4th Prayer Session for Vocations

September 20, 2015

Who is the Greatest?
Commentator: In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one
with us; Eucharistic Adoration is simply the natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration,
which is itself the Church's supreme act of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him
whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a
foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and
intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, only in adoration
can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the
Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break
down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls
that separate us from one another.
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Pope Benedict XVI

Sacramentum Caritatis, 66

With these words, Our Holy Father clearly calls the faithful to pray before Christ in the
Blessed Sacrament. It is in this personal encounter with Jesus, itself a reflection of the encounter
in the reception of Communion, that gives the faithful the strength to respond to Jesus invitation
to Come, follow me! It is also in this encounter with Jesus that we make our most urgent
desires known to Him, for He sees into the depths of our hearts and leads us to a deeper unity
with Himself.
Opening Hymn (O Saving Victim)
Presider: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Commentator: Amen.
Presider: Lord we ask you to open our hearts and minds to your Spirit. Help us to realize that
your call to us as Christians is a call to holiness. Direct us to follow Christ more closely. Guide
us in discovering new ways to make your Word come alive in our lives and in the lives of young
people. Bless all who minister in our parish and lead others to respond to Gods call to ministry.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Commentator: Amen.
Presider: I love You, O my God, and my sole desire is to love You until the last breath of my
life. I love You, O infinitely lovable God, and I prefer to die loving You than to live one instant
without loving You. I love You, O my God, and I do not desire anything but heaven so as to have
the joy of loving You perfectly. I love You, O my God, and I fear hell, because there will not be

the sweet consolation of loving You. O my God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I
love You, I want my heart to say it in every beat. Allow me the grace to suffer loving You, to love
your suffering, and one day to die loving You and feeling that I love You. And as I approach my
end, I beg you to increase and perfect my love of You. Amen.
Commentator: Please be seated for the Liturgy of the Word.
(Scriptural readings and music)
Alleluia
Matthew 16:13-20
From the Gospel according to Matthew
The Gospel of the Lord
(Silence) (Sanlibong Buhay)
Commentator: Please Kneel.
Presider: Lord, your sons and daughters kneel before you in humility and trust.
Assembly: Look with compassion on us as we confess our sins. Heal our wounds; stretch out a
hand of pity to save us and raise us up. Keep us free from harm as members of Christs
body, as sheep of your flock, as children of your family. Do not allow the enemy to
triumph over us or death to claim us for ever, for you raised us to new life in baptism.

Hear, Lord, the prayers we offer from contrite hearts. Have pity on us as we
acknowledge our sins. Lead us back to the way of holiness. Protect us now and always
from the wounds of sin. May we ever keep safe in all its fullness the gift your love once
gave us and your mercy now restores. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Silence)
Prayer for Priests by St. Therese of the Child Jesus
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 Bishops 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.

Parents Prayer for Family Vocations

Merciful God, fulfill our desire that our home may become the nursery of vocation to the
priesthood or the religious life, that our home be a seminary or novitiate filled with the Holy
Spirit and productive of Christian virtue, and that we may be God-fearing and pious parents to
whom after you, our children can trace their vocations. Grant that we may never fail to utter the
encouraging words influencing our children toward consecrated lives thus cooperating in Your
Divine plan. You have promised a hundredfold and with everlasting life to those who leave father
and mother, brothers and sisters for Your sake and remember us who have given one of Yours to
you.
Pour forth Your Spirit abundantly upon our family, that at least one children from it,
beholding this path leads to perfection, will set foot upon it unafraid. Holy Spirit, descend upon
this chosen one, Lord Jesus, dwell in that dedicated heart that it may comprehend the height, the
length, the breadth, and the depth of Your all consuming love. Amen.
Prayer for Vocations by Pope Francis
LORD of the Harvest,
BLESS young people with the gift of courage to respond to your call.
Open their hearts to great ideals, to great things.
INSPIRE all of your disciples to mutual love and giving
for vocations blossom in the
good soil of faithful people.
INSTILL those in religious life, parish
ministries, and families with the confidence
and grace to invite others to embrace
the bold and noble path of a life
consecrated to you.
UNITE us to Jesus through prayer and sacrament,
so that we may cooperate
with you in building your reign of mercy
and truth, of justice and peace. Amen.

A Litany for Vocations

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
God the Father of heaven,
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary,
Pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,
Pray for us.
Holy Virgin of Virgins,
Pray for us.
St. Michael, leader of the heavenly host,
Pray for us.
St. Gabriel, messenger of Gods divine plan,
Pray for us.
St. Raphael, companion of the journey,
Pray for us.
All you holy Angels and Archangels,
Pray for us.
St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Church,
Pray for us.
St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests,
Pray for us.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, patron of youth,
Pray for us.
St. Alphonsus Liguori, patron of vocations,
Pray for us.
St. Charles Borromeo, patron of seminarians,
Pray for us.
St. John Berchmans, patron of altar servers,
Pray for us.
St. Maria Goretti, patron of teenagers,
Pray for us.
St. Francis De Sales, primary patron of the Archdiocese,
Pray for us.
All you holy men and women.
Pray for us.
Through the example of priests and religious striving for holiness, Send workers into Your
harvest, O Lord.
Through a renewed sense of fidelity to our Catholic Faith, Send workers into Your harvest, O
Lord.
That young people might seek to live the truth of Christ, O Lord of the harvest, hear us.
That young people might seek Gods will for them in their lives, O Lord of the harvest, hear
us.
That young people might hear the call to give their lives for the mission of the Church, O Lord
of the harvest, hear us.
That all priests and religious might be renewed in the spirit of the new evangelization, O Lord
of the harvest, hear us.
That Bishops might be strengthened to be courageous shepherds, O Lord of the harvest, hear
us.
That we may always zealously pray for and promote vocations, O Lord of the harvest, hear
us.
That those who are being called to be priests and religious might respond generously, O Lord of
the harvest, hear us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
The harvest is great but the laborers are few.

Spare us, O Lord.

Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Have mercy on us.
Beg the harvest Master to send out
laborers for His harvest.

Presider: O God, who chose the Apostles to make disciples of all nations and who by Baptism
and Confirmation has called us to build up Your Holy Church, we earnestly implore You to
choose among us, Your children, many priests and religious who will love You with their whole
heart and will gladly spend their entire lives making You known and loved by all. Through
Christ our Lord.
Commentator: Amen.
Please stand as we, like Mary, surrender ourselves to Gods plan.
(Magnificat)
Presider: Lord of the Harvest, we place our full trust and love in You. You have called us in
different ways, bestow your grace so that we may recognize your call. Protect our families and
our loved ones and lay down for us a life dedicated to You. This we ask through Christ our Lord.
Commentator: Amen.
Please Kneel.
Benediction (Tantum Ergo)
Presider: Panem de coelo praestitisti eis.
Commentator: Omne delectamentum in se habentem
Oremus: Dei, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili, passions tuae memoriam reliquisti: tribue,
quaesumus, ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari, ut Redemptionist tuae
fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus, Qui vivis et regnas in saecula et saeculorum.
The Divine Praises
Blessed be God
Blessed be His Holy Name
Blessed be Jesus Christ, True God and true Man
Blessed be the Name of Jesus
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart
Blessed be His most Precious Blood
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption
Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother
Blessed be St. Joseph, her Most Chaste Spouse

Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints

Reposition