The PIETA Prayer Booklet

A PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord,

Keep them, for they are Thine - 

Thy priests whose lives burn out before

Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them, for they are in the world,

Though from the world apart;

When earthly pleasures tempt, allure, -

Shelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them, and comfort them in hours

Of loneliness and pain,

When all their life of sacrifice

For souls seems but in vain.

Keep them, and remember, O Lord,

They have no one but Thee,

Yet they have only human hearts,

With human frailty.

Keep them spotless as the Host,

That daily they caress;

Their every thought and word and deed,

Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.

Imprimatur: = D. Cardinal Dougherty, Arch. of Philadelphia

Our Father, Hail mary, Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray 

                                        for them.

Augustine Day by Day

December 26

God Became Man

Awake, mankind!  For your sake God

has become man.  Awake, you who 

sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ 

will enlighten you,

I tell you again, for your sake Christ has 

become man.  If He had not been born in time,

you would have been dead for all eternity.

                                                                       Sermon 185, 1

PRAYER.   Rise up, Lord, help us, and redeem us

because of Your Name. 

                                                                 Commentary on Psalm 43, 26

Biblical Readings for Advent Season (Christian Prayer)

Reading 6:  The reign of perfect justice

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,

   who depend upon horses;

Who put their trust in chariots because of their number,

   and in horseman because of their combined power,

But look no to the Holy One of Israel

   nor seek the Lord!

Yet he too is wise and will bring disaster;

   he will not turn from what he has threatened to do.

He will rise up against the house of the wicked

and against those who help evildoers.

The Egyptians are men, not God,

   their horses are flesh, not spirit; wjo

When the Lord stretches forth his hand, 

   the helper shall stumble, the one helped shall fall,

   and both of them shall perish together.

See, a king will reign justly

  and princes shall rule rightly. 

Each of them will be a shelter from the wind,

   a retreat from the rain.

They will be like streams of water in a dry country,

   like the shade of a great rock in a parched land.

The eyes of those who see will not be closed;

   the ears of those who hear will be attentive.

The flighty will become wise and capable,

   and the stutterers will speak fluently and clearly.

No more will the fool be called noble,,

   not the trickster be considered honorable.

For the fool speaks foolishly,

   planning evil in his heart:

How to do wickedness,

   to speak perversely against the Lord,

To let the hungry go empty

   and the thirsty be without drink.

And the trickster uses wicked trickery,

   planning crimes:

How to ruin the poor with lies,

   and the needy when they plead their case.

But the noble man plans nobel things,

   and by noble things he stands.

(from)  Isaiah 31:1-3; 32:1-8

Do Something Concrete...

Dear Children, tonight your Mother calls you to prayer

during these two days before Christmas.  Open your

hearts through your prayer and let us keep vigil

together for the day of great joy.  Dear children,

I wish you to decide to do something concrete during

these two days (BVM 12-22-89).

But a Samaritan, while traveling came near him;

and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having

poured oil and wine on them.  Then he put him on

his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took

care of him (Luke 10:33-34).

(from) MEDJUGORJE DAY BY DAY by Richard J. Beyer

Where are the Saints

Where are the Saints in the Church and the sheperds who should strike down the building evil?  How weak many have become in the Church that they do not stand against evil.  Church leaders fear the stature that they take comfort in.  They speak little about the evil acts that are occurring.  This only allows them to flourish and grow stronger and stronger with less resistance to conquer over every soul.  Even when the clergy speaks out many times they are confronted by members of their own parish, and because evil is persistent and relentless to it's own self-interest, the clergy bow their head to the evil that confronts them and speaketh not.


(from) For the Love of the Sinner by John Bernardone 

Preaching by Your Life

6.  In order to make yourself all things to all men,
 you must consider their qualities or defects, their
virtues or vices, their actions, good or bad; you
must see in them the price of the Sacred Blood
of Jesus and of my immense sorrow.  Love
them with the same love with which their Re-
deemer and their Mother love them, and you
will win them over to love, and through love,
to God.

(from) My Ideal Jesus Son of Mary, Fr. Emil Neubert, S.M.

Contemplation and Activity

  None of us should be so given to contemplation

that in this condition we give no thought

to our neighbor's needs; not so given to activity

that we allow no time for the contemplation of God.

  Therefore, the love of truth seeks out holy leisure,

while the compelling force of love takes on

necessary activity.  Nonetheless, the delight for

learning should never be entirely abandoned.

(from) St. Augustine, City of God 19, 9

  

Now, therefore, ye children, hear me:

blessed are they who keep my ways.

Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

Blessed is the man that heareth me,

and that watcheth daily at my gates,

and waiteth at the posts of my doors. 

He that shall find me shall find life,

and shall have salvation from the Lord.

(from) Epistle: Wisdom (Proverbs) 8