Category Archives: Prayers for Priests

2012/12/29 · 18:50

Great news for our priests from Opus Bono Sacerdotii — This is A FIRST for our priests in ten full years

father thomas crowe and monsignor weiss sandy hook

Fr. Byers

This is the first time in our ten years of existence that we were able to provide for all the priests who asked for our financial assistance during the month of December!

I want to thank you from all the priests and staff of Opus Bono for your prayers and support.

[... snip!... Pete then mentions THIS...]

Finally, the priests of St. Rose of Lima parish in Newtown, CT where the shootings occurred desperately need our prayers. Tabitha, the sister to Father Luke Suarez at St. Rose of Lima asked that we forward to you the need for prayers for her brother Father Luke, Father Ignacio Ortigas, Monsignor Weiss who are tirelessly working over these past two weeks with the aftermath of the tragedy. Many of their parishioners were involved and lost their children.Sincerely in the Heart of the Infant,

Pete

[You heard the man. Add Father Luke, Father Ignacio Ortigas and Monsignor Weiss to your prayer list. Hail Mary...]
[Also, check out the great Opus Bono Sacerdotii site. Make it your project month by month to keep this going.]

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2012/12/20 · 07:06

SWAT Teams for the threatened Sandy Hook Priests of Newtown CT — Show your solidarity right here right now

father thomas crowe and monsignor weiss sandy hook

From Father Suarez’ sister’s Facebook posting (sent in by a reader as I don’t have facebook):

“Many of you have received emails from me about my younger brother, Father Luke Suarez, who is a priest at St. Rose of Lima parish, a Catholic church just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary. He, and his pastor, Monsignor Weiss, arrived at the school within moments of the shooting, and have been caring for the community ever since. The picture I have included was taken at the school.

Father Luke has an impossible task before him. His diocese is without a bishop right now…. Monsignor … is personally devastated by the losses. The parish is very large…. The rectory has received serious threats, and as my brother gave the homily Sunday at the noon mass, the church had to be evacuated by SWAT teams. After experiencing identity theft and online hacking incidents, he had to erase all of his internet accounts. After a weekend of endless media requests, notifications and vigils with heartbroken families, and little sleep, he now has two wakes and two funerals every day, until the fourth Sunday of Advent. Father Luke has not even been ordained two years.

My large family has been trying to send Father Luke our love and support from afar, and one of my brothers was able to visit with him briefly a couple times. All he asks for is prayer.

I have been wracking my brain, trying to think of a way that our beautiful, loving community could tangibly reach out to Father Luke, Monsignor Weiss, and the St. Rose parish, to support them in this most awful of times. I have sent many prayer requests, and I am asking for more prayers again. But I also want to ask everyone to search their hearts, and if the Holy Spirit moves you,please consider sending one of your family’s Christmas cards to the rectory, with a few words of love and encouragement. Here is his address:

Father Luke Suarez 46 Church Hill Road Newtown, CT 06470

My brother has said over and over again that without the prayer support he is receiving, he could not keep going. And this week is only the beginning. Everyone there is still in shock. Their peaceful home has been desecrated by violence. They will need to live with this sorrow forever.

But in our weakness is His strength. Grace abounds. Can you help me carry him through this time of trial? On a hopeful note, Father Luke did say that no media coverage has even touched the deep, beautiful awakening of faith that has occurred there. Their tiny church, where my children have received sacraments and where Luke was ordained, has been full of people in prayer without ceasing since this tragedy happened. Love is stronger than death.

Please feel free to share the address with your family, friends, and community. An outpouring of love will sustain these good priests through their impossible ministry–impossible on their own, but possible with God. I am so grateful to live in this community. We are all so blessed with one another. Every day, I see you all loving one another as Christ loved. Thank you for letting me reach out to you now. With humble appreciation”

* * *

Why not send them a Christmas card, and through them, to all the families involved?

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2012/12/11 · 10:21

Update on your sending in names of priests for whom to pray to Holy Souls Hermitage: Super-Yikes!

ad orientemThe original request (HERE) has revealed the good will of the readers of HSH for their priests and bishops.

It’s taking a while just to prepare the list.

All names of priests and bishops are kept confidential.

Comments are turned off for this post. Instead, send me an email:

holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com

In the memo line of the email, please write in caps: PRAYERS FOR PRIESTS.

Besides Benedict XVI, you’ve already sent in the names of…

  • dozens of Cardinals
  • many dozens of Archbishops
  • very many dozens of bishops and auxiliary bishops
  • untold numbers of priests and some deacons.

There are…

  • religious
  • diocesan
  • those belonging to Institutes of Apostolic Life
  • some hermits!

There are those who…

  • are living saints, in my opinion
  • are impenitent in the opinion of all and the priests themselves
  • are just ordained
  • are actively assigned
  • are retired
  • are studying
  • are on “special assignment”
  • are removed pending investigation
  • are permanently removed
  • are “laicized”

There are those who are in living in conditions of…

  • peace
  • persecution
  • war
  • luxury
  • poverty
  • freedom
  • imprisonment

There are those who are…

  • in union with the Church
  • schismatic
  • in irregular canonical situations

There are those who living in conditions of…

  • priestly fraternity
  • those who are persecuted by their fellow priests for their othodoxy
  • stomping on their fellow priests just to do it
  • false accusation
  • accusing others falsely, knowingly being just this hateful

There are those who are…

  • living
  • dead

There are those who

  • happily swam the Tiber

You get the idea. Send in the names! holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com, noting in the memo line: PRAYERS FOR PRIESTS

Don’t forget those who are living saints. They are by far the most attacked by Satan. Thank you for remembering them.

I was very touched that many of you noted those priests and bishops who were sacramentally instrumental in your salvation with baptism, confirmation, and confession. When I hear confessions, I always but always add a bit at the end: “And pray for me, too!” That always brings a smile and a pledge of prayer! :)

The only ones I’m telling the names to already know them: our Lord Jesus, our Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, our guardian angels…

I will print out a couple of copies, however. One for me in the chapel of Holy Souls Hermitage, and another which will be placed below the tabernacle.

Don’t hesitate to send in heaps of names.

Observations: Many of you have written in more than once, apologizing for having sent in the names of every priest they could think of except, for instance, a brother who is a priest, or one’s parish priest whom one sees almost daily, etc. So, include the obvious ones too!

Post script: Why this exercise of names? you might ask. Well, it’s like this… The way I look at it is that although prayers go up for all priests, living and deceased, there are certain ones that I’m sure our Lord in His providence would like to single out a bit. It is by His providence that you have visited this blog post and have chosen to send in same names for whom to pray. I just think that it’s most appropriate any way you look at it.

By the way and to the point: Part of the purpose of this name collecting is to get you to remember to pray for priests, particularly those who are close to you in any way, either positively or negatively. We priests need prayer!

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2012/06/22 · 08:49

A flower of innocence for the Immaculate Conception on behalf of our dead

On behalf of my priest friend who committed suicide the other day, I would like to say a word of very heartfelt thanksgiving for all the prayers and Masses offered for the repose of his soul. All the Holy Souls are grateful for our prayers, and pray for us, and will welcome us into the eternal habitations when it is our own turn to meet the Lord. And should those for whom we pray be in heaven already, know that there are a multitude of other souls who will receive the benefit of those prayers.

Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! Hail Mary…

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2012/06/21 · 09:27

My close priest friend just committed suicide… Je suis en deuil… Vraiment… Why would any priest be judged with mercy?

It’s said that suicide, if plotted out in one’s right mind (if that were possible) would be an act of revenge, of hatred for God and man, done with an “I’ll show you!” attitude: “You can’t push me around anymore!”

But of course, this is almost never the case. Those who commit suicide are almost never in an adequately reasonable frame of mind to know what they are doing. They are almost always in a swirl of clinical depression so severe that they can’t for a moment put two thoughts together. That, by any account, was the state of my priest friend when he took his own life, but not for any of the above mentioned usual reasons. His goodheartedness was way too deeply rooted within him for that. Instead, he developed a severe degenerative brain condition, with handfuls of meds being the order of the day. Such a humble offering to the Lord…

This is his picture on his Skype account, which remains after his death. His message of greeting was, is one of hope, one to which he clung with all his faith until his body gave way. It’s from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians, 4,4:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: Rejoice!”

He was a young priest, quite a few years younger than I. He had grown up in rather difficult circumstances and was never ever in good health. His priesthood was one disappointment after another, a kind of continuous agony in the garden, for he, being French, and being truly Catholic — steeped in tradition and Tradition — was constantly seeing the faith betrayed by so very many of his fellow priests and bishops. And he would also pay the price for this faithfulness to the Church with his always being marginalized more and more. As the Master, so the disciple, and he knew that well, and rejoiced in hope, however much it all weighed upon him.

He was a friend, a confessor for me, a confidant, one who would lay down his life even for the likes of me. And, it seems to me, he did, in all of this, in one small way…

There was a certain, shall we say, rather politically influential knucklehead who was always juggling various presidents and prime ministers and royal figures like so many pieces of fruit. Both this priest friend of mine and myself were beholden to be loyal to this knucklehead as far as that was advisable. The knucklehead, as the appellation might suggest, was a might-makes-right maniac in speaking against me to anyone who would listen, as I am told by pretty much everyone to whom he vented his anger, including a particularly well known diplomat of world-wide political significance, who was deeply offended – shaken — at such behavior, and told me so.

All of them, to be polite I suppose, simply listened to such rants, except for this priest friend of mine. Instead, loyal friend that he was, and fearful of the judgment of God, he pointed out the grave inconsistencies of this rather politically influential knucklehead in the matter, saying not only that I had not done anything wrong, but that I had done all things superbly well. In hindsight, I see that it had been expected and intended that I fail in a particular matter. Thus, this protestation in my favor did not bode well for my priest friend, but he simply would not prostitute his soul to the popular sycophancy of the day. The usual response in such situations by the rather influential knucklehead was: Merde! Merde! C’est de la merde! The knucklehead now had another enemy.

My priest friend showed the depth of well proven righteousness of soul. I was in awe of this, especially because it was in my regard. You have to know, dear readers, that this priest friend was entirely upstanding in every way, entirely loyal in the face of opposition. Never a truer friend to be found. I do believe that the hatred of the knucklehead, who should have known better, very deeply affected my priest friend. He simply didn’t know how to handle my metaphorically getting slamed to the pavement and kicked in the face by the knucklehead – which did happen – causing my priest friend to cut any ties to the rather politically influential knucklehead, and go elsewhere. This may well have been just a very small part of what he was dealing with in recent years, until now…

You have to know, dear readers, that this priest friend of mine was eager to hear confessions, to offer the Holy Sacrifice with great dignity and reverence, always following the rubrics to the great consternation of many. He always sided with those who, because they were Catholic, were being kicked in the face by those who should know better. ***The Holy See, it seems to me, will miss him terribly. They knew him quite well, following his indications on many, many matters.

This priest friend of mine was eager to help the lowliest castaways, particularly the drug addicts he was regularly and frequently invited to help in their faith formation. As an encouragement, he often told me of their comments about any kind word I myself had been able to offer them. This priest friend of mine was an all around example of goodness and kindnes, of solidarity, of mercy. Let me repeat that: He lived to show the Lord’s mercy to others.

I ask you this: Would not our dear Heavenly Father judge him with mercy who had spent his life in showing mercy to others with all honesty and integrity? You have to know that our Heavenly Father IS love, and shows mercy to all who have desired this mercy by bringing this mercy to others. And surely our Lady, to whom he was so very, very devoted, would be interceding for him…

Having said all that, I should like to say more: We priests are bear all the consequences of original sin like anyone else. We are weak in mind, weak in will; emotions can be running all over the place; we get sick; we die.

PRAY FOR PRIESTS

PRAY FOR HOLY VOCATIONS

DO IT NOW: HAIL MARY…

***And, of course:

[click on picture to enlarge]

[click on picture to enlarge]

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2012/06/18 · 11:14

Why would any parish priest find himself in heaven? Is there only one canonized parish priest? Yikes!

Saint John Marie Vianney statue outside the Confessions Chapel in Lourdes, France

I mean, there’s gotta be some priests in heaven, right? As far as I know, unless there has been some recent canonizations which slip my mind at the moment (very possible), there is only ONE, that is, count them all, only ONE canonized parish priest in the history of the Church: Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, the famed Curé d’Ars. That’s it.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing that it’s not easy to be a parish priest! I’m excluding priests who have become bishops, founders of religious orders, martyrs and such like. Just plain and simple parish priests. Just the Curé d’Ars as far as I know.

Of course, one doesn’t need to be canonized a saint in order to be a saint in heaven! But the question seems particularly important:

Why would any priest find himself in heaven?

Having seen more parishes from the inside-out, whether diocesan or religious, whether in the USA or right around the world, in the city or the country, in affluence or dire poverty, I make the following observations:

  • A priest who, upon death, would find himself in heaven would be the priest who has learned in the school of fidelity through an unending series of tough knocks, as led by grace, and in no other way, to rejoice that Christ Jesus, his close Friend, has redeemed all.
  • And knowing that Mary’s Son has redeemed all, but has nevertheless saved only the many, respecting the free will of all, such a priest will have have been in anguish to be available in whatever way of fidelity to Jesus that he can so as to be an invitation to go to heaven, by his words and deeds, to those who will be saved (he not knowing which one’s, and so being available for all), a kind of Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane experience when faced with horrific, arrogant, aloof and uncaring infidelity.
  • In sharing the greatest love of his life, the Triune God, he will have done so in humble thanksgiving, getting out of the way, if you will, of the one and only High Priest of that parish, Christ Jesus, being, therefore, a crystal clear, transparent, purified instrument of Jesus’ priesthood, rejoicing in reverence before the Son of God, watching Jesus go to work through his own fidelity among the parishioners, who will meet charity in all truth, who will in this way meet Jesus, and either (temporarily) reject Jesus or be drawn deeper into the living faith, becoming ever more reflections of that indwelling of the Most Holy Trinity in their own lives.
  • The priest who will find himself in heaven will be the one who “wasted time” on earth, praying despite knowing himself to be unworthy, praying precisely because he knows himself to be unworthy, praying because Jesus Himself commands this and makes it possible, praying because of knowing that Jesus Himself know much better than we do just how weak we, His priests, are, praying because we know how overwhelmed we are at the task before us, conjoined with the fright of knowing we have to render an account of our priesthood, of each member of the flock, the good and the bad, the helpful and the difficult, the saints and every last Judas.
  • The priest who finds himself in heaven already knew well on this earth that the friendship with our Lord always expressed with humble thanksgiving for all things is the only way, the way we pray constantly, the way we become perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect, the way we know just how much Jesus has enthusiastically done for us and the way to know just how much He wants us to do for His little flock, His parishioners.
  • The priest who finds himself in heaven will have been obedient to rightfully expressed authority on this earth, obeying the non-ultra vires requests of his bishop, obeying always with willing, religious submission, the teaching of the Supreme Magisterium of the Church, teaching others the same obedience, the same love for charity and truth, leading others to know his own love of obedience, that is, of listening with open heart and mind and soul  to the Church, and of course, to our Heavenly Father, who speaks that one Word, that Logos, Jesus, to us, within us, commanding us to listen to Him, to obey Him… to obey Him who commands us to obey the Church He founded on Saint Peter.
  • The priest who finds himself in heaven will have done the one thing necessary: he will have found himself on his knees in the confessional, confessing his own sins, and being absolved, will find the gates of heaven open to him, he knowing full well that the keys of the kingdom of heaven are not found in heaven, but on earth, within the confessional.
  • And that priest will, of course, instill in our Lord’s parishioners a great love of the Sacrament of Confession, telling them frequently about his own joyful experience of the friendship of Christ Jesus that he finds in the confessional, encouraging them to go to confession frequently, instructing them how to do it, advertising that he is available for confession with generous times for scheduled confessions.
  • A priest who finds himself in heaven in adoration before the throne of God — in that beatific vision – will have had a great love, expressed in adoration, for Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament already here on this earth, knowing that on this earth, Jesus, in His blessed vision of the Father, draws us to Himself, into that life of the Trinity, having us see the Father through, with and in Himself, by the firey love of the Holy Spirit.
  • The priest who finds himself in heaven will have a most wonderful, joyous, filial love for the Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate Mother of God, of Jesus, of all priests. He will have gone out of his way to spread devotion to her, to honor her, to share with all his love for her, she, who beheld her Son, The Priest, under the cross, in solidarity with Him, when we priests ran away, she, who, immaculate, with clear vision, with such purity, has seen the full hell of all our sins, and has interceeded for us, miserable creatures that we are, so that we might become good brothers of her ever so good and ever so kind Son. Such a priest who finds himself in heaven will surely have prayed innumerable times: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen!” Such a priest will surely hear the words of Jesus at his death: “Hey! There you are! My mom really harassed me a lot about you! In fact, I see that you’ve begged her to do just this. Totally cool! Come on in. I’ll introduce you to her personally, right now!” Yikes!

I could go on, but you get the idea… It’s not about lording it over other priests. It’s not about how big a bureaucracy one has had in a parish. It’s about fidelity in the family of faith: Fidelity! Fidelity! Fidelity! And that’s it. That’s all of it.

Also see: Why would any priest go to purgatory? Also see: The Purgatory Page

Also see: Why would a nice priest go to hell? This post has been updated with the research of one of our readers.

Finally:

  • Have you prayed for priests today? Hail Mary…
  • Have you prayed for vocations today? Our Father…
  • Do you have a vocation? Glory be…
  • Have you actively encouraged vocations today? Today’s the day.

Update: Although I’m a fourth degree Knight of Columbus, and although Father Michael McGivney was declared “venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI, he doesn’t count, not being canonized (yet)!

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2012/06/02 · 21:19

Today’s Epic Journey to the Ordinations! What a wonderful day

Awake at three, and then, away! Ordinations are the most happy occasion for this hermit. This is what it is all about. This is also when great bishops are most happy. Everyone remarks at the great happiness of the Bishop of Charlotte on the day of ordinations. This is when bishops are most fatherly.

Here’s Peter Shaw…

Jason Barone…

Matthew Codd…

All three new priests of Mary’s Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Hah! A rambunctious seminarian of the diocese has this licence plate:

“PONTIFICAL” ! ! ! Today was a most wonderful day, catching up with many priests and seminarians, many of whom were past students of mine at the Pontifical Seminary called the Josephinum, in Columbus, Ohio. The diocese of Charlotte is by far and away the best diocese I’ve ever been in. This is one happy hermit!

Pray, pray, pray for vocations. It is a direct command of our Lord to pray the Master of the Harvest for harvesters! Pray every day. Why not offer one session of the daily Angelus to this end?

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2012/05/31 · 08:22

Masses for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, glorious reigning (and a prayer for the Bishop of Rome)

 The set of 30 Masses for the Bishop of Rome have been completed.

[[Tuesday, 1 May, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]

Wednesday, 2 May, 2012, through Thursday, 31 May, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Motu Proprio.

* * *

V. Let us pray for Benedict XVI, our Pope.

R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. [Psalm 40,3 (41,3)]

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict XVI, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be.

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2012/05/30 · 08:36

Know that the (Cardinal) (Arch)Bishops and priests are held in high honor by HSH

I just may be adding some Masses for them after finishing off the 30 Masses for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict (bringing us to 915!) and another 30 Masses for the priests and bishops who are suffering so much in China. See the Holy Mass page.

We — all of us together (and especially me!) – are always in need of prayer! Besides Holy Mass, my favorite is the Emergency Chaplet of the Immaculate Conception.

But Father! But Father! Didn’t you say before that there were things that, like, needed to be changed, like, now?!

Yep. There are always things that need to be changed. But we always, always live in the family of faith, with its familiar hierarchy, which is always, always to be respected and loved and honored, no matter what. Just because some things need to be changed doesn’t change that at all.

The greatest obedience is sometimes manifested in offering a fraternal correction which may or may not be appreciated. Some may offer thanks for the courtesy of the suggestion, others may… not. But that’s beside the point.

Being faithful in the household of faith, where we are to have the same judgment of matters touching on faith and morals — and charity in all truth — caritas in veritate – is always to be maintained.

As the great Father Richard Neuhaus wrote repeatedly after 2002 until his death, living in the household of faith is about Fidelity! Fidelity! Fidelity!

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2012/05/23 · 08:46

I remember frequently saying this prayer for priests as a seminarian

Keep them; I pray Thee, dearest Lord.
Keep them, for they are Thine
The priests whose lives burn out before
Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them, for they are in the world,
Though from the world apart.
When earthly pleasures tempt, allure –
Shelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them and comfort them in hours
Of loneliness and pain,
When all their life of sacrifice
For souls seems but in vain.

Keep them and remember, Lord,
they have no one but Thee.
Yet, they have only human hearts,
With human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the Host,
That daily they caress;
Their every thought and word and deed,
Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.

I grabbed that off the Spiritual Mom’s blog over in Hawaii.

As HSH readers will know, I’ve been requesting y’all to pray this prayer of Saint Michael, once for my intentions and then for all of ye who are praying this prayer. Thank you!

Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio;
contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:
tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis,
satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,
divina virtute in infernum detrude.
Amen.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

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2012/05/16 · 20:27

Prayer to Saint Joseph for a particular priest (Thanks!)

PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH
FOR A PARTICULAR PRIEST

Saint Joseph,
I present to you this day
Father N., priest of Jesus Christ,
and beg you to be to him
advocate and defender,
counselor and friend.
Open your heart to him
as you opened your home to the Virgin Mother
in her hour of need.
Protect his holy priesthood
as you protected the life of the Infant Christ
threatened by cruel Herod.
In darkness bring him light;
in weakness, strength,
and in fear the peace that passes understanding.
For the sake of the tender love that bound you
to the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ,
be for him, Saint Joseph, a constant intercessor
and a shield against every danger of body, mind, and soul
so that, in spite of his weaknesses and sins,
his priesthood may bring glory to Christ
and serve to increase the beauty of holiness
in his bride the Church.
Amen.

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2012/05/13 · 15:13

Happy Spiritual Mothers’ Day!

From the Congregation for the Clergy: spiritual motherhood (pdf)

Read and be inspired. Become a spiritual mother today!

I have many spiritual mothers. Without them, I am less than nothing. With them, I am a priest for the greater honor and glory of God.

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2012/04/25 · 11:36

Don’t blame me! It’s all Pornchai’s fault!

Father Gordon MacRae asked his cellmate, the great Pornchai Moontri, to write THIS RECENT POST on TheseStoneWalls. In that article, he wrote this:

Whenever Father G. has a new idea, it always makes me squirm a little because it usually means my mind and spirit are about to be stretched again. “How would you like to write a guest post for These Stone Walls?” he asked. Since English is not my first language, writing is very difficult for me. At first, I was excited about this idea. Then I was given a deadline, and I got nervous. Then nervous turned into dread, and now I just feel very intimidated by the whole thing.

Yes, well… minus the bit about English, ditto. In Father Gordon’s MOST RECENT POST on TheseStoneWalls, he writes this:

Last year at this time, TSW went on a one-month hiatus with a series of re-runs. I thought of doing the same for the month of May, but then our friend, Pornchai had a much better idea. Emboldened by his well received recent guest post, “The Duty of a Knight,” Pornchai suggested inviting a few other guest writers to stand in for me.

Long story short, my guest post on TSW is slated for a week from today, 2 May, 2012. Yikes! I blame Pornchai Moontri! It’s all his fault.

This is the judge whose apparently purposed, horrific mismanagement of proceedings, ensured the unjust conviction of Father Gordon MacRae

On a more serious note, Father Gordon is busy preparing for a hearing that will determine if there is sufficient grounds for putting a retrial on the docket. The way I read it — and I’ve gotten some advice on this – if they put it on the docket, they will, in the same day, take it off the docket, simply freeing Father MacRae. There is so much evidence proclaiming “NOT GUILTY!” that it is rather embarrassing to the State of New Hampshire.

Prayers are in order. Why not the Emergency Chaplet of the Immaculate Conception? Why not the Prayer of Saint Michael? Why not… both?!

Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio;
contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:
tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis,
satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,
divina virtute in infernum detrude.
Amen.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle; be our protection
against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan
and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

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2012/04/22 · 18:11

Calling in the big guns…

PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH FOR A PARTICULAR PRIEST

Saint Joseph,
I present to you this day
Father N., priest of Jesus Christ,
and beg you to be to him
advocate and defender,
counselor and friend.
Open your heart to him
as you opened your home to the Virgin Mother
in her hour of need.
Protect his holy priesthood
as you protected the life of the Infant Christ
threatened by cruel Herod.
In darkness bring him light;
in weakness, strength,
and in fear the peace that passes understanding.
For the sake of the tender love that bound you
to the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ,
be for him, Saint Joseph, a constant intercessor
and a shield against every danger of body, mind, and soul
so that, in spite of his weaknesses and sins,
his priesthood may bring glory to Christ
and serve to increase the beauty of holiness
in his bride the Church.
Amen.

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· 13:45

I like that. I like that very much.

googled image

O Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests, for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priests; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in purgatory.

But above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priest who absolved me from my sins; the priest at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way. Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

-St Therese of Lisieux

Gleaned from one of the comments of Father Gordon’s recent article over on TheseStoneWalls

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2012/04/04 · 19:35

Poor Clares sing for us priests: I’m humbled into the dirt and exalted to heaven!

Click on the picture to go to their website. Don’t forget, we’re trying to build them a monastery… and a seminary for the South Eastern U.S.A.! Click on the player below to listen to their heavenly voices! Thank you, my spiritual mothers!

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2012/03/29 · 23:36

A priest’s priest

I’m honored, Father.

 

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2012/03/25 · 10:19

Just thought you might be interested in scanning through these intentions: In solidarity!

Early morning ad orientem altar at Holy Souls Hermitage taken some time ago!

Wednesday, 18 April, 2012 through Sunday, 22 April, 2012, Holy Mass will be offered in reparation for the many offenses committed against our Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart: (1) blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, (2) against her perpetual virginity, (3) against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, (4) blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and (5) the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother. These intentions come by way of suggestion of a dear reader of the blog, though I’ve not taken a stipend. These are “motu proprio”! Our Lady will look very kindly on our dear reader!

Monday 23, April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for a special intention. Motu proprio!

Tuesday, 24 April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for XX and XX, who were molested by a priest, and for all those who have been scandalized by those few faithless priests we have all suffered from. Motu proprio!

Wednesday, 25 April, 2012, Holy Mass if offered for Father XX, guilty (truly) of molesting younsters, and for all priests who have committed what Pope Benedict described in the 2005 Stations of the Cross in Rome as “the filthy sins of priests” … for their conversion before they die and, if they have somehow made it to purgatory after death, for the repose of their souls. Motu proprio!

Thusday, 26 April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father B.J., very much alive, and for all priests who provide the goodness and kindness of our Lord while trouble-shooting parishes which have seen the horror of sexual abuse first hand. Motu proprio!

Friday, 27 April, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, and for any priests who have been falsely accused, wrongfully convicted, abandoned by their fellow priests, shunned by their religious congregations, dioceses and society, that they might offer their great sufferings in solidarity with real victims and for the good of the whole Church, conformed as they are to the suffering Christ, which is priesthood par excellence. Motu proprio!

[[Tuesday, 1 May, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]

30 Masses — Wednesday, 2 May, 2012, through Tuesday, 31 May, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Motu Proprio.

[[Wednesday, 1 June, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]

30 Masses — Thursday, 2 June, 2012, through Sunday, 1 July, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for spiritual benefit of the priests and bishops of China loyal to the Bishop of Rome, and also for the conversion of the priests and bishops of the Patriotic, “Open”, Communist, governement “church”.

[[Monday, 2 July, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]

By the way, I’ve stopped taking Mass intentions for a while so that I can work through some of the intentions I have already. Yikes!

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2012/03/22 · 13:16

(1) Defame Fr Guarnizo (2) Run away

Me: “There’s a well reasoned defense of Father Guarnizo.”

Others: “Who cares? We don’t have time for justice, only defamation, and then running away.”

Conclusion: So, let’s pray for Father Guarnizo, and also for his poor little defamers.

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2012/03/17 · 08:40

The purpose of Holy Souls Hermitage

Since the hermitage is dedicated to priests and bishops in the purgatory of this life and the next, the blog should be as well, no? Yes.

One of the purposes of the hermitage is to write… to write very much, especially about Genesis 2,4–3,24. That will, in itself, I think, do much for the priests and bishops going through the purgatory of this life.

However, as you might have been noticing, I’ve been concentrating much on the purgatory of those priests who are suffering injustice, with their very lives becoming acts of intercession for their fellow priests and bishops. I think you’ll be seeing more of that. I love going to the heart of the priesthood by way of the glory of the suffering of those who are most rejected, most despised, most ridiculed, most mocked…

A confession: Given that this is the purpose of the hermitage, I thought you who have been my benefactors wouldn’t mind if I shared some of your generosity with me with those who are suffering. I’ve made some rather healthy donations to Opus Bono Sacerdotii for Father Gordon MacRae and others.

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· 08:18

Why would any priest go to purgatory?

Aim at heaven, not purgatory, and you might not see hell from the inside in the life to come! Aiming at heaven is looking to our Lord and following Him, keeping His commandments, all by way of His grace. Living His grace takes utter childlike simplicity. It can be done. It is the work of the Lord.

Trouble is, we can think it is our work, that we have to work our way into heaven under our own power. That’s exactly the way not to go straight to heaven when we die. Trying to work our way to heaven is, in fact, the easiest way to go to hell. And this is the biggest reason why any priest might find himself in purgatory after this life. To put it a different way: priests will find themselves in purgatory in the next life for not having been totally generous in faithfully living through the purgatory of this life. But let me be more specific:

A priest is called upon by our Lord to be crucified by his fellow priests, that is, by this or that Judas-priest. The faithful priest is called upon not only not to cave in to the pressure to reject the doctrine and morality and praxis of Holy Mother Church, but also not to cave into bitterness against this or that Judas-priest who is having him crucified. Any giving in to battling flesh and blood instead of the fallen spirits is a failure that prohibits one from seeing just how good and kind Jesus is in having come into this world of Judas-priests. Instead of seeing Jesus’ goodness and kindness, only one’s own bitterness is visible. Not good. This must be purged before such a priest can go to heaven, for there is no other way to be able to have the joy of thanking our Lord in heaven than to see first of all how good and kind our Lord is in not being bitter with all of us, with each of us, with you and with me.

Is it possible to do this, to see the Lord’s goodness and kindness instead of our own bitterness for the crucifixion we can be put through by this or that Judas-priest? No, it is not possible for us of ourselves, but it is possible with the grace of our Lord. We are weak. He is strong. We boast of our weakness to that we might see Jesus’ strength shining through us, recognizing that His grace is sufficient for us, that His grace draws us through the purgatory of this life so that we might skip the purgatory of the next life and immediately be on our way to heaven so as to thank the Lord for His goodness and kindness.

Also see: Why would a nice priest go to hell? This post has been updated with the research of one of our readers.

Also see: The Purgatory Page

Next up: Why would a priest go to heaven?

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2012/03/14 · 06:50

Father Gordon MacRae writes to Holy Souls Hermitage

As Holy Souls Hermitage readers know, I’ve gone on a 40 day Lenten retreat until Easter, so I’ve been trying to refrain from posting, much to the consternation of some readers! However, I do go through email and check comments on the blog. Father Gordon’s comment which just came in… and, well… I am speechless… Just read it!

Dear Fr. Byers,

I think you and your readers know that as a prisoner, I have no on-line access at all. I depend on some wonderful people who are my digital eyes and ears. At tonight’s prison mail call I received a hard copy of your posted “Open Letter.” I took my mail to my cell and sat down on my concrete stump to read it. I had a few nice letters from readers of These Stone Walls, then I came to your “Open Letter.”

I have passed through well over 17 years of wrongful imprisonment without ever shedding a tear. Some might consider that to be unnatural, and perhaps it is, but prisoners never cry. I have never seen one cry. However, I was reduced to tears by what I read. For those of us who live on the downside of justice, both in the Church and in the courts, being held up as “a priest’s priest” was the most healing moment I have ever experienced in prison. As I sat there sobbing, Pornchai came into the cell. He stared at me as though I was an alien from another planet. Then I handed him your “Open Letter.” As I left the cell, Pornchai was sitting on his side of the cell with his face in his hands. I thank you for having the courage that only the Holy Spirit could instill in a priest. Continue reading →

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2012/01/09 · 19:00

What to expect from the Holy Souls Hermitage Homily Series? Father Z says it best…

A pre-emptive comment from Father Z…

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· 10:40

“Wheeeeee!” And then: “I hate other priests who tell me I’m on a slippery slope for not saying the Liturgy of the Hours”

“I hate other priests who tell me I’m on a slippery slope for not saying the Liturgy of the Hours” — That’s a direct quote from a priest who just told that to me out of the blue about what another priest told him, making him flabergasted with moments of spittleflected livid anger.

That same priest, some months later — after he had been caught out doing something terribly, terribly wrong — told me, “I don’t know why I did that.” He was just as flabergasted, but instead of anger, was shaking with fear, his voice quivering. A bit of a fright, really.

“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Down they go. Sad, that. Very sad.

Each one of us is, quite literaly, a born genius (because of original sin), when it comes to finding rationalizations not to pray the Liturgy of the Hours which each of us promised to recite upon our reception of Holy Orders. A promise… to God… Pretty serious, that. “But our Lord is so NICE! He doesn’t mind. He won’t hold me to that. Not me. I’m liberated from that oppression!” But it weighs on you, doesn’t it, Father? Take advantage of the admonitions of your conscience while you have them. Soon you may not have your conscience telling you what is right from what is wrong. And then you won’t even know that you are, in fact, a sinner in need of forgiveness, in need of going to Confession. That would be catastrophic for your priesthood, for you. When’s the last time you went to Confession? Is it because you’re “a bit behind in the breviary”? There is no sin so huge that our Lord cannot forgive us. To think that would be another sin of pride. Accept the grace of humility our Lord is granting you right now, and go to Confession. Start fresh, like at your ordination. That would be great, wouldn’t it? All yours, for the asking.

One of the most important things in the life of a priest is going to confession. Find a good confessor. Go regularly.

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned…”

I would ask our readers to please stop and say a Hail Mary so that the priest or bishop who needs to see this post, and take it to heart, will… Hail Mary…

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· 08:44

UPDATE: Why would a nice priest go to hell?

If I’m not mistaken, this is the photo that was taken of the three Fatima children just after the vision of souls falling into hell like snowflakes shown to them by our Lady of the Rosary, as our Lady of Fatima called herself. The eyes tell the story, as does the clutching of the rosary beads. We know what happens to snowflakes when they get near fire, don’t we? We don’t want anyone going to hell, do we?

—–

UPDATE: Justin sends in this photo, which, after research, says is the photo taken on 13 July. They don’t look happy at all:

—–

Universal salvation is a heresy asserted by those who, apparently, have never even once read the Gospel. Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar (///Adrienne von Speyr) did not want people to assert this. But he is their hero for claiming there is no hell should one hope that all men be saved. We know that all are redeemed, and since we don’t know who will or will not be saved, we are in anguish that all men be saved, though we know that not all will, in fact, be saved.

I’m no follower of the extremely imprecise terminology used so very ambiguously by his Eminence. He gets the title, even if not the red hat.

Let’s use some clear terminology, shall we, my fellow priests and bishops, lest we lead our flock to hell, as if it were thought anyone could do anything, as if there were no hell? Let’s just take one chapter of Matthew:

  • “Lord! Lord! Open up [the gates of heaven] for us!” But, having answered, He said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25,11-12). [The most frightening words than one would ever hear.]
  • “Throw this worthless slave out, into the outside-darkness. [Can't be more cast out and inescapably enveloped in eternal darkness than that, can one?] There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25,30). [This comes about with frustration, eternal frustration, no?]
  • “And all the nations will be gathered together before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25,32). [No purgatory after that. Just heaven or hell.]
  • “Amen I say to you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of these least ones, you did it not to me, and these will depart into eternal punishment” (Matthew 25,45-46). [And it all comes crashing home.]

All these are parables and therefore false, or just a warning, right? Wrong.

The first two are from parables, but parables reflect reality, don’t they? Our Lord is not an idiot, is He?

The last two are not from a parable, but from a description of how things will, in fact, be, at the last judgment. To say this is untrue or just a warning is to call our Lord a liar. But it is Satan who is the father of lies, no?

And so, why would a nice priest – a consensus builder, always prompt with the sacraments (at least Mass, at least on weekends), and always there for meetings, even for the committee arrangement of this or that spiritual or corporal work of mercy, just pack off and go to hell, condemned by our Lord, when all along he thought — and everyone else thought — he was just, well, such a nice priest?

He would go to hell most likely for being so very nice instead of being charitable in all truth. An exam of conscience is in order. One of these days I’ll have to publish a more comprehensive list.

  • Did I lead people astray in the confessional or in answers to questions outside the confessional, telling them that such and such grave sin was no sin at all, just to be nice? Did I offer them “internal forum solutions” when these are not solutions at all, and only keep people in their sin? Did I absolve them even though they did not at all want to repent and try to change their lives with the grace of our Lord? Did I neglect offering the sacrament of reconciliation?
  • Did I celebrate the sacraments just to draw attention to myself, so that when I protest to Christ that I prophesied in His name, that I absolved sin in His name, and that I even acted in His Person during Mass, all in His name, He will just reply: “Get away from me, you evildoer; I never knew you.”
  • Did I use the priesthood as a power play, so that women got the idea that since it is all about power, and nothing more, then they can become priests too, just so as to get away from the male-oppressive-hierarchy? Did I neglect that I am to be a father to the family of faith, so that I was just an administrator of power, and not of true service, pointing the children of the family of faith to Jesus.

I’m sure we can all think of more reasons, but this is enough to get started, no? To aim at purgatory instead of hell would probably only get us as far as hell, so let’s aim at heaven, so that perhaps we might get to purgatory!

Next: Why would any priest go to purgatory? 

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