I just learned of a diocesan priest who is in a crisis. He has already made some bad decisions and is need of prayers, and Holy Week is a time of great grace.
Priests leaving the priesthood is not a new phenomenon, it was happening before the Second Vatican council and continued post-Council. What is new is the heights of systemic attrition from the religious life on the part of priests, monks, brothers and nuns.
It even happens in the SSPX. Some priests go into monasteries, others leave to join an Ecclesia Dei congregation or a diocese. Others join the 'resistance' and sedevacantists. These remain faithful to their call and ordination.
There there's another group. Those that abandon their vocation. This is not unique to priests, but I would wager it is a heavier cost for the Church than the thousands of brothers, monks, sisters and nuns who are unfaithful to their vows.
In this group we find those who lose the faith in toto, join the protestants or orthodox, abandon their vows of celibacy or even worse.
In these latter cases there is the sin of scandal, particularly in the case of a priest as the Devil knows that if he gets a priest he gets a bargain with some of the faithful sure to follow. This is especially true when people felt that the priest was an exemplary example of a Catholic religious.
So I would ask you for this week to pray for the priest in crisis that I am aware of until Easter Sunday and then continue to pray especially for priests.
O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of Thy priests. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life.
In their loneliness, comfort them. In their sorrows, strengthen them. In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed.
SSPX: Prayer Crusade for Priests
SSPX: Holy Hour For Priests (pdf)
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