Daily Prayer for Priests

The Archdiocese of Southwark's director of vocations has sent out a prayer calendar together with a prayer card so that we can pray for a different priest of the diocese every day for the remainder of this Year of Priests.

Today we are praying for Canon Michael Bunce, parish priest of the church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Canterbury, and Dean of Canterbury, the deanery in which this parish is situated. Perhaps you would say the following prayer for him today.

O Jesus, our great High Priest
Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest
Canon Michael Bunce.
Give him a deep faith
a bright and firm hope and a burning love
which will ever increase
in the course of his priestly life.
In his loneliness, comfort him
in his sorrows, strengthen him
in his frustrations, point out to him
that it is through suffering that the soul is purified,
and show him that he his needed by the Church,
he is needed by souls,
he is needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests,
take to your heart your son who is close to you
because of his priestly ordination,
and because of the power which he has received
to carry on the work of Christ
in a world which needs him so much.
Be his comfort, be his joy, be his strength,
and especially help him
to live and to defend the ideals
of consecrated celibacy.

Amen.
+ John Joseph, Cardinal Carberry (d.1998)
Archbishop of St Louis 1968-1979