William Cardinal Keeler ordained me and my four classmates to the holy priesthood twenty-four years ago today. Each year since then I have renewed my consecration of my priesthood to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Clergy and Mother of Priests.ACT OF ENTRUSTMENT AND CONSECRATION OF PRIESTS TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARYPRAYER OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVIChurch of the Most Holy Trinity - Fátima, Wednesday, May 12, 2010Immaculate Mother, in this place of grace, called together by the love of your Son Jesus the Eternal High Priest, we, sons in the Son and his priests, consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart, in order to carry out faithfully the Father’s Will.
We are mindful that, without Jesus, we can do nothing good and that only through him, with him and in him, will we be instruments of salvation for the world.
Bride of the Holy Spirit, obtain for us the inestimable gift of transformation in Christ. Through the same power of the Spirit that overshadowed you, making you the Mother of the Saviour, help us to bring Christ your Son to birth in ourselves too. May the Church be thus renewed by priests who are holy, priests transfigured by the grace of him who makes all things new.
Mother of Mercy, it was your Son Jesus who called us to become like him: light of the world and salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14).
Help us, through your powerful intercession, never to fall short of this sublime vocation, nor to give way to our selfishness, to the allurements of the world and to the wiles of the Evil One.
Preserve us with your purity, guard us with your humility and enfold us with your maternal love that is reflected in so many souls consecrated to you, who have become for us
true spiritual mothers.
Mother of the Church, we priests want to be pastors who do not feed themselves but rather give themselves to God for their brethren, finding their happiness in this. Not only with words, but with our lives, we want to repeat humbly, day after day, Our “here I am”.
Guided by you, we want to be Apostles of Divine Mercy, glad to celebrate every day the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar and to offer to those who request it the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Advocate and Mediatrix of grace, you who are fully immersed in the one universal mediation of Christ, invoke upon us, from God, a heart completely renewed that loves God with all its strength and serves mankind as you did.
Repeat to the Lord your efficacious word: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3), so that the Father and the Son will send upon us a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Full of wonder and gratitude at your continuing presence in our midst, in the name of all priests I too want to cry out: “Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).
Our Mother for all time, do not tire of “visiting us”, consoling us, sustaining us. Come to our aid and deliver us from every danger that threatens us. With this act of entrustment and consecration, we wish to welcome you more deeply, more radically, for ever and totally into our human and priestly lives.
Let your presence cause new blooms to burst forth in the desert of our loneliness, let it cause the sun to shine on our darkness, let it restore calm after the tempest, so that all mankind shall see the salvation of the Lord, who has the name and the face of Jesus, who is reflected in our hearts, for ever united to yours! Amen!
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Parish Priest's Prayer to Mary Most HolyO Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen,
Mother of the Church, a priestly people (1 Pet 2,9),
Mother of priests, ministers of your Son:
accept the humble offering of myself,
so that in my pastoral mission
the infinite mercy of Eternal High Priest
may be proclaimed:
O "Mother of Mercy".
You who shared the "priestly obedience" (Heb 10, 5-7; Lk 1, 38),
of your Son,
and who prepared for him a worthy receptacle
by the anointing of the Holy Spirit,
keep my priestly life in the ineffable mystery
of your divine maternity,
"Holy Mother of God".
Grant me strength in the dark hours of this life,
support me in the exertions of my ministry
entrust me to Jesus,
so that, in communion with you,
I may fulfil the ministry with fidelity and love,
O Mother of the Eternal Priest
"Queen of Apostles and Help of Priests".
Make me faithful to the flock
entrusted to me by the Good Shepherd,
You silently accompanied Jesus
on his mission to proclaim
the Gospel to the poor.
May I always guide it
with patience, sweetness
firmness and love,
caring for the sick,
the weak, the poor and sinners,
O "Mother, Help of the Christian People".
I consecrate and entrust myself to you , Mary,
who shared in the work of redemption
at the Cross of your Son,
you who "are inseparably linked to the work of salvation".
Grant that in the exercise of my ministry
I may always be aware of the "stupendous and penetrating dimension of your maternal presence"
in every moment of my life,
in prayer, and action,
in joy and sorrow, in weariness and in rest,
O "Mother of Trust".
Grant, Holy Mother, than in the celebration of the Mass,
source and centre of the priestly ministry,
that I may live my closeness to Jesus
in your maternal closeness to Him,
so that as "we celebrate the Holy Mass you will be present with us"
and introduce us to the redemptive mystery of your divine Son's offering
"O Mediatrix of all grace flowing from this sacrifice to the Church and to all the faithful"
O "Mother of Our Saviour".
O Mary: I earnestly desire to place my person
and my desire for holiness
under your maternal protection and inspiration
so that you may bring me to that "conformation with Christ, Head and Shepherd"
which is necessary for the ministry of every parish priest.
Make me aware
that "you are always close to priests"
in your mission of servant
of the One Mediator, Jesus Christ:
O "Mother of Priests"
"Benefactress and Mediatrix"
of all graces.
Amen.
