463. Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests
r.) JESUS, eternal pastor of souls, hearour prayer on behalf of our priests and hear in it thy own eternal desire. Are not priests the object of thy most tender and exquisite care, that profound love in which are summed up all thy affections for souls? Let us confess our unworthiness to have good priests. But thy mercy is infinitely greater than our folly and wickedness.
O Jesus, grant that only those ascend to thy priesthood who are called by Thee; enlighten pas- tors in their choice, inspire directors with a spirit of counsel, and teachers in thecultivation of voca- tions. Give us priests who are angels of purity, models of humility, seraphs of holy love, heroes of self-sacrifice, apostles of thy glory, and saviours and sanctifiers of souls. Have pity on theignorant who should be enlight- ened, on the sons of toil who call for someone to save them from error and redeem them in thy name, on all the children and youths who cry for such as maysave themand bring them to Thee, on so many who suffer and have need of a heart which will find them consolation in thine. What a number of souls would arrive at perfection through the ministry of holy priests! Then, O Jesus, have compassionagain on the crowds who hunger and thirst.
Grant that thy priesthood may bring to Thee fainting humani- ty, and let the earth be once again renewed, the Church exalted, and the reign of thy Heart estab- lished in peace. Immaculate Virgin, Mother of the Eternal Priest, 463 Pius X, November 9, 1907. MISCELLANEOUS 399 and thou thyself a priest at the altar, who hadst for thy first son of adoption St John, the beloved priest of JEsus, who didst preside in the ccena- culum, mistress and queen of the Apostles; deign to utter with thy sacred lips this our humble prayer; do thou make its accents to penetrate to the Heart of thy divine Son, and, all-powerful in thy suppli- cation, obtain for the Church of thy Son JEsus a perennial renewal of Pentecost. Amen