The Year for Priests - 40 Hours Devotion . . .

'The priest is not a priest for himself; he is not for himself, he is for you.' - St John Vianney.

The Year for Priests closes on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 11th June 2010. Here at St Ann's, we have decided to celebrate the Year for Priests with 40 Hours Devotion which begins this evening immediately after Mass at 6.30 pm.

I am delighted to provide this opportunity for people to come along and pray for our priests. Adoration will continue throughout the night tonight and tomorrow night. Our devotion will close with Benediction at 9am on Thursday 6th May. Mass will follow at 9.30am.

All our welcome. Do please call in and join us in prayer for our priests if you can.

Prayer for Priests - St Therese of Lisieux

O Jesus

I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;

for your unfaithful and tepid priests;

for your priests labouring at home

or abroad in distant mission fields;

for your tempted priests;
for your lonely and desolate priests;
for your young;
for your dying priests;
for the souls of your priests in Purgatory.
But above all, I recommend to you
the priests dearest to me:
the priest who baptised me;
the priests who absolved me from my sins;
the priests at whose Masses I assisted
and who gave me Your Body and Blood
in Holy Communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me;
all the priests to whom I am indebted
in any other way.

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,
and bless them abundantly
in time and in eternity.

Amen.