"Let us not grow weary in well-doing,
for in due time we will reap a harvest,
if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity,
let us do good to everyone,
and especially to the family of faith."
--- Galatians 6:9-10
We
are Catholic laity who love Jesus Christ, and desire to support His Priesthood. We are faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. We don't think it is wise to do things in a vacuum, so we have a priest spiritual director, the Very Reverend Herbert Burke, V. F., who reviews and approves our ministry direction and our site content. We will celebrate our 16th anniversary on the Feast of the Archangels, 2023.
Our History
The Pray4Priests apostolate was conceived shortly after
our founder followed the leading of Jesus, the Great High Priest, and converted
to the Catholic Faith in 2004. As part of her conversion, the
Lord placed on her heart a desire to intercede for priests, and to pray
for seminarians discerning God’s call to the ministerial priesthood — that all
would sacrificially love Jesus and His people, and strive for holiness as
Christ’s disciples. This desire sprang from her love and gratitude towards God, and began when God gave her a great spiritual gift shortly after her conversion: learning to pray and love the Liturgy of the Hours.
It happened while on pilgrimage in Portugal and Spain on a trip that, by God’s providence, included several priests and seminarians who quickly realized she was a "baby Catholic" and knew next to nothing about the faith. Several seminarians “adopted” her, so to speak, treating her like a beloved little sister (even though she was older than they were), and they made it a point to teach her things about the Church.
They spent time with her and took her on sightseeing walks with them during free time to explain the faith related things about the pilgrimage, and they talked to her about their interests: liturgy, homiletics, rites, theology, Church teaching and other faith topics. But most importantly, they invited her to join them in their daily prayers: the Divine Office.
She had no breviary of her own, so they shared theirs with her, worked the ribbons and pointed to where and when she was to read.
It was a fantastic time of fellowship and catechesis, and she was captivated by the beauty of praying in community and the concept of this prayer being a way to unite Catholics all over the world at the various parts of the day.
When she returned to the U.S., she purchased her own Liturgy of the Hours breviary set and began praying on her own. It was through praying the Divine Office that the Lord placed on her heart a desire to pray for and support priests and seminarians. She was not sure how to proceed, so she began to pray on her own for them, making small acts of practical encouragement.
Since love grows in ever widening circles, the more our founder
prayed for Christ's ministerial priesthood, the more she wanted others to also have the
opportunity to experience the same joy she had in prayerfully supporting priests and seminarians (the more the merrier!). Pray4Priests was "born" when our domain name was
first registered on September 29, 2007, the Feast of the Archangels.
Our programs have developed over time, after discerning certain needs, and they have been prayerfully designed to make it easy for anyone to participate in supporting Christ's ministerial priesthood.
Our Ministry Programs and Scope
We currently have 2 free and easy ministry programs designed for use in parishes: The Adopt-a-Seminarian program, and the P4P Prayer Groups.
The P4P (Pray4Priests) Prayer Groups were started in order to meet two needs:
give busy people, especially working professionals, an opportunity to
participate in a prayer apostolate for priests, who might otherwise not be able to participate because of time constraints (as many prayer groups for priests are about an hour in length), and to
provide prayer coverage and support specifically for Pastors, the local
shepherds.
Our Adopt-a-Seminarian ministry began as an individual apostolate, and eventually expanded into a program that allowed many to participate. The unique aspects of the program include actual "Adoption Kits", designed to make it easier for parents to engage youth and children in the support effort. It's also educational for adults, as it gives them a little insight into seminary life. The Adoption Kit (available in English and Spanish) includes:
- an Adoption Certificate, with a photo and information about the seminarian
- an Adoption Guide which is updated each year with real time support tips, based on feedback from seminarians themselves, and occasionally, even the seminary rectors
- and the Adopt-a-Seminarian Prayer Card
The
adoption initiative was first launched in its expanded form at St. Michael the
Archangel Catholic Church in the 2013 school year, and was sponsored
by the parish vocation commission for the next 5 years. The Adopt-a-Seminarian program was opened to all parishes across the diocese of Charlotte in 2018, and our apostolate was first profiled in the Catholic News Herald that same year.
Click here to read the article.
Each year, in parishes across the diocese, individuals and families sign up for the free Adoption program which matches seminarians and laity for the purpose of covering seminarians with prayer and a little practical encouragement or support and help them get to know some of the people they may one day serve, and giving laity an opportunity to get to know a man who might one day turn out to be their pastor. And an added blessing the Lord kindly gave our founder the opportunity to experience this very joy! As she was coming into the Church, she began praying for a seminarian who was a newly ordained transitional deacon. Years later, that same man, then a priest, was assigned to her parish as the Pastor!
Participation Across the Diocese
We continue to have our Pray4Priests.com / Adopt-a-Seminarian booth at the Charlotte Diocese Eucharistic Congress each year, offering thousands of attendees the opportunity to Adopt-a-Seminarian and receive their Adoption Kit on the spot. We did not slow down during the Covid-19 pandemic, as thankfully our ministries already had a virtual / online presence offering touchless Adoption Kits. We are very excited about having our in-person booth again at the 20th Annual Charlotte Diocese Eucharistic Congress, which is scheduled for September, 2024.
For those who would like to volunteer with our Ministry, we have several opportunities:
Annual Volunteering, which includes:
- Volunteering at our booth during the annual Charlotte Diocese Eucharistic Congress
- Volunteering to help put together our paper Adoption Kits
Being a Parish Coordinator or Contact at your parish, which includes:- Working with your Pastor to determine when to have the Adopt-a-Seminarian table after Mass
- Serving as a liaison between our ministry and your parish, to answer questions.
- Working with your parish office to place our bulletin announcements in your parish bulletin (usually no more than 2 a year).
- Helping to organize, or lead, your parish P4P Prayer Group to pray for your Pastor.
Beyond the Charlotte Diocese
Thanks to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and some good souls outside the diocese, we have also had outreach to support other locations in their Adopt-a-Seminarian initiatives.
God is good, all the time!
Our Anniversary Holy Card
