Prayer for Priests
A prayer for the sanctification of priests, offered for all priests that they may be holy and faithful shepherds of God's people.
The Prayer for Priests asks God to make all priests holy and faithful shepherds of his people. Priests carry heavy burdens and are often criticised, and the Church has always asked the faithful to pray for them. This prayer can be offered for your parish priest by name. It is especially fitting on Thursdays, associated with the institution of the priesthood, and in June. It asks that priests be holy, joyful and strong in temptation, and that they have friends. Offering a Rosary or a Mass for one priest each week is a hidden gift. Write him a note of thanks, too, because many priests rarely hear it. Pray also for vocations to the priesthood in your parish.
Pray this prayer, and save your favourites, in the Sacred Novenas app
Open in the app App StoreGoogle PlayPrayer for Priests
O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart, where none may touch them.
Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Your Sacred Body.
Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with Your Precious Blood.
Keep pure and unearthly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.
Let Your holy love surround them and shield them from the world's contagion.
Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here and their everlasting crown hereafter.
Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us.
Obtain for us many holy priests. Amen.
A Prayer for My Priest:
Lord Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests; for your unfaithful and tepid priests; for your priests laboring 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.
O Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
When should I pray the Prayer for Priests?
Pray it on Thursdays, in June or for a priest's anniversary.
How do I pray the Prayer for Priests?
Name a priest you know, read the prayer, and offer a Mass or a Rosary for him.
Who is the Prayer for Priests for?
Parishioners, seminarians and families.
Pray this prayer, and save your favourites, in the Sacred Novenas app
Open in the app App StoreGoogle Play