Holy Orders

" The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech."

Psalm 109:4

Prayer for Priests

Keep them, I pray You, dearest Lord, Keep them, for they are Thine -

Your priests whose lives burn out before Your consecrated shrine.

Keep them, for they are in the world, Though from the world apart;

When earthly pleasures tempt, allure, Shelter them in Your Heart.

Keep them, and comfort them in hours O loneliness and pain,

When all their life of sacrifice For souls seems but in vain.

Keep them, and O remember, Lord,

They have no one but Thee,

Yet they have only human hearts, With human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the Host, That daily they caress;

Their every thought and word and deed,

Deign, dearest Lord to bless.

Tu Es Sacerdos

A Prayer for Priests

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep all Your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart where none may harm them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips purpled with Your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts sealed with the sublime marks of Your glorious priesthood.
Let Your holy love surround them and shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors and abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they ministered here below be their joy and consolation, and in Heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown. Amen.

O Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us; obtain for us a number of holy priests. Amen.