Maine idea: Praying for priests

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In Portland, Maine, an order of Catholic sisters spends their days praying for the priests of the Diocese of Albany. They also pray for priests in 39 other dioceses throughout the country.

The Contemplative Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood are a small group, only five reside at their convent, but they believe their prayer has a great impact on the lives of the priests.

"We are called to a life wholly dedicated to the prayer of the adoration of Christ and reparation to Him under the sign of the Precious Blood," said Sister Mary Jo Divney, superior. "Our apostolate is essentially interior, springing from our genuine love and compassion for souls. We do all in our power to make certain that the Precious Blood reaches everyone for whom it was shed."

For priests

A little over a year ago, the five sisters began their prayer ministry for priests as the result of the work of Yvonne Roux of Lewiston, Maine. According to Sister Mary Jo, Mrs. Roux was the driving force and originator of the monthly prayer request for priests.

"She had a brother that was a priest and had spent a lot of time praying for him," she said. "Eventually, she thought it might benefit other priests if she offered prayers for them."

As Mrs. Roux's ministry grew, she designed a calendar format, typed in all the names of the priests she prayed for and distributed them, at her own cost, to people in various dioceses throughout the U.S. By the time she decided to give up her prayer ministry of ten years, she was praying for priests in 33 dioceses.

Computer list

"We took over the program from Mrs. Roux in the fall of 1999 but had to set it up differently to work for us," Sister Mary Jo said. "We got a computer with calendar software. We wrote to all the dioceses involved and asked for an updated list of all their priests."

The computer software automatically generates lists of names on a random basis. Every priest's name comes up at least once a year, sometimes more often. But Bishop Howard J. Hubbard's name comes up once a month, as do the names of the bishops in each diocese.

The sisters pray for the priests whose names fall on the schedule. "We pray at least six times a day," said Sister Mary Jo, "and we include the names of the priests in our daily prayer."

New sisters

Two novices at the convent in Portland are directly involved in the apostolate program. Sister Mary Jo said that when the novices entered the order, the others were anxious to give them work that was "compatible with our way of life and which would be fulfilling and encourage them to deepen their interior life through prayer."

One novice was a teacher before she entered the order; the second had extensive experience with computers. The sisters also wanted the novices to foster a spirit of recollection during their working hours; so once they were assigned the job of operating the software program, the sisters were ready to launch their new apostolate.

"In January 2000, we sent out our first edition of the Apostolate of Prayer for Priests to all those people and places that had joined with Mrs. Roux in praying for priests in those 33 dioceses," said Sister Mary Jo. "Now a year later, the program is growing -- and we are very busy praying!"

Vocations

The sisters are optimistic about their apostolate of prayer. They hope that all dioceses will see an increase in vocations to the priesthood as well as to communities of sisters and brothers.

They also hope that more priests, sisters and lay people will take the calendars they receive in their parish bulletins, make copies, and distribute them to others so that lay people can also pray for priests.

"Anyone interested in praying for priests could send us their name and address, and we will add them to our mailing list," she noted.

(A list of names of the priests from the Diocese of Albany can be obtained by writing to the Contemplative Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood, 166 State St., Portland, ME 04101-3794. Among the priests they are praying for from Feb. 23-28 are Revs. Randall Patterson, David LeFort, William Bauer and Brian Raiche.)

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