Mary and the priest
by VP
Posted on Thursday June 10, 2021 at 12:00AM in Quotes
"When you meet very serious difficulties in the path of holiness and the exercise of your ministry, turn your eyes and your mind trustfully to her who is the Mother of the Eternal Priest and therefore the loving Mother of all Catholic priests. You are well aware of the goodness of this Mother. In many regions you have been the humble instruments of the mercy of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in wonderfully reviving the faith and charity of the Christian people.
Our Lady loves everyone with a most tender lover, but She has a particular predilection for priests who are the living image of Jesus Christ. Take comfort in the thought of the love of the Divine Mother for each of you, and you will find the labors of your sanctification and priestly ministry much easier.
To the Beloved Mother of God, mediatrix of heavenly graces, We entrust the priests of the whole world in order that, through her intercession, God will vouchsafe a general outpouring of His Spirit which will move all ministers of the altar to holiness and, through their ministry, will spiritually renew the face of the earth."
Source: Pope Pius XII in his exhortation Menti nostrae, issued on Sept. 23, 1950. The translation is from p46 of the NCWC edition. Mary and the Priest, The American Ecclesiastical Review. March 1951.
O Mary, Queen of the Clergy, thou who art the Mother of the Church, the Queen of missions, the fulfillment of all ecclesiastical virtues; deign to sow in the pure hearts of our first communicants abundant graces for priestly and missionary vocations. Prepare the souls of our seminarians for the dangerous duties of their future sacred ministry. Fill our priests, thy favorite sons, with a burning ardor of unfatigable zeal, and grant them the holiness and knowledge necessary for their glorious mission.
O Queen of priests, thou who art the appointed patron of the Catholic hierarchy, enlighten and strengthen our bishops so that they may be thy peopleʼs vigilant pastors and zealous leaders. Extend thy powerful protection to our Holy Father the Pope, that he may guide the ship of thy Church with a firm and sure hand through the storms and convulsions of the modern world to the port of eternity.
August Queen of heaven and earth, O divine captor of my heart,draw all souls to thee and chain them to thy virginal heart by the unbreakable bond of a love so pure and so zealous that they may live only to love and please thee, now in the darkness of exile and soon in the splendors of our eternal home. Amen
