Today, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we begin the Year of the Priest. World Day of Prayer for Priests has planned four Masses that will be celebrated at 3 p.m. local time in each of four different time zones. Masses will be celebrated in Sydney, Austrailia; Kerela, India; Knock Shrine, Ireland; and New York City.
The World Day of Prayer for Priests web site is produced by a group of committed Catholic Communication /Advertising laypeople. It is their prayer that this site will facilitate the World Day of Prayer for Priests, and serve as a gateway to a deeper understanding of the priesthood of Christ as exercised by our priests, a priesthood in which, by virtue of our baptism, we all share.
The site features prayers for priests, a children’s section, and even e-cards to send to your favorite priests.
World Day of Prayer for Priests will be added to my Links for the Year of the Priest.
Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Proclaiming a Year for Priests on the 150th Anniversary of the death of Saint John Vianney, the Curé of Ars.Dear Brother Priests,
On the forthcoming Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 – a day traditionally devoted to prayer for the sanctification of the clergy –, I have decided to inaugurate a “Year for Priests” in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the “dies natalis” of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide. This Year, meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world, will conclude on the same Solemnity in 2010. The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say. This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?
Read Pope Benedict’s letter in its entirety.
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