Today, June 19, 2009, begins the Year for Priests, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, the Curé d'Ars.
In the Vatican, festivities will begin at 17:30 (11:30am, Eastern Standard Time) with the arrival of the Relics of the Saint Curé D’Ars. Pope Benedict will then preside over Vespers at 18:00 (12:00pm, EST). This event will be televised on EWTN (USA), Salt + Light TV (Canada), or any other network that picks up the live feed from Centro Televisivo Vaticano (Vatican TV).
If possible, attend mass on this day and pray for the Pope's intentions on the occasion of the opening of this joyful time!
Here is a prayer you can pray daily for all priests throughout the world:
Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord,
Keep them, for they are Thine -
Thy priests whose lives burn out before Thy consecrated shrine.
Keep them, for they are in the world,
Though from the world apart;
When earthly pleasures tempt, allure -
Shelter them in Thy heart.
Keep them, and comfort them in hours of loneliness and pain,
When all their life of sacrifice
For souls seems but in vain.
Keep them, and O remember, Lord,
They have no one but Thee,
Yet they have only human hearts,
With human frailty.
Keep them as spotless as the Host,
That daily they caress;
Their every thought and word and deed,
Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.
Our Father... Hail Mary...
Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for them.
Imprimatur: +D. Cardinal Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia.
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