Part Two of Two

Mary guides women in prayer for priests

This is the last in a two-part series introducing Orans, a women’s daily prayer ministry for priests. Today, learn about the ministry itself.

FC | LINDA REEVES
Father Yves François, director of the diocesan Office of vocations, and Joan Lawlor display an icon titled “Pentecost,” which represents Mary praying with the apostles. They want the icon to represent a new initiative in the Diocese of Palm Beach that encourages women to pray for priests.

JOAN LAWLOR | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Posted: 10.29.09

As women, we reflect upon the great blessings we have received in the Diocese of Palm Beach, and we are moved to respond to the Blessed Mother’s request that we pray for the priests who act in the person of her Son. We look to the example of the Galilean women who accompanied Jesus, and realize that we can accompany our priests in prayer and provide for them out of our resources — that is, our sacrifices and offerings.

Simple acts such as forgoing a dessert or offering to the Lord a difficult task can bring much grace to a priest striving to grow in holiness. The loneliness endured by a shut-in may well sustain a priest in the difficulties of his vocation. The possibilities are endless, and we can be sure that Mary will intercede for us, presenting each of our gifts to her Son.

With Mary as our model, each of us can be an “Orans” — as the image of a female figure praying with extended arms and open palms is known in art — devoting ourselves with one accord to prayer with and for our priests. The prayer distributed to the laity for the Year for Priests provides the perfect means to do so, for it corresponds to the priests’ own prayer. With them we pray that Mary will wrap her mantle around our priests, and that they be holy, seeking nothing but God’s greater glory and the salvation of souls.

While the Year for Priests was inaugurated by Pope Benedict to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal, Father Yves François, director of vocations for the Diocese of Palm Beach, emphasizes that priests continually need spiritual and emotional support from the people of God whom they serve. Father François invites the women of the diocese to participate in prayer and offerings on behalf of our priests. Placing ourselves under the patronage of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, the patroness of our diocese, we ask her to help each of us to be an Orans — a woman of prayer — interceding for those who have dedicated their lives to bring Christ, her Son, to us.

All that we need to enable us to do so is available on our diocesan Web site, www.diocesepb.org, which has dedicated a special section to the Year for Priests. Here we can find the Prayer for Priests suggested by the U.S. bishops, a rosary for the Year for Priests, and monthly calendars that give us the name of a diocesan priest for whom to pray particularly each day. Since our commitment to pray and sacrifice with and for our priests will be ongoing, such calendars will become a permanent part of our Web site.

The commitment consists of a promise to pray the Prayer for Priests daily — if possible, for the specific priest for that day — and to perform sacrifices and offerings in accordance with each woman’s conscience and ability. A woman who is drawn to a more intensive commitment should spend time in prayer and reflection, discerning whether she is being called to become a spiritual mother to a priest in our diocese. A woman of any age — even a student — and of any state in life — religious, married or single — may be a spiritual mother to a priest.

This is a special mission in the Church, and it is centered in the Eucharist. A spiritual mother to a priest will commit to one weekday Mass per month, one hour in eucharistic adoration each month, one rosary weekly and the daily Prayer for Priests. She will also ask Mary, the Mother of Priests, to guide her in her sacrifices and offerings for the soul of the priest. While the identity of the priest for whom she is praying and sacrificing will not be known to her, the Lord will certainly create a special relationship between the spiritual mother and the priest. We see this reflected in the words of Jesus on the cross to his Mother, “Woman, behold, your son,” and to John, “Behold, your mother.” With these words, Mary became the spiritual mother of all of us, and of priests in a particular way.

Lawlor is a volunteer with the Office of Vocations.

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