Vocations Prayers
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron invites you to pray for vocations:
Oh Jesus, our Good Shepherd, bless all our parishes with numerous priests, according to the needs of the entire world, which You love and wish to save.
We especially entrust our community to You; grant us the spirit of the first Christians, so that we may be a cenacle of prayer, in loving acceptance of the Holy Spirit and His gifts. Assist our pastors. Guide the steps of those who have responded generously to Your call and are preparing to receive Holy Orders.
Look with love on so many well-disposed young people and call them to follow You. Help them to understand that in You alone can they attain complete fulfillment. To this end we call on the powerful intercession of Mary, Mother and Model of all vocations. Amen
(Adapted from "Prayer for Vocations" by Pope John Paul II)
Pope Benedict XVI Prayer for Vocations
O Father, raise up among Christians
abundant and holy vocations to the priesthood,
who keep the faith alive
and guard the blessed memory of your Son Jesus
through the preaching of his word
and the administration of the Sacraments,
with which you continually renew your faithful.
Grant us holy ministers of your altar,
who are careful and fervent guardians of the Eucharist,
the sacrament of the supreme gift of Christ
for the redemption of the world.
Call ministers of your mercy,
who, through the sacrament of Reconciliation,
spread the joy of your forgiveness.
Grant, O Father, that the Church may welcome with joy
the numerous inspirations of the Spirit of your Son
and, docile to His teachings,
may she care for vocations to the ministerial priesthood
and to the consecrated life.
Sustain the Bishops, priests and deacons,
consecrated men and women, and all the baptized in Christ,
so that they may faithfully fulfill their mission
at the service of the Gospel.
This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mary, Queen of Apostles, pray for us.
Loving God,
You gift us with life.
Through Baptism You have
called us to new life.
May we be a sign of Your
love in the world.
We pray that You will
continue to fill women and men
with an abundance of courage to
follow the path you set before
them today.
May those who feel compelled
to serve as lay ministers,
brothers, sisters and priests,
be blessed with passion and
vision to make the world
a better place.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Marie Scott, C.S.A.
Prayer to Mary for Vocations
O Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church,
to you we commend our young people,
in particular those called to closely follow your Son.
You know the difficulties, the struggles,
the obstacles they must face.
Assist them to answer "yes" to the divine call,
as you did at the inviationa of the angel.
Draw them near to your heart so that they can
understand the beauty and the joy that awaits them
when the Lord Jesus calls them into His intimacy,
to be witness of His love in the world.
Amen.
Loving God, each member of our family is a special gift from You.
You have given each of us gifts and talents so we may enjoy life but also so we can share with others. Generous women and men, boys and girls, are needed for service and leadership in our Church.
Help us know how to encourage and support each other so we can respond generously to this need by becoming the kind of people You want us to be. We know that You will be with us; help us to trust in You and in each other. Amen.
Prayer for Vocations for Parents
Dear Heavenly Father,
You have blessed us with children.
We sometimes forget that they are not ours but Yours, and that You have asked us to bring them up in Your ways.
0 gracious and loving God,
we pray that our children will discover
and respond enthusiastically
to Your desire for them
whether it be to the vocation of
single, married, ordained or religious life.
Please help our children to have open hearts
and minds to Your call.
Help us to support and encourage our children
to seek Your will in choosing a vocation.
We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus
through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Prayer for Family Vocation Spirit(courtesy of the Knights of Columbus)
Heavenly Father, in the example of the Holy Family, you teach us how to live as a loving family. From Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we learn that you have given each of us a special place in your plans for the world.
Each of us has a call – a vocation – to be holy as a married or single lay person, or as a priest, a deacon or a religious brother or sister. Make us a kind and understanding family so that we will help one another discover his or her vocation and follow it faithfully.
With Mary and Joseph, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for One's Vocation in Life(from Manual of Prayers, Rev. James D. Watkins, compiler.)
Lord, make me a better person:
more considerate toward others,
more honest with myself,
more faithful to you.
Help me to find my true vocation in life
and grant that through it I may find happiness myself
and bring happiness to others.
Grand, Lord, that those whom you call
to enter priesthood or religious life
may have the generosity to answer your call,
so that those who need your help may always find it
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood(from Handbook of Prayers, Rev. James Socßas, general editor)
Lord Jesus Christ, Shepherd of souls,
who called the apostles to be fishers of men,
raise up new apostles in your holy church.
Teach them that to serve you is to reign:
to possess you is to possess all things.
Kindle in the hearts of our people the fire of zeal for souls.
Make them eager to spread your Kingdom upon earth.
Grant them courage to follow you,
who are the Way, the Truth and the Life;
who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.
Pope John Paul II Prayer for Vocations
PASTORES DABO VOBIS (I will give you shepherds)
O Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ
and Mother of priests,
accept this title which we bestow on you
to celebrate your motherhood
and to contemplate with you
the Priesthood of your Son
and of your sons,
O Holy Mother of God.
O Mother of Christ,
to the Messiah-Priest
you gave a body of flesh
through the anointing of the Holy Spirit
for the salvation of the poor
and the contrite of heart;
guard priests in your heart
and in the Church,
O Mother of the Saviour.
O Mother of Faith,
you accompanied to the Temple the Son of Man,
the fulfillment of the promises
given to the fathers;
give to the Father for his glory
the priests of your Son,
O Ark of the Covenant.
O Mother of the Church,
in the midst of the disciples
in the Upper Room you prayed
to the Spirit for the new People
and their Shepherds;
obtain for the Order of Presbyters
a full measure of gifts,
O Queen of the Apostles.
O Mother of Jesus Christ,
you were with Him at the beginning
of his life and mission,
you sought the Master among the crowd,
you stood beside him when he was lifted up
from the earth consumed as the one eternal sacrifice
and you had John, your son, near at hand;
accept from the beginning those who have been called,
protect their growth,
in their life ministry accompany your sons,
O Mother of Priests.
Amen.
