Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer on the Priest

Saint Josemaría Escrivá - On the Priesthood

Picture source

Today is the optional memorial of the founder of Opus Dei. The following are some of his quotes from his book The Way, on the priesthood.

66.  "A priest - whoever he may be - is always another Christ".

67.  "Though you well know it, I shall remind you again that a Priest is 'another Christ'.  And that the holy Spirit has said:  'Nolite tangere Christos meos - do not touch my Christs'."

68.  "Presbyter - Priest - means, literally, an elderly man.  If old age deserves veneration, think how much more you ought to venerate the Priesthood."

69.  "It shows very little refinement--and great lack of respect--to make fun of a Priest, whoever he is, and whatever the pretext!"

70.  "I repeat:  to make fun of a Priest - no matter what the circumstances- is always, at best, a sign of coarseness and poor taste."

71.  "How we should admire sacerdotal purity!  It is their treasure.  No tyrant can ever wrest this crown from the Church."

72.  "Don't place a Priest in peril of losing his dignity.  It is a virtue which, without being pompous, he simply must have.

How that young cleric- a friend of ours- prayed for it:  'Lord, grant me...eighty years of dignity!'

Pray for it for the whole Priesthood, and you will have done a good thing."

73.  "It cut you to the heart to hear people say that you have spoken badly of those Priests.  And I am glad that it hurt:  for now I am quite sure you have the right spirit!"

74.  "To love God and not venerate his Priests...is not possible."

75.  "Like the good sons of Noah, throw the mantle of charity over the defects you see in your father, the Priest.

St. John Crysostom, September 13

"If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider's web. Indeed, unless you, my brothers, had detained me, I would have left this very day. For I always say: Lord, your will be done; not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do. That is my strong tower, my immovable rock, my staff that never gives way. If God wants something, let it be done! If he wants me to stay here, I am grateful. But wherever he wants me to be, I am no less grateful."

St. John Chrysostom
September 13

Saintly Quote on Priests by St. Faustina

Saint Faustina - Priests

Altar - Sacred Heart Church, Honolulu

"O Jesus, give us fervent and holy priests! Oh, how great is the dignity of the priest, but at the same time, how great is his responsibility! Much has been given you, O priest, but much will also be demanded of you..."

(941 Diary)

"O Priest!"

"O Priest! You are not yourself because you are God. 

You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ. You are not your own because you are the spouse of the Church. 

You are not yourself because you are the mediator between God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing.

What then are you? Nothing and everything.

O Priest! 

Take care lest what was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: '

He saved others, himself he cannot save!'"

Said by St. Norbert on the occasion of his ordination. Truth Himself

San Josemaria Escrivá's Christmas Message to Priests

Filmed encounter of St Josemaria with other priests, Pamplona, Spain, 1972.
A priest and nothing but a priest

The priestly ministry, especially in these times of great scarcity of clergy, is a terribly absorbing task which leaves no time for a second job. Men need us so much (though many do not realise it) that there will never be a surplus of priests. We need more helping hands, more time, more energy. This is why I often say to my sons who are priests that the day one of them noticed that he had time on his hands, he could be quite sure he had not lived his priesthood well that day.
Conversations with Msgr. Escrivá, 4

St John Vianney Speaks about the Priesthood

Picture source

“The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”

“O, how great is the priest! ...If he realized what he is, he would die.”

“Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption here on earth…What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of His goods…Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest and they will end by worshiping the beasts there..The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you.”

Mahalo to Catherine of Spiritual Motherhood for sharing.

Saint John Vianney’s Pastoral Plan.

St. John Vianney (1786-1859) is regaining popularity among diocesan seminarians. After a generation of being ignored,if not ridiculed,the patron saint of parish priests is once again finding his way into the hearts and minds of seminarians and priests. The Church names him as patron because this humble priest,assigned to the backwaters of southeastern,post revolutionary France,reveals things perennial about the priesthood and priestly ministry. The pioneering Pope Blessed John XXIII even wrote an encyclical letter on St. John Vianney recommending him as a model for diocesan priests to follow. The new generation of American priests is not discovering St. John Vianney because it simply has nostalgia for what is old,rather because it has a hunger for what perdures. This article is the fruit of this search and the summary of a discussion I had with a group of transitional deacons on the cusp of ordination. By the time this article is published,these men will already be priests

You can read the entire Courageous Priest article here

Feastday of St. Damien of Moloka'i, May 10

Mass in honor of Fr. Damien of Moloka'i
Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu

May 10, 2011

About St. Damien of Moloka'i

Woe to Those Who Do Not Respect Priests!

Picture source

"Blessed is that servant of God who has confidence in priests who live according to the laws of the holy Roman Church. Woe to those who despise them. Even if they fall into sin, no one should pass judgment on them, for God has reserved judgment on them to himself. They are in a privileged position because they have charge of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they receive and which they alone administer to others, and so anyone who sins against them commits a greater crime than if he sinned against anyone else in the whole world."

Saint Francis of Assisi
The Admonitions
Admonition XXVI

Mahalo to Portiuncula the Little Portion

On the Priesthood by St. Norbert

Oh, Priest! who are you?
Not through yourself,
since you are from nothing.
Not for yourself,
since you are mediator of men,
Not to yourself,
since you are the spouse of the Church,
Not yours, since you are servant of all,
Not you, since you are God.
Who are you then? You are nothing, and all."

Source: Holy Week, Magnificat 2011

St. John Chrysostom on the Priesthood

St. John Chrysostom

Picture source

The treatise On the Priesthood is the finest of his (St. John Chrysostom) writings and perhaps the first really great pastoral work ever written, although he was only a deacon when he wrote this book. It stresses the dignity of the priesthood. The priest, it says, is greater than kings, angels, or parents. But priests are for that reason most tempted to pride and ambition. They, more than anyone else, need clear and unshakable wisdom, patience that disarms pride, and exceptional prudence in dealing with souls.

- Fr. John Hardon's The Ctaholic Lifetime Reading Plan.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton - Letter to a Seminarian

Mother Seton, whose feast we celebrate today,  had a great reverence for the priesthood. She wrote the following to a seminarian undecided about his vocation:

To be engaged in the Service of our adored creator, to be set apart to that service,...to plead for Him, to be allowed the exalted privilege of serving H im continually, to be his Instrument in calling Home the wandering soul, and sustaining, comforting and blessing your fellow creatures-- are considerations which bear no comparison with any other and should lead you to consider the very possibility of your realizing the hope they present as the most precious and valued gift life can afford...A man may be a very good man in the pursuit of any other profession- but certainly that of a clergyman is the easiest, surest road to God, and the first, the highest, and most blessed that can adorn a Human Being."

Source

Celebrating St. John Vianney, a Priest

St. John Mary Vianney

St. John Mary Vianney was born in Lyons in 1786. He was an ordinary man with an extraordinary calling. Unwilling to yield to God's call because of numerous trials and challenges he was faced with, God persisted to prod him to get him to finally give his fiat. With God's grace he became a priest, and was entrusted with a parish in the town of Ars in the Diocese of Belley. He cared for the people in his parish in many a marvelous way by his preaching, his mortification, prayer, and good works. He became a renowed priest so much so that people from many regions came to Ars seeking his counsels. He died in 1859.

Today we pray to Our Most High Priest Jesus Christ, with the intercession of St. John Mary Vianney, to bless all our priests, especially those in our respective dioceses. May God bless each one of them, fill them with his strength and wisdom that in their times of trials and challenges, they many never give up but be inspired to be the priest God calls them to be. We pray for our seminarians that they will continue to persevere in their studies. We ask this of the Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Saint was a Priest

If you have seen this picture but didn't know whose, now you do. He's St. Peter Julian Eymard who joined the Marists in 1839, and in 1856, founded the Blessed Sacrament.

"In addition to those changes, Peter Julian coped with poverty, his father's initial opposition to Peter's vocation, serious illness, a Jansenistic striving for inner perfection and the difficulties of getting diocesan and later papal approval for his new religious community.

His years as a Marist, including service as a provincial leader, saw the deepening of his eucharistic devotion, especially through his preaching of Forty Hours in many parishes. Inspired at first by the idea of reparation for indifference to the Eucharist, Peter Julian was eventually attracted to a more positive spirituality of Christ-centered love. Members of the men's community, which Peter founded, alternated between an active apostolic life and contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist. He and Marguerite Guillot founded the women's Congregation of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament.

Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1962, one day after Vatican II's first session ended."

More here.


We pray for all priests that they, too, may always have the perseverance to pursue what it is they need to accomplish in their church or parish, or missionary work. May poverty not bring them down, but fill them with strength as they live a life more dependent on God. We pray in the name of our Eucharistic Lord and Savior. Amen.

First Feastday of St. Damien of Moloka'i

People lined up to view the relic of St. Damien of Moloka'i at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, before and after the special Mass held in his honor. All viewers could touch the reliquary. This took place on Monday, May 10, 2010, the first time Hawai'i celebrated the feast day of Fr. Damien as a saint. Fr. Damien was canonized on October 11, 2009. The 12n Mass at the Cathedral was officiated by Fr. Gordon Gomes, Associate Pastor.

Relic of St. Damien of Moloka'i

(right heel)

Photos by Easter A.

Here's an article sent to me by St. Margaret Charles:

AMERICA/UNITED STATES - Hawaii celebrates feast of St. Damien of Molokai for first time since canonization

Honolulu (Agenzia Fides) – Today, the state of Hawaii will be celebrating the feast of their first saint, St. Damien of Molokai, for the first time since his canonization in Rome on October 11, 2009. The state of Hawaii includes the island of Molokai, where the Belgian missionary spent the last sixteen years of his life serving the Lord and the leper colony on the island. The feast day of the “Apostle of the Lepers” is celebrated on May 10, as it marks the day the saint arrived on Molokai: May 10, 1873.

According to a note sent to Fides by Patrick Downes, editor of the “Hawaii Catholic Herald,” the newspaper for the Diocese of Honolulu, the first feast day of the saint will be “celebrated modestly.” In the morning, beginning at 10am, “ the outdoor bronze statue of Father Damien will be the site of the now familiar ceremony of songs, prayers and lei presentations,” organized by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. It will begin with a welcome by Sacred Hearts Father Lane Akiona, a performance of Hawaii Ponoi performed by Maryknoll School students, and an invocation by vicar general Father Marc Alexander. The program will include a Scripture reading, a reflection by Sacred Hearts Father Herman Gomes, a hula by students from Sacred Hearts Academy, the draping of the statue with leis, the singing of “E Kamiano” and “Hawaii Aloha,” and a benediction by Sacred Hearts Father Christopher Keahi. In the evening, Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu will celebrate the feast day Mass at 6 p.m. at the co-cathedral. The relic of St. Damien, now on display at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, will be brought to the Kapalama church for veneration that evening.

Saint Damien of Molokai, with his words and life, is an example for all missionaries and faithful. He once said: “Without the constant presence of our Divine Master upon the altar in my poor chapels, I never could have persevered casting my lot with the lepers of Molokai.” (AR) (Agenzia Fides 10/5/2010)



Article sent by:
Sr. Margaret Kerry, fsp
50 St Paul’s Ave
Boston, MA 02130
617-510-5409

Association of Pauline Cooperators
Living the gospel in every dimension of life in a world of communication.

This blogpost is also found on A Tribute to Our Priests

Fr. Damien of Molokai

What could be better than to post about our own beloved priest, Fr. Damien of Molokai? The diocese of Honolulu, its parishes and parishioners joyfully await the canonization of this "leper priest" on October 11. A much awaited event, indeed!

Our own bishop, Bishop Larry Silva, is in Rome to witness the event. He is with Fr. Gary Secor, his chosen representative to travel along with him. Over 500 Islanders on separate tours, including the remaining Kalaupapa patients, are either on their way, or already there. What a glorious moment it will be!

Those of us who are left on the Islands of Hawaii are blessed to have access to our growing technology: EWTN and our local channels that will air the event, blogs, YouTubes, cell phones, etc. What many ways to become informed, to connect with the world and other cultures, and be engaged in networking -- to accomplish what God calls us to do: to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the life of this missionary priest of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Esther G. and I are blessed to have been inspired by this Belgium priest who became a local, one among us, one with the most afflicted of Hawaii in his lifetime when and where a Christ was most needed. He is known as Patron Saint of Native Hawaiians (Source: Ka Wai Ola).

We both rejoice in thanking God and praising Him for the privilege of witnessing in our own lifetime: canonization of Fr. Damien of Molokai. So join us. Rejoice with us.

On the Feast of St. Therese - Vocations to be a Priest and Missionary

"Ah! my Jesus, pardon me if I am unreasonable in wishing to express my desires and longings which reach even unto infinity. Pardon me and heal my soul by giving her what she longs for so much!

To be your Spouse, to be a Carmelite, and by my union with you to be the Mother of souls, should not this suffice me? And yet it is not so. No doubt, these three privileges sum up my true vocation: Carmelite, Spouse, Mother, and yet I feel within me other vocations. I feel the vocation of THE WARRIOR, THE PRIEST, THE APOSTLE, THE DOCTOR, THE MARTYR. Finally, I feel the need and the desire of carrying out the most heroic deeds for you, O Jesus. I feel within my soul the courage of the Crusader, the Papal Guard, and I want to die on the field of battle in defense of the Church.

I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. With what love, O Jesus, I would carry you in my hands when, at my voice, you would come down from heaven. And with what love would I give you to souls! But alas! while desiring to be a Priest, I admire and envy the humility of Saint Francis of Assisi and I feel the vocation of imitating him in refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.

O Jesus, my Love, my Life, how can I combine these contrasts?

How can I realize the desires of my poor little soul?

Ah! in spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors. I have the vocation of the Apostle, I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach your name and to plant your glorious cross on infidel soil. But O my Beloved, one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages. But above all, O my Beloved Savior, I would shed my blood for you even to the very last drop.

Saint Therese of Lisieux

October 2009 issue of Magnificat