St. John Vianney Novena
Novena to St. Jean Marie Vianney, Patron of Parish Priests
To prepare for the feast day of St. John Vianney on Aug. 4, the patron saint of priests and seminarians, please join us as we pray for his intercession for our priests and seminarians each morning from Saturday, July 27 through Sunday, Aug. 4 after the 8:30a.m. Masses. The novena and litany for priests is available below, and also in the church, and posted on Facebook at 7:30a.m. daily. Please pray for our priests!
Novena to Saint John-Marie Vianney, Patron of Parish Priests and Litany of Prayers for Our Priests and Seminarians
July 27, Day 1: St. John, your love for Our Lord and the Church began early, as your devout parents helped to hide and support priests on your family farm during the French Revolution. You were taught the Scriptures and truths of the Faith quietly in your family home, growing deeply in “wisdom and in years” as Our Lord did with His Holy Parents. Please intercede for us, that parents and all in our parish family help our young children grow strongly in their faith and love of Jesus. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. John-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
July 28, Day 2: St. John, as an older child, other children made fun of your awkward looks and behavior. They didn’t understand why you prayed so often and sometimes so deeply that they were able to play tricks on you, hiding your tools or stealing your shoes. You struggled to learn how to read and write, and your siblings taunted you. Your parents supported your desire to become a seminarian, but you severely struggled to learn Latin, even with years of constant tutoring from seminarian friends and teachers. Please intercede for us, that we become more humbly patient with ourselves and others in our weaknesses and failings. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. John-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
July 29, Day 3: St. John, as a seminarian, you were drafted into Napoleon’s army and had to pause your studies. You escaped the military and lived among devout farmers, teaching their children the Catholic faith and hiding to avoid capture. When you left a year later, those villagers wanted you to stay because you lived such a humble, holy life. They loved God and each other more because you dwelt with them. Please intercede for us that we might live so much in love with God, showing His Face to everyone, that our neighbors will love Him, too. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
July 30, Day 4: St. John, when you were almost 30 years old, you were finally ordained a priest, despite not mastering Latin enough to hear confessions and preach sermons. You spent three joyful years studying and serving diligently as an associate priest, and then finally you were made pastor of the remote village of Ars. Almost none of the villagers there loved Jesus and the Church. Only a few older people went to Mass or even entered the Church. You also had a great love for Mother Mary and depended on her help and protection. You helped others love her, too. Please intercede for us when we are given difficult situations, especially when those around us are indifferent or even hostile to Our Lord and the Faith. Help us to persevere as we live and work in hope that they will meet Jesus powerfully in us. Help us to develop a deep, loving relationship with Mother Mary, too. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
July 31, Day 5: St. John, your church in Ars was in terrible shape, dirty and shabby inside. Your rectory was comfortable and neat. You immediately gave away the rectory furnishings, slept on the bed frame without a mattress, and subsisted on very little food for the rest of your life. You worked steadily to make the church more beautiful and to generously provide for needy villagers. Please intercede for us; help us to be generous and support our parish and the Church, and our sisters and brothers in need of our assistance. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
Aug. 1, Day 6: St. John, you LOVED your people. You spent ten lonely years on your knees praying that they would love God and return to Mass. At first, you spent hours writing homilies and courageously reading them during Mass, but the few attending parishioners were bored and even laughed at your weak attempts. One Sunday, the words on your homily papers totally disappeared, and you had to depend on the Holy Spirit to fill you with HIS words. You and your parishioners were brought to holy tears! For the rest of your life your homilies filled people with passionate love for God, repentance for their sins, and a desire to completely change their priorities to follow God. Please intercede for us. Help us realize that our own efforts to evangelize are totally inadequate without the Holy Spirit. Help us to surrender ourselves totally to God as you did. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
Aug. 2, Day 7: St. John, you dearly loved Our Lord in His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Because you listened seriously to Jesus in His Gospels, you believed Jesus when He said that the Bread and Wine truly become His Body and Blood during the consecration at Mass. Eventually, the Masses at Ars were filled to overflowing, and over the years, tens of thousands of people came to believe in and love Our Eucharistic Lord because they could see your complete faith in this Truth. Please intercede for us as we struggle to believe in Our Lord’s True Presence in our relativistic culture. Please help us to be drawn to Him in faith and love and to receive Him always reverently and worthily. Help us to desire to worship Him and spend much time with Our Beloved. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
Aug. 3, Day 8: St. John, the Lord worked powerfully in you when you heard Confessions. He gave you the great and rare gift of being able to read people’s hearts. In your last years, you spent up to 14 hours in the confessional almost every day. People would travel from far-away cities in France to wait for days so that they could be reconciled to Our Lord through your counsel and absolution. Please intercede for us and help us to regularly make honest assessments of our thoughts, words, and actions. Help us to desire and partake of the healing and growth in virtue that results from the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
Aug. 4, Day 9: St. John, you served God and your people for 41 years in Ars until your death at age 73. You faced incredible hardships: the devil hated you so much, he would often disturb your sleep with awful noises and even destroy objects in the rectory. A few of your brother priests were so jealous of your holiness and your parishioners’ love for you that they actually wrote to the bishop, accusing you of stupidity and pride.* You exhausted yourself each day as you lovingly ministered to your flock in your poor village. You received praise and attention as many miracles happened through your ministry, although you totally desired humility and hiddenness. You desired to live a quiet life in a monastery but in obedience remained in Ars. Please intercede for us as we face suffering, obstacles, misunderstandings and frustrations in our daily life as we take up our crosses and follow Jesus. We also pray in silence for our priests and our personal intentions. *Fr. John Vianney offered to sign the petition himself!
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
St. Jean-Marie Vianney, pray for us! (Litany)
Litany of Prayers for Priests and Seminarians (modified from Cardinal Cushing’s prayer)
O Almighty Eternal God our Father, look upon the face of Your Son, and for love of Him Who is the Eternal High Priest, have pity on your priests. Remember O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.
O Jesus, Our Eternal High Priest, we pray:
for Your faithful and fervent PRIESTS;
for Your unfaithful and tepid PRIESTS;
for Your PRIESTS laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
for Your tempted PRIESTS;
for Your young PRIESTS;
for Your dying PRIESTS;
for the souls of Your PRIESTS in Purgatory.
But above all, we commend to You:
the PRIESTS dearest to me;
the PRIEST who baptized me;
the PRIESTS who absolved me from my sins;
the PRIESTS at whose MASSES I assist;
the PRIESTS who taught and instructed me about You and Your Holy Scriptures;
the PRIESTS who helped and encouraged me to accept You as my Lord and Savior;
the PRIESTS who help us open our hearts to know how deeply You love us;
all the PRIESTS whom You sent to touch my life and those of my loved ones.
Let Us Pray for:
The Holy Father Pope Francis: fill him with Your grace, Lord;
Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops: may they teach, govern and sanctify in your Will, Lord;
Diocesan Priests: never leave them, Lord;
Priests in seminary work: give them Your wisdom, Lord;
Priests in hospital work: give them constancy, Lord;
Priests who are ill: heal them, Lord;
Priests in danger: deliver them, Lord;
Priests who are weak: strengthen them, Lord;
Priests who are poor: relieve them, Lord;
Priests who are zealous: help them, Lord;
Priests who want to love You: enkindle their hearts, Lord;
Priests who are sad: console them, Lord;
Priests who are worried: give them peace, Lord;
Priests who are old: sustain them, Lord;
Priests who are young: impel them for your glory, Lord;
Priests who are alone: accompany them, Lord;
Missionary priests: protect them, Lord;
Priests who are preachers: enlighten them, Lord;
Priests who direct souls: instruct them, Lord;
Parish priests: make them shepherds after Your Own Heart, Lord;
Priests and religious who have died: bring them to Glory, Lord;
All the Church, militant and suffering: Lord, have mercy.
For our Seminarians:
Give them wisdom and maturity in their discernment.
Grant them peace and strength in their preparation.
May they experience Your love and freedom in the vocation You will for them.
Give their formators and spiritual directors wisdom, clarity and joy.
Abundantly bless all of the current applicants to the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
For all Priests:
Give them Your wisdom, Lord.
Give them virtues.
Give them patience and charity.
Give them obedience and kindness.
Give them a burning zeal for souls.
Give them an intense love for the Eucharist.
Give them loyalty to the Pope and their Bishops.
Give them respect for their dignity.
Give them a great love for Mary.
Give them rectitude for justice.
Give them the gift of counsel.
Give them strength in their labors.
Give them peace in their sufferings.
Give them humility and generosity.
Let them be the light of souls.
Let them be the salt of the earth.
Let them practice sacrifice and self denial.
Let them enkindle hearts with the love of Mary.
Let them be other Christs.
Let them be holy in body and soul.
May they be men of prayer.
May faith shine forth in them.
May they be faithful to their priestly vocation.
May their hands know only how to bless.
May they burn with love for You and for Mary.
May all their steps be for the glory of God.
May the Holy Spirit possess them and give them His gifts and fruits in abundance.
May they know how much we appreciate and love them as good men, shepherds who are accompanying us to Heaven.
Let us pray, O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are the soul and the life of the Church. Hear the prayers we offer for priests. We ask this through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, their protector and guide. Amen.