Prayer Vigil for the sanctification of priests

Manila (AsiaNews) – The Diocese of Manila is promoting new initiatives on the occasion of the Feast of the Sacred Heart this Friday.  Mons. Socrates Villegas, bishop of Balanga will lead an evening of prayer at the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace.  The celebrations June 18th conclude the year of consecration to the Sacred Heart, announced by the Filipino bishops last November 23, to entrust the country to Christ.

The year of consecration culminates with a Mass tomorrow in concurrence with the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, with the theme: "The Eucharist: A spring of holiness in the priestly ministry." The Filipino Bishops Conference has requested that every first Friday of the next pastoral year be dedicated to prayer for priests.

In honor of the occasion, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, has written a letter to priests all over the world, to remind them of their call to holiness. "God asks you, diocesan priests, missionaries and monks, to rediscover, especially in the Eucharst, the beauty of your priestly vocation. The priest is called" continued Cardinal Hoyos,  to encounter, know and love Christ in the exercise of his own ministry and to identify himself ever more closely with him." The Cardinal exhorted the priests not to seek a comfortable life, but to look up to Jesus on the cross, "the sign of total self-giving." Quoting Paul VI, he said, " The ministerial priesthood is not a profession or an ordinary service done in favour of the ecclesial community, but a service which shares in a very special way and with an indelible character in the power of Christ's priesthood because of the sacrament of Ordination." (S.E.)

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