Ubi Petrus

Today we pray for Rev. Deacon John Ross and Rev. Deacon Richard Cloutier.

Deacon Ross was ordained in 2002 and serves St. Patrick’s Parish in Pelham.

Deacon Cloutier was ordained in 1980 and is now retired.

May their ordination to service be ever directed to Him in whose name we live and move and have our being.  May Mary in her great humility show them ever new ways to serve everyone around them for love of God and draw them ever closer to her Son.

Don’t let the Rocky music stop you:

H/T to Servant and Steward.

Today we pray for Msgr. Joseph Desmond and Rev. Marc Gagne.

Msgr. Desmond was ordained in 1947 and is now retired.

Fr. Gagne was ordained in 1985 and is pastor of St. Charles Borromeo’s Parish and St. Joseph’s Parish in Dover.

Lord watch over these men, your humble servants, and help them in their ministries to the one flock as allow you, the one true Shepherd, to act through them.  Mother Mary, watch over them and guide them; lead them ever closer to your Son.

Stretching out his hand over his disciples, the Lord Christ declared: Here are my mother and my brothers, anyone who does the will of my Father who sent me is my brother and my sister and my mother.  I would urge you to ponder these words.  Did the Virgin Mary, who believed by faith and conceived by faith, who was the chosen one from whom our Savior was born among men, who was created by Christ before Christ was created in her – did she not do the will of the Father?  Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood.  Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb him whom she would obey as her master.

Now listen and see if the words of Scripture do not agree with what I have said.  The Lord was passing by and crowds were following him.  His miracles gave proof of divine power, and a woman cried out:  Happy is the womb that bore you, blessed is that womb! But the Lord, not wishing people to seek happiness in a purely physical relationship, replied:  More blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.  Mary heard God’s word and kept it, and so she is blessed.  She kept God’s truth in her mind, a nobler thing than carrying his body in her womb.  The truth and the body were both Christ:  he was kept in her womb insofar as he is man; but what is kept in the mind is of a higher order than what is carried in the womb.

The Virgin Mary is both holy and blessed, and yet the Church is greater than she.  Mary is a part of the Church, a member of the Church, a holy, an eminent – the most eminent – member, but still only a member of the entire body.  The body undoubtedly is greater than she, one of its members.  This body has the Lord for its head, and head and body together make up the whole Christ.  In other words, our head is divine – our head is God.

Now, beloved, give me your whole attention, for you also are members of Christ; you also are the body of Christ.  Consider how you yourselves can be among those of whom the Lord said:  Here are my mother and my brothers.  Do you wonder how you can be the mother of Christ?  He himself said:  Whoever hears and fulfills the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother.  As for our being the brothers and sisters of Christ, we can understand this because although there is only one inheritance and Christ is the only Son, his mercy would not allow him to remain alone.  It was his wish that we too should be heirs of the Father, and co-heirs with himself.

Now having said that all of you are brothers of Christ, shall I not dare to call you his mother?  Much less would I dare to deny his own words.  Tell me how Mary became the mother of Christ, if it was not by giving birth to the members of Christ?  You, to whom I am speaking, are the members of Christ.  Of whom were you born?  “Of Mother Church,” I hear the reply of your hearts.  You became sons of this mother at your baptism, you came to birth then as members of Christ.  Now you in your turn must draw to the font of baptism as many as you possibly can.  You became sons when you were born there yourselves, and now by bringing others to birth in the same way, you have it in your power to become the mothers of Christ.

– St. Augustine, Sermo 25, 7-8: PL 46, 937-839

Today we pray for Rev. Fredric Maples SJ and Rev. John Michalowski SJ.

I am unable to find any information on Fr. Maples; should you have any, please leave a note in the combox.

Fr. Michalowski was ordained in 1981 and is pastor of Mary Queen of Peace Parish and St. Joseph’s Parish, both in Salem.

Lord, guide them in their work, inspire them in all they do.  Mother Mary, take them by the hand and lead them on the narrow path that leads to your Son.

Today we pray for all priests of the Diocese of Manchester who are on leave.

May their time on leave strengthen them and deepen their understanding of their call from the Lord.  Jesus, you who are always faithful and true, guide them along their path.  Mother Mary watch over them and intercede on their behalf before your Son.

Today we pray for Rev. Kevin Connor and Rev. Robert Couto.

Fr. Connor was ordained in 1987 and is currently on a leave of absence.

Fr. Couto was ordained in 1996 and is currently pastor at St. Jude’s Parish in Londonderry.  He is also, incidentally, the priest who welcomed me into the Church lo these many years ago when he was Parochial Vicar at Immaculate Conception in Nashua.

Lord, grant them rest in its time and strength always to continue to work until the coming of Your Kingdom.  Mother Mary, watch over them, shelter them in your mantle and draw them to your Son.

Today we pray for Rev. Deacon John Carey and Rev. Deacon Charles Schladenhaufen.

Deacon Carey was ordained in 1998 and serves at Our Lady of the Mountains Parish in North Conway.

Deacon Schladenhauffen was ordained in 1983 and is currently on medical leave.

St. Stephen, watch over those entrusted with the office of Deacon, guide them in their every effort and endeavor.  Mother Mary, protect them as they work to show forth Christ in their lives, and lead them to your Son.

Today we pray for Bishop Francis Christian, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Manchester.

Bishop Christian was ordained to the priesthood in 1968 and to the episcopate in 1996 as Auxiliary Bishop of Manchester, a position he holds to this day.

Lord, watch over this man, a successor of the very Apostles you sent out into the world; may he be constantly renewed in following their example and work every day to bring your good news to the world.  Mother Mary, watch him and guard him in your mantle and draw him ever closer to your Son.

Today we pray for Very Rev. Marc Drouin VF and Rev. Bruce Collard.

Fr. Drouin was ordained in 1990 and is pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Exeter and St. Mary’s Parish in Newmarket.

Fr. Collard was ordained in 1980 and is the Campus Minister for SNHU and also serves at St. Christopher’s Parish in Nashua.

May they direct their every thought, word and action to you, O Lord, and may they draw souls to you who are Truth.  May Mary watch over them, shelter them in her mantle and draw them to her Son.