Saturday of Our Lady

PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

BY ST. CHARLES BORROMEO

(click on photo for link to article on "Year of the Priest")

O Holy Mother of God, pray for the priests Your Son has chosen to serve the Church. Help them by your intercession, to be holy, zealous and chaste. Make them models of virtue in the service of God's people.

Help them be pious in meditation, efficacious in preaching and zealous in the daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Help them administer the Sacraments with joy. Amen.

As Lay Carmelites, one of our main charisms is to pray for priests. Please visit the above link to read the Holy Father's declaration of 2009 as the "Year of the Priest." This would be a good time to incorporate some special prayer and apostolate into our local community for the upbuilding of the priesthood.

_____________________________________________

April 18

Memorial of Blessed Mary of the Incarnation, OCD

Barbe Avrillot was born in Paris in 1566. At the age of sixteen she married Pierre Acarie, by whom she had seven children. In spite of her household duties and many hardships, she attained the heights of the mystical life. Under the influence of St. Teresa' writings, and after mystical contact with the Saint herself, she spared no effort in introducing the Discalced Carmelite nuns into France. After her husband's death, she asked to be admitted among them as a lay sister, taking the name of Mary of the Incarnation; she was professed at the Carmel of Amiens in 1615. She was esteemed by some of the greatest men of her time, including St. Francis de Sales; and she was distinguished by her spirit of prayer and her zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith. She died at Pontoise on April 18, 1618.

(From the Carmelite Proper)

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS