Pope John Paul II: Prayer for Priests

Prayed during the homily of the Good Shepherd Sunday ordination Mass, May 11,2003.

Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, Mother and Model of Every Priest

And, you, Mary, "Woman of the Eucharist," Mother and model of every priest, be close to these sons of yours today and throughout the years of their pastoral ministry. Like the Apostle John, they too welcome you "into their home." Help them to conform their lives to the divine Teacher who has chosen them as His ministers. May their "present," just spoken by each one with youthful enthusiasm, be expressed every day in generous adherence to the task of the ministry and blossom in the joy the "magnificat" for the "great things" that God's mercy will, to work through their hands. Amen.