From Fr. Joe Hearty, f.s.s.p., re priestly vocations.As the saying goes, if the priest is a saint, the Saint, the dashing diviner of knotty puzzles. [Radio: Buxton, 206; TV: Terrace, II, 264] See : Sleuthing people will be fervent; if the priest is fervent, the people will be pious; if the priest is pious, the people will at least be decent. But if the priest is only decent, the people will be godless god·less adj. 1. Recognizing or worshiping no god. 2. Wicked, impious, or immoral. god  less·ly adv. . So it is that the spiritual generation is always one degree less intense in its life than those whose duty is to produce it in Christ. So with this quote I come to present to you the urgent desire to disseminate a much needed devotion in these times. The devotion I speak of concerns a renewed fervour of praying for our priests as expressed in a reprint of a booklet entitled Priest's Saturday. This devotion began in Germany in the 1930's and was apparently successful even here in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . It had a strong beginning, but like many devotions it quickly fell away, in the enlightenment of the 1960's. As a priest myself, I encourage all good Catholics to take on this devotion of offering prayer each Saturday for the sanctification sanc·ti·fy tr.v. sanc·ti·fied, sanc·ti·fy·ing, sanc·ti·fies 1. To set apart for sacred use; consecrate. 2. To make holy; purify. 3. of priests and candidates to the priesthood, namely, seminarians. For us Catholics concerned about our priests, remember St. Alphonsus Liguori Saint Alphonsus Liguori (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787) was an Italian Doctor of the Catholic Church, spiritual writer, and of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), an influential religious order. : "The good morals and the salvation of the people depend on good pastors." If there is a good priest in charge A priest in charge is a priest in charge of a parish who does not receive the temporalities of the parish. That is, he or she is not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, simply holds a licence rather than freehold and is not appointed by advowson. of the parish, you will soon see devotion flourishing, people frequenting the Sacraments, and honouring the practice of mental prayer. Hence the proverb: like pastor, like parish. Advertisement follows. St. Catharines, ON |
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