Pope Benedict's 60th Anniversary
of Priestly Ordination

WASHINGTON—Catholics worldwide are asked to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s ordination to the priesthood with sixty hours of Eucharistic prayer for vocations.

The pope will celebrate his anniversary June 29, the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul.  In honor of his anniversary, the Vatican Congregation for Clergy suggested Catholic clergy and faithful be invited to participate in Eucharistic Adoration with the intention of praying for the sanctification of the clergy and for the gift of new and holy priestly vocations.

            Dioceses nationwide are planning special prayers before the Blessed Sacrament in June, offered continuously or across various days in the month. Celebrations might conclude July 1, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the World Day of Prayer for Priests.    Read more

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How dioceses and parishes are celebrating the Holy Father's anniversary

Our parish had spent 60 hours of adoration praying for vocations to the priesthood in honor of the Pope's 60th anniversary as a priest.  We started on Monday, June 27 and ended on Saturday, July 2.  We began at 8:00 in the morning and finished at 6 in the evening.  6 days, 10 hours a day for 60 hours of adoration.

Holy Family Parish in Las Vegas, NV

We are celebrating this with the 60 hours of Eucharistic Adoration as recommended by our Archbishop, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson.

St. Martin of Tours Parish in St. Louis, MO

We, the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious Institute of the Archdiocese of Miami, hold a yearly All  Night vigil of Eucharistic Adoration on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and the Feast of the Immaculate Heart.  Hundreds of people from the Archdiocese of Miami, and from other dioceses in the United States, come to the Holy Mass in Honor of the Sacred Heart and stay the whole night adoring Jesus in the Eucharist.  We end the Vigil with the Holy Mass in honor of the Immaculate Heart.  Each hour is dedicated to different intentions and meditations.  This year, our whole night Vigil will be offered in communion with the whole Church, for the intention that the Congregation for the Clergy: holy priestly vocations. We offer this whole night Vigil as a small gift for the Holy Father´s 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination and for an increase of priestly vocations. This year the All night Vigil of Eucharistic Adoration will take place in the Minor Seminary of our Archdiocese, St. John Mary Vianney.   Flyer: http://www.piercedhearts.org/sctjm/vigil_2011_rev.pdf

 Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Miami, FL

Greetings from the Vocation Office in the Archdiocese of Louisville! We’ve contacted all the parishes and communities about the “Spiritual Bouquet” and are receiving a beautiful response.  One Hospital Chapel even prayers the rosary, calling out each priest’s name on each Hail Mary.  Several are opening their Adoration to the public, and it has been advertised in the local Catholic paper, The Record. So far, we have fourteen different participants, religious communities and parishes – 2 have totaled 60 hours each, another is 58, totals of others so far are 25 more, but others are still coming in.  Several are closing on July with the Mass and Benediction also, and we expect larger numbers from them as they have perpetual adoration. As of July 8th, we've tallied over 900 hours of adoration.

Archdiocese of Louisville, KY

We will have this day of prayer at Salem on Thursday, June 30^th, the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (which is also Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of the Clergy). In addition to our regular 7:00 pm Holy Hour in preparation for First Friday, we will have solemn Eucharistic Adoration following the 8:15 am Holy Mass until Benediction at the conclusion of the 7:00 pm Holy Hour.Also, two or more representatives from the following parish organizations will be present during set hours: The Christian Mothers, The Catholic Foresters, The Legion of Mary, The Altar Society, St. Mary School Faculty, St. Mary School Children, Jr. Christian Mothers, St. Mary F.A.S.T. Organization and St. Mary Knights of Columbus.

St. Mary Catholic Church in Salem, SD

To celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Holy Father we will be having 60 continuous hours of Eucharistic adoration beginning June 29^th at 8:30am and finishing on July 1^st at 8:30pm.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Fort Collins, CO

In regard to our Holy Father’s 60^th Anniversary…as a parish we are pleased to report that we will have completed over 60 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in honor of him and priestly sanctity over the last two weeks of June, concluding with Benediction on Friday July 1, 2011.  We attach all prayers and good wishes to the Holy Father on this occasion of great joy and happiness for the church.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church, Diocese of Dallas

I am pleased to let you know that the Little Sisters, residents and staff of the Jeanne Jugan Residence in Pawtucket have spent over 71 hours praying for our priests and for priestly vocations before the Eucharist.  Please let us know what else we can do to observe the Pope’s 60^th anniversary.

Jeanne Jugan Residence in Pawtucket, RI

St. Joseph's Church in Attleboro, MA, will be offering 60 hours of Eucharistic Adoration, in our Adoration Chapel, for the intentions of The Sanctification of the Clergy and for New, Holy, Vocations to the Priesthood.  Our Offering will end with a Holy Hour on Friday, July 1 at 7:00 pm in the Church in Honor of Pope Benedict XVI's 60th Anniversary to the Priesthood. 

St. Joseph's Church in Attleboro, MA

Our parish is blessed to have Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament for Adoration from Monday morning through Saturday morning. We are encouraging all faithful committed adorers, as well as all parishioners, to visit Our Blessed Lord as often as possible during sixty designated hours, and pray for “THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE CLERGY AND FOR THE GIFT OF NEW AND HOLY PRIESTLY VOCATIONS” in honor of Our Holy Father’s 60^th Anniversary to the Holy Priesthood.  The sixty hours designated for this intention will begin at 12:00 a.m. Wednesday morning (June 29) and continue through 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon (July 1).  At 3:30 p.m. the Most Blessed Sacrament will be transferred from our chapel to the Altar for another hour of Adoration and Benediction.  At the close of this hour, which will be the 60^th Holy Hour, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered. We also have 700 Prayer for Priests prayer cards that was downloaded off of “foryourvocation.org” website that we intend to distribute during the week of June 26^th. 

"St. Edward Parish...will be celebrating a Holy Hour for the Pope and for his intentions of increasing the sanctity of current priests and increasing the number of vocations to the priesthood on June 29 from 7p until 8p.  This is in addition to our monthly First Friday, day-long Exposition and concluding Benediction.  In addition, these intentions have been a part of homilies and parish bulletin articles this month."

St. Edward Parish in Lowell, IN (Diocese of Gary)

"Each year the Archdiocese of Washington (DC) we take time at the beginning of June across the parishes to pray for vocations and for holy priests.  We have 92 parishes participating this year and hundreds of hours of prayers devoted to praying for vocations. The Holy Father is included in our prayers."

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