The World Day for Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests is on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 20. In way of observing this day, the Office of Vocations of the Archdiocese of San Francisco (ADSF) is organizing a rosary and novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus beginning on June 11, the traditional Corpus Christi feast day, and going until the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart on June 20. All are invited to participate. The novena is available here. Livestreams will be provided from St. Pius and Star of the Sea parishes:
- St. Pius, 3 pm daily June 11-20: St. Pius Facebook Page
- Star of the Sea, 5 pm daily, June 11-20: Star of the Sea Facebook Page
During this rosary and novena, prayers will be offered in particular for the sanctification, or holiness, of bishops, priests, and seminarians. It is no secret that the lack of holiness among priests and bishops has caused great wounds in the past to the Church; the ADSF Office of Vocations is offering this as a positive way to combat this reality, inspired by the words of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, "Every worldly priest hinders the growth of the Church: every saintly priest promotes it. If only all priests realized how their holiness makes the Church holy and how the Church begins to decline when the level of holiness among priests falls below that of the people!”
Please pray for the priestly faculty and alumni, and the seminarians of the St. Patrick's community to grow in their holiness as they strive to build Christ's Church in these challenging times.