that God has entrusted to him. He is a seraph sent by God to teach men the science of salvation which is concerned only with knowing and loving Almighty God and His Divine Son, Jesus Christ. The priest is an archangel and a prince of the heavenly militia, waging constant war against the devil who strives to drag countless souls into the depths of hell. He is the real father of the children of God, with a heart filled with love which is truly paternal. That love urges him to work unceasingly to nourish his flock with the bread of the sacred word and of the sacraments, to clothe the faithful with Christ and the Holy Ghost, to enrich them with celestial blessings and to secure for them every possible assistance in the salvation of their souls. …
He is a captain in the mighty army of God, always ready to battle for the glory of God and the defense of Holy Mother Church. He is ever prepared to lay siege to the world, the flesh and the devil. For him the conquest of kingdoms means only the salvation of souls for each soul is a kingdom more precious than all the empires of the world.
Please pray for priests. Pray for me.
Always on the right sidebar.
i was received into Holy Church in 2001. the pastor i had until mid-2010 was bad in a great variety of ways. however my late wife loved him since he reminded her of her beloved brother, who had passed away before she and i met, and so i offered it up.
the one i had from 2010 until covid was noticeably less bad for quite a while until during March 2020 he cancelled all confessions (!).
both of them are now retired, Deo Gratias!
i moved on to the Cathedral and then a year ago to a tiny dirt-poor parish with a schola. each of the three pastors since has been excellent in his own way. oh and singing in the schola has been an amazing blessing. being in the Cathedral choir was good, but this is so much better!
Priests are near the top of my list of daily prayer intentions, as are seminarians and vocations. some days i list out several men by name. when i do, you are surely among them, Fr. Z.
Fr. Z, you’re in my daily prayers.
In our family rosary, we pray for all the Priests who have been in our lives. I see how hard they work and the amount of activity that has to be done. My heart goes out to all Priest. We always try to include them in gatherings and holidays.
Thank you for saying yes to the Priesthood.
Im happy to say I’ve been a Zed Head for some time.
I have been a part of our parish’s Seven Sisters Apostolate for at least a year and half now. I am a cradle Catholic in my 50’s and if I thought attending the Latin mass changed my life, I was not prepared for what devoting a holy hour once a week, every week for a priests would do for me!
I see priests so differently now and pray that they have the strength to put on the amour of God daily for salvation of our souls. (This includes you Fr Z!)
I now have two different priests, on two different days and would love to add a third one day.
I believe that if every priest had Seven Sisters devoting a holy hour everyday for their needs and intentions, it would bring remarkable change and healing to our suffering church.
I have a little book of prayers for priests that I always take with me for my holy hour. I ran across this prayer a couple of months ago that I have since started closing my holy hour for them with:
Jesus, I implore you to annihilate him entirely and establish yourself perfectly within him, to draw and consume him completely within yourself, that you may be all in all, that no one may see anything but you in his interior or exterior life, in time and eternity. Dwell in him, love and function in him, suffer and die in him, adore and glorify yourself in him, in whatever way you choose. – St. John Eudes
May the Lord bless you abundantly, Father Z, and all holy priests! I often think of the many priests in my long life and ask them to intercede for me and my family. I would not be the person I am without having had these holy priests (and so many nuns!) mold me spiritually.
Every day in my Rosary, I ask Our Lady’s intercession for canceled, fallen and struggling priests.
When one of our priests drove an hour each way (rush hour/dinner time) to bring my mom annointing of the sick & Apostolic pardon I was overwhelmed with gratitude. It really hit me how much a good priest does. Of course, I already *knew* that but on that day it became *real*.
Sadly, the next day I overheard another family saying they’d been unable to find a priest for their loved one.
As a young person, it’s hard to not be angry right back at God. I didn’t do anything to deserve inheriting all the problems of the Church, and yet he punishes me all the same. Makes me feel like Job.