St. Thomas Aquinas Prayers for Priests

1. Mother of Jesus Christ and Mother of priests,

Accept this title which we bestow on you to celebrate your motherhood

and to contemplate with you the priesthood of your Son and of your sons,

O holy Mother of God.

Mother of Christ,

to the Messiah Priest you gave a body of flesh

through the anointing of the Holy Spirit

for the salvation of the poor and the contrite of heart;

guard priests in your heart and in the Church,

O Mother of the Saviour.

Mother of Faith,

you accompanied to the Temple the Son of Man,

the fulfillment of the promises given to the fathers;

give to the Father for his glory the priests of your Son,

O Ark of the Covenant.

Mother of the Church,

with the disciples in the Upper Room

you prayed to the Spirit for the new People and their shepherds;

obtain for the Order of Presbyters a fullness of gifts,

O Queen of the Apostles.

Mother of Jesus Christ,

you were with Him at the beginning of His life and of His mission,

you sought the Master among the crowd,

you stood beside Him when he was lifted up from the earth

consumed as the one eternal sacrifice,

and you had John close by you, your son;

accept from the beginning those who have been called,

protect their growth, accompany your sons in their life and in their ministry,

O Mother of Priests. Amen.      – Prayer by Pope St. John Paul II in Pastores Dabo Vobis

2. Lord Jesus, you have chosen Your priests among us

and have sent them to proclaim Your Word and to act in Your Name.

For such a great gift to Your Church, we praise You and we thank You.

We ask that you fill them with the fire of Your love,

that their ministry may reveal Your presence in the Church.

Since they are earthen vessels, we pray

that your power may work in their weakness.

In their afflictions do not let them be crushed;

in their doubts, do not let them despair;

in temptation, do not let them be destroyed.

Inspire them through prayer to live each day

the mystery of your death and Resurrection.

In times of weakness, send them Your Spirit

and help them to praise your heavenly Father and to pray for poor sinners.

With the same Holy Spirit place your word on their lips and your love in their hearts,

that they may bring the Good News to the poor and revive the broken-hearted.

Lastly, may the gift of Mary, your mother,

to the disciple whom you loved, be your gift to every priest.

Grant that she, who formed You in your human image,

may form each priest in Your divine image,

through the power of Your Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.    

3. Lord Jesus Christ, eternal High Priest,

You offered yourself to the Father on the altar of the Cross

and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit

gave Your priestly people a share in Your redeeming sacrifice.

Hear our prayer for the sanctification of our priests.

Grant that all who are ordained to the ministerial priesthood

may be ever more conformed to You, the Divine Master.

May they preach the Gospel with pure heart and clear conscience.

Let them be shepherds according to Your own Heart,

single-minded in service to You and to the Church

and shining examples of a holy, simple and joyful life.

Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother and ours,

draw all priests and the flocks entrusted to their care

to the fullness of eternal life where you live and reign

with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever. Amen.     -Prayer by Pope Benedict XVI

4. 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 priests;

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 baptized 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 (especially …).

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,

and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.     -Prayer of St. Therese of the Child Jesus

5. Mary, Mother of Jesus,

throw your mantle of purity over our priests.

Protect them, guide them, and keep them in your heart.

Be a Mother to them,

especially in times of discouragement and loneliness.

Love them and keep them belonging completely to Jesus.

Like Jesus, they, too, are your sons, so keep their hearts pure and virginal.

Keep their minds filled with Jesus, and put Jesus always on their lips,

so that he is the one they offer to sinner and to all they meet.

Mary, Mother of Jesus, be their Mother,

loving them and bringing them joy.

Take special care of sick and dying priests, and the ones most tempted.

Remember how they spent their youth and old age,

their entire lives serving and giving all to Jesus.

Mary, bless them and keep a special place for them in your heart.

Give them a piece of your heart, so beautiful and pure and immaculate,

so full of love and humility, so that they, too, can grow in the likeness of Christ.

Dear Mary, make them humble like you, and holy like Jesus. Amen.  -Prayer by St. Mother Teresa

6.  Heavenly Father, grant that our priests be strengthened and healed

by the power of the Eucharist they celebrate.

May the Word they proclaim give them courage and wisdom.

We pray that all those whom they seek to serve

May see in them the love and care of Jesus,

Our Eternal High Priest, who is Lord for ever and ever. Amen.

Mary, Mother of the Church, look tenderly upon your sons, our priests.

St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us all.

7.  O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church:

Grant, it love and the light of Your Spirit

and give power to the words of priests

so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance

and return to You, O Lord.

Lord, give us holy priests;

You Yourself maintain them in holiness.

O Divine and Great High Priest,

may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them

from the devil’s snares which are continually being set for the souls of priests.

May the power of Your mercy, O Lord,

shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests,

for You can do all things.              – Prayer by St. Faustina

8.  Dear Saint John Mary Vianney,

your childhood dream was to be a priest, to win souls for God.

You endured years of toil and humiliation to attain the priesthood.

You became a priest truly after God’s own heart, outstanding in humility and poverty, prayer and mortification, totally devoted to the service of God’s people.

The Church has exalted you as model and Patron Saint of all parish priests,

trusting that your example and prayers will help them

to live up to the high dignity of their vocation to be faithful servants of God’s people,

to be perfect imitators of Christ the Saviour

who came not to be served but to serve, to give His life in ransom for many.

Pray that God may give to His Church today many more priests after His own heart.

Pray for all priests under your patronage,

that they may be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.

May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance;

be examples of humility and poverty; shining models of holiness;

tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God;

zealous dispensers of God’s Grace in the sacraments.

May their loving devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary His Mother

be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry. Amen.