A Special Intention for Holy Week: A Priest In Crisis

A Special Intention for Holy Week: A Priest In Crisis - Updated

JMJ

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.

P^3

Resources

SSPX: Prayer Crusade for Priests

SSPX: Holy Hour For Priests (pdf)

Comments

A Look Back: A short history of the SSPX

+ JMJ I started a timeline a while back but never finished it. Fortunately, here's one that brings us up to 1994!!! P^3 http://archives.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/a_short_history_of_the_sspx-part-1.htm A short history of the SSPX A presentation given by Fr. Ramon Angles in Kansas City, MO, on the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the SSPX and reprinted from the January 1996 issue of The Angelus . Part 1 The history of the Society of St. Pius X begins, of course, in the mind of God. But do not believe that its temporal origin is to be found solely at the time of the post-conciliar crisis. The Society of St. Pius X was made possible ...

Hermeneutic of the Hermeneutic of Continuity - sspx.org

+ JMJ Since I'm looking at the 'four things', I thought this article would be good. Unfortunately, with the new SSPX.org website, I've been unable to locate the original article. This is a copy the I emailed to myself. This is an article that, I believe, was written in response to a conference given by Msgr. Pozzo. P^3

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making. It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX. The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience. The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members. It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (de fide) - Expanded Listing: Answer for Reader

+ JMJ A reader asked the following question in the 2015 version of the article on the Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (link) : 117: "In the state of fallen nature it is morally impossible for man without Supernatural Revelation, to know easily, with absolute certainty and without admixture of error, all religious and moral truths of the natural order." Where can you find this in the documents of the Church? ( Link to comment ) Here's the reference from Ott: The citation that Ott provided was Denzinger 1786 and the source document is Dogmatic Consitution Concerning the Faith from the First Vatican Council (Papal Encyclicals - link) : Chapter 2 On Revelation, Article 3: It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation , that those matters concerning God, which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human reason, can, even in the present state of the human race, be known by everyone, without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no intermingling of error. Here's ...

Tradicat

Search This Blog