PRO MILITIA

ORATIO PRO VOCATIONE SACERDOTALI

Prayer for a Priestly Vocation

This 20th-century prayer for those discerning a priestly vocation addresses Christ as Eternal High Priest and invokes St. John Mary Vianney, declared patron of parish priests by Pope Pius XI in 1929. It asks for grace to know God's will, wisdom to understand His ways, and courage to follow wherever He leads - whether to ordination or another path.

LATINE
O Domine Iesu Christe, Sacerdos Aeterne:
intuere clementer in me, servum tuum indignum,
et si sancta voluntas tua sit ut tibi in sacro ministerio serviam,
aufer a corde meo omne quod tibi displicet.
Concede mihi gratiam cognoscendi voluntatem tuam,
sapientiam intelligendi vias tuas,
et fortitudinem sequendi quocumque me ducis.
Si me ad sacerdotium vocas,
da mihi vires fideliter gratiae tuae correspondendi.
Si alia consilia de me habes,
ea manifesta et generositatem amplectendi concede.
Maria, Mater sacerdotum,
ora pro me.
Sancte Ioannes Maria Vianney, patrone sacerdotum,
ora pro me.
Amen.
ENGLISH
O Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest:
look mercifully upon me, Thy unworthy servant,
and if it be Thy holy will that I should serve Thee in the sacred ministry,
remove from my heart everything that is displeasing to Thee.
Grant me the grace to know Thy will,
the wisdom to understand Thy ways,
and the courage to follow wherever Thou dost lead.
If Thou dost call me to the priesthood,
give me the strength to correspond faithfully to Thy grace.
If Thou hast other designs for me,
make them clearly known and grant me the generosity to embrace them.
Mary, Mother of priests,
pray for me.
St. John Vianney, patron of priests,
pray for me.
Amen.
NOTA
FONS
Prex tradita saec. XX pro vocatione sacerdotali, S. Ioannem Mariam Vianney (patronus sacerdotum ab anno 1929) invocans
USUS
Discernment of priestly vocation, seminary preparation
CONTEXT
St. John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars, was declared patron of parish priests by Pope Pius XI in 1929. His feast is August 4.