Mary, Mother of Priests

This year I have joined the Seven Sisters Apostolate to pray for one of our priests at our parish. It is a year long commitment where 7 women sign up for one day of the week to pray a holy hour for a particular priest. It has been on my heart to be praying for our priests these past few years and this apostolate was the perfect way for me to make that commitment and be praying consistently for this intention.

In talking to a very wise priest, I was telling him how my heart has sorrowed for him and his brother priests who are newly ordained and in seminary. My sorrow was not pity, but could be likened to the sorrow of Our Blessed Mother. For Mary to know and see the corruption of so many priests in the church, for her to see how many priests do not believe in the Real Presence of her Son, for her to see that the Church is hurting, bruised and how so many of her flock are being led astray, was too much for my heart to bear. This wise priest told me that he and his fellow newly ordained priests, are fully aware of their responsibility in the Church. They know the state of the Church and they have been entrusted as their mission to do their part in the Lord renewing His priesthood. They also fully realize that this is going to take time, that it is a process. We mustn’t lose hope because the Holy Spirit is moving in the Church. It is the duty of these faithful priests to simply allow the Holy Spirit to lead them, to be obedient to the prompting of the Spirit when it comes, and to die to self so as to never go beyond the working of the Spirit in order to accomplish this mission.

This statement made me feel so blessed to be a part of the Church at this time. We can rejoice knowing that this next generation of priests and seminarians are working to bring holiness and tradition back to the heart of the faithful. It is amazing to know that they are being led by the Holy Spirit to restore the Church. Even more so, because of the great work in which they have been assigned, we must be praying for them most ardently. They will no doubt be attacked by the enemy, so our prayers are so necessary at this time. If you have ever felt called to pray for your priest, it is the Holy Spirit calling you to be a part of the restoration of the Catholic Church that will come through holy priests.

Through the Seven Sisters Apostolate, I pray every Saturday for a particular priest. This morning, when praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, I reflected on this concept of Mary as the mother of our priests. For Mary, every priest is a living image of her Son. Mary can see the faults of her priests, her spiritual sons, and she desires nothing more that to restore every one them to the likeness of Jesus Christ. She is interceding for her priests and it is beautiful to think that her great mission from Heaven is building up and sanctifying these men in a particular way. Mary is seeking our help in this mission in order that the Church may be renewed from the inside out.

At the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel asks Our Blessed Mother to bear in her womb the Son of God. She says “yes” and in that moment Heaven and earth unite in a most unique and powerful way. Mary continues to say “yes” to bear in her womb every man being called to the priesthood.

Then Our Blessed Mother is so full of joy over each and every man that accepts the call to the priesthood that she desires to share the Good News. She travels far and wide and inspires in the hearts of many men and women to accept and pray for vocations. Especially the particular ones that are being discerned within our own family and circle of friends. Mary shares her motherly heart for her priests with others so that their vocation may be lifted up in prayer and petition.

After months of caring for her priestly sons in her “womb”, Mary then “births” them into the world and begins to care for them in a material way as they learn and grow in the seminary. This journey of the seminarian, under the care of Our Blessed Mother, is where he learns and grows to maturity in the faith. It is there that he is given the tools to be able to one day go out and do God’s work in a most real and powerful way.

Then as all good parents would do for their children, Mary and Joseph take the Infant Jesus to the temple to offer him back to the Lord. The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple reminds us that Mary’s motherhood to her priests is ultimately a leading of them to their full service to God through the Church. Mary rightly offers each one of her priests, her sons, to the Church as anointed and called to a particular service that is unlike any other in the Church. At their ordination the priest is offered to the Church, by Our Blessed Mother and St Joseph.

Then to round out the Joyful Mysteries, Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the Temple sitting among the teachers and asking them questions. He was speaking to them about things far beyond his years. Jesus’ wisdom and understanding astounded everyone who was there to witness it. What a joy it is for Mary to see her son grow and mature, to see him come into his own, to watch his gifts flourish and bloom right before her eyes. This same joy, I truly believe, Our Blessed Mother feels with each new priest who sets out after ordination. She desires nothing more than for them to preach, to pray, and to be a conduit of God’s grace through the Sacramental life of the Church.

May every priest never forget how much his Mother Mary loves them. She looks upon them as she did her own Son. She is interceding for them and wants nothing more than for them to come to her in their time of need as she leads them back to her Son. As devotion to Mary is found in the priest, devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist may also be found. May our Blessed Mother lift up each one of her sons, her priests, and sanctity them for the restoration and sanctification of the Church and the Body of Christ. If you have not yet been doing so, I encourage you to pray daily for your priests. They need our prayers and in praying for them you are praying for the Church, which is our family and our eternal home.