Priesthood Sunday

Priesthood Sunday, traditionally celebrated on the fourth Sunday of October, is a special day set aside to honor priesthood in the United States. It is a day to reflect upon and affirm the role of the priesthood in the life of the Church as a central one.

Retired Priests Second Collection

Did you know?

• 219 Priests serve in the Diocese of Dallas
• 22 Priests are retired - 14 continue to help weekly with Masses and Confessions
• 15 Priests reach retirement age in the next 5 years
• 8 priests over the retirement age continue to serve in parish ministry 

Remember in your prayers our active and retired priests of the Diocese of Dallas.

The Diocese of Dallas is committed to caring for our retired priests. Please support our retired priests by contributing generously to the second collection on October 24-25, 2015.  If you wish to send a direct donation, please contact the Vicar for Clergy Office at 214-379-2821.

• Printable Flyer - English (PDF)
• Printable Flyer - Spanish (PDF)

 

 

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Resources for Priesthood Sunday

A Reflection on the Priesthood

It is true that God has made his entire holy people a royal priesthood in Christ. Nevertheless, our great Priest himself, Jesus Christ, chose certain disciples to carry out publicly in his name, and on behalf of mankind, a priestly office in the Church.

For Christ was sent by the Father and he in turn sent the Apostles into the world, so that through them and their successors, the Bishops, he might continue to exercise his office of Teacher, Priest, and Shepherd. Indeed, priests are established co-workers of the Order of Bishops, with whom they are joined in the priestly office and with whom they are called to the service of the people of God.

- Pope Francis, Fourth Sunday of Easter, 21 April 2013

 

Parish Resources for Priesthood Sunday

• Prayers of the Faithful for Priesthood Sunday 2015
• Sugerencias para las Oraciones de los Fieles para el Domingo del Sacerdocio 2015
• Resources for National Priesthood Sunday 2015
• Recursos para la Diócesis de Dallas ~ Celebración del Domingo Sacerdotal Nacional 2015

 

Prayer resources for supporting Priests and Vocations

• Prayers and Eucharistic Adoration for Priests and Vocations
• Printable prayers and booklets (PDF) for parish and personal use
• Prayer and Support Groups for priests and vocations

• Holy Hours for Vocations in the Diocese of Dallas
• Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
• Prayers for Priests and for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

 

Prayer for Priests - Prayed daily by St. Thérèse of Lisieux

O Almighty Eternal God, Look upon the face of Thy Christ, and for the love of Him, Who is the Eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the Bishop’s hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.

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

But above all, I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly [name a particular priest of your choosing here]. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

Poem - "The Beautiful Hands of a Priest"

We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek them when tasting life's woes.
At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness;
Their dignity stands all alone;
And when we are tempted and wander,
To pathways of shame and of sin,
It's the hand of a priest that will absolve us--
Not once, but again and again.
And when we are taking life's partner,
Other hands may prepare us a feast,
But the hand that will bless and unite us--
Is the beautiful hand of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress;
When can a poor sinner do better,
Than to ask Him to guide thee and bless?
When the hour of death comes upon us,
May our courage and strength be increased,
By seeing raised over us in blessing--
The beautiful hands of a priest.
Author Unknown