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First Meeting: Saturday, April 19, Mass at 9:00 AM. The Seminary of Our Lady of Providence
Resources:
-PDF of the Congregatio Pro Clericis on Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for priests
-Prayers of the Apostolate: Women can associate themselves with the Apostolate by praying these prescribed prayers
On December 8, 2007, the Congregation for the Clergy published a document entitled Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests. The Congregation earnestly desires to promote Eucharistic adoration for the reparation of faults and for the sanctification of the clergy.
They wrote:
“In order to continually maintain a greater awareness of the ontological link between the Eucharist and the Priesthood, and in order to recognize the special maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary for each Priest, it is our intention to bring about a connection between perpetual Eucharistic adoration for the reparation of faults and sanctification of priests and the initiation of a commitment on the part of consecrated feminine souls—following the typology of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Eternal High Priest and helper in his work of Redemption—who might wish to spiritually adopt priests in order to help them with their self-offering, prayer, and penance.”
Concerning spiritual motherhood, the Congregation notes: “The vocation to be a spiritual mother for priests is… fundamental and vitally important. It is a vocation that is often hidden, not apparent to the human eye, but intended to transmit spiritual life. Pope John Paul II, convinced of this, founded a cloistered convent in the Vatican where nuns would pray for his intentions as Supreme Pontiff.”
CONSECRATED FEMININE SOULS
The Congregation’s call for consecrated feminine souls is a call for Catholic women “to recognize the special maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary for each Priest.” The Congregation is inviting women to come forward who “might wish to spiritually adopt priests in order to help them with their self-offering, prayer, and penance.” The dedication of their works and prayers to God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, will no doubt be efficacious in the lives of the priests for whom they pray. All women—married, single, or consecrated—in good standing with the Holy Roman Catholic Church are welcome to answer this request to support priests, and also to pray for seminarians and an increase in vocations to the priesthood.
As the Blessed Virgin Mary accompanied her Son throughout his life, the women in The Apostolate of Mary, Mother of Priests desire to accompany our priests as spiritual mothers.
What does this apostolate do?
- Unites Catholic women in a common ideal to support the priesthood and vocations.
- Meets monthly at the Seminary of Our Lady of Providence for Holy Mass. After Mass, prescribed prayers are offered before the Holy Eucharist.
- Attends occasional days of reflection where formation is provided by trained priests on the apostolate and its work.
- Support priests and vocations by:
- Adopting these men into one’s heart.
- Performing acts of kindness, such as remembering special dates, keeping photographs of priests and seminarians in our homes, and sending them cards for birthdays and anniversary dates.
- Offering novenas and prayers along with daily sacrifices as a means of presenting them to God.
- Educating the Faithful, by word and action, on the importance of the priesthood.
Women who are not able to actively participate are invited to be associated with the Apostolate by living spiritual motherhood for priests in their hearts by offering the prescribed prayers on their own.
The Example of Lu Monferrato
The little village of Lu, northern Italy, with only a few thousand inhabitants, is in a rural area 90 kilometers east of Turin. It would still be unknown to this day if, in the year 1881, the family mothers of Lu had not made a decision that had “serious consequences”.
The deepest desire of many of these mothers was for one of their sons to become a priest or for a daughter to place her life completely in God’s service. Under the direction of their parish priest, Msgr. Alessandro Canora, they gathered every Tuesday for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, asking the Lord for vocations. They received Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month with the same intention. After Mass, all the mothers prayed a particular prayer together imploring for vocations to the priesthood.
Through the trusting prayer of these mothers and the openness of the other parents, an atmosphere of deep joy and Christian piety developed in the families, making it much easier for the children to recognize their vocations.
Did the Lord not say, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt 22:14)? In other words, many are called, but only a few respond to that call. No one expected that God would hear the prayers of these mothers in such an astounding way.
From the tiny village of Lu came 323 vocations!: 152 priests (diocesan and religious), and 171 nuns belonging to 41 different congregations.
Every ten years, the priests and sisters born in Lu come together from all around the world. Fr. Mario Meda, the long-serving parish priest of Lu, explained that this reunion is a true celebration, a feast of thanksgiving to God who has done such great things for Lu.
The prayer that the mothers of Lu prayed was short, simple, and deep:
“O God, grant that one of my sons may become a priest!
I myself want to live as a good Christian
and want to guide my children always to do what is right,
so that I may receive the grace, O God, to be allowed to give you a holy priest! Amen
From 1 to 4 September 1946, the majority of the 323 priests and religious met in their village of Lu for a reunion which attracted world-wide attention.
For more information, email or call Joanne Cournoyer totustuus65@yahoo.com, 401.241.4779,
or Fr. Michael Najim: mnajim@catholicpriest.com, 401.831.8011 |
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