Year for Priests Companion

By Magnificat .

Insight. Inspiration. Instruction.

A unique opportunity to join our Holy Father's invitation to priests and laity alike to deepen and strengthen our awareness of the gift of the priesthood, and to grow in intimacy with Christ the great High Priest.

The Magnificat Year for Priests Companion is a one-of-a-kind spiritual guide designed to accompany you with:
- Prayers, devotions, meditations, and essays celebrating the priesthood
- A special Novena in honor of the Priesthood, each day highlighting a different dimension of the priestly vocation (Father, Man of Prayer, Preacher, Forgiver of Sins...)
- Meditation texts on significant facets of the priesthood by Saint John Vianney, Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., Sister Briege McKenna, O.S.C., Alec Guinness, and many others
- 11 beautifully reproduced pages of sacred art masterpieces

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781949239126

Book preview

The Year for Priests

This text is an excerpt of an address delivered by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the members of the Congregation for the Clergy on March 16, 2009.

The missionary dimension of the priesthood is born from the priest’s sacramental configuration to Christ… The necessary, indeed indispensable, aspiration to moral perfection… must dwell in every authentically priestly heart… Precisely to encourage priests in this striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends, I have decided to establish a special Year for Priests that will begin on June 19 and last until June 11, 2010. In fact, it is the 150th anniversary of the death of the holy Curé of Ars, John Marie Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock… Within and through his own humanity every priest must be well aware that he is bringing to the world Another, God himself. God is the only treasure which ultimately people desire to find in a priest… The priest is called to be expert [in divine intimacy] so that he may be able to lead souls entrusted to him humbly and trustingly to the same encounter with the Lord… As Church and as priests, we proclaim Jesus of Nazareth Lord and Christ, crucified and risen, Sovereign of time and of history, in the glad certainty that this truth coincides with the deepest expectations of the human heart.

EDITORIAL

Peter John Cameron, O.P.

Why a Year for Priests?

THE VATICAN DECREE announcing the Year for Priests states that the Year is an occasion for priests to renew their faithfulness to Christ and their bonds of fraternity. Through this special gift, Pope Benedict XVI wants to give all the Church something new. At the start of the Year for Priests, the Holy Father prayed that this Year would help all priests to grow towards the spiritual perfection essential to the effectiveness of their ministry, and enable the faithful to appreciate more fully the great gift of grace which the priesthood is: for priests themselves, for the Church, and for our world. The Pope expressed his desire that this Year would be for priests a favorable opportunity to grow in intimacy with Jesus, who counts on us, his ministers, to spread and to consolidate his Kingdom, to radiate his love, his truth. He encouraged us to ask the Lord to set the heart of every priest on fire with that ‘pastoral charity’ which can enable him to assimilate his personal ‘I’ into that of Jesus the High Priest, so that he may be able to imitate Jesus in the most complete selfgiving.

For where would we be without priests? In his retreat for priests that Pope John Paul II preached in Ars, France, in 1986, the Holy Father gave an answer to this question, quoting the saintly Curé of Ars: Without the priest, the death and passion of our Lord would be of no use. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth.

How to use this booklet

The MAGNIFICAT Year for Priests Companion is a one-of-a-kind prayer manual designed to accompany everyone through the special Year for Priests. As you go through the Companion, you will see that there are some features that are provided for all readers and there are others intended in a special way for priests.

The booklet is divided into four main sections: 1) Novena in Honor of the Priesthood; 2) Meditation Texts; 3) Essays; and 4) Devotions. The Companion is intended to be a source of insight, inspiration, and instruction for all people, both the lay faithful and priests.

The Novena in Honor of the Priesthood is a way to reflect on the Holy Priesthood according to several of its different dimensions. Each day of the Novena is dedicated to a different aspect of the priesthood. You might pray the Novena repeatedly throughout the course of the Year for Priests. This you can do individually, or as a family (with different members reading different parts), or united with a friend or fellow parishioner. It is a good idea to offer the Novena for a special intention, for example, for priestly vocations, for your pastor, for seminarians, for priests you personally know, for priests who are in need, for priestly sanctity and renewal, etc. The Novena helps to provide you with a regular pattern for observing the Year for Priests.

The second section of the booklet, Meditation Texts, is intended to be a guide for meditative prayer. The texts form a collection of excerpts from the writings of authors, ancient and new, on the meaning of the priesthood. Prayerful reflection on these texts will deepen your appreciation of the sacrament of Holy Orders and renew your gratitude to God for the inestimable gift of the priesthood to the Church. You might include the reading of these beautiful teachings as a special addition to your Holy Hour or to enhance your preparation for Mass. The Meditations can also be read aloud by your family, or studied and discussed in a prayer group. Rich in content, you will find that you can return to these writings often and find in them new wisdom to nourish and illuminate you.

The third section provides two informative essays offered to rekindle the reader’s love of the singular gift that the priesthood truly is.

The final section, Devotions, is comprised of a number of prayers and devotions, both traditional and original, that are dedicated to the gift and the mystery of the priesthood. You will find