A Prayer for our Beloved Priests*

Priests are Christ's priceless gifts of love to us. Without them there is no continuation of Christ's real Body, perhaps to a great extent even His Mystical Body, on earth.

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

Keep unstained their anointed hands which daily touch Thy Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips purpled with Thy Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts sealed with sublime marks of Thy glorious preisthood.

Let Thy 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 have ministered be here below 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!

* This seems to be a popular prayer which has appeared many times in various occasions.