Updated December 12, 2009
The Serra Club of Boston is pleased to announce that all 750 of our beloved diocesan priests have been spiritually adopted individually by name by the lay faithful! For more information on the completion of the 2009 apostolate, please click here.
The apostolate was inaugurated on Priesthood Sunday 2009 and will run until Priesthood Sunday 2010 (Oct 31, 2010). As Priesthood Sunday 2010 approaches, we will create a new set of prayer cards for those who wish to participate in the apostolate in 2010.
Already we have heard very positive and wonderful feedback from both priests and Adopters with regards to this apostolate. Thank you to all who are currently participating – please pray for our priests!
How it Works
The goal of the Adopt-a-Priest Apostolate is to have each bishop and diocesan priest covered daily in prayer on an ongoing basis by an assigned layperson of the archdiocese. Members of the apostolate will receive a free booklet (shown at right) with the name and address of their priest and suggestions for prayer.
Families and prayer communities may also spiritually adopt a priest as a group. There is no cost associated with participation in this apostolate, but donations to offset printing and postage will be gratefully accepted.
Suggested Spiritual Practices
Anyone undertaking this spiritual adoption should consider daily prayer and sacrifice on behalf of their assigned clergy to be a serious commitment. Suggested spiritual practices include:
- Mass
- Liturgy of the Hours
- Eucharistic Adoration
- Holy Hour
- Rosary
- Divine Mercy Chaplet
- Stations of the Cross
- Fasting
- Offering of sufferings
- Any other activities one would be inspired to do
Resources on Spiritual Parenthood
The following links contain more information on “spiritual parenthood.”
In 2007 the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy encouraged this practice. You can read their letter in its entirety at this link:
Letter for the Sanctification of the Clergy
You can also read the actual booklet at the following link: Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
The Boston Pilot ran an article with details on this new apostolate, which can be found at: Boston Pilot: Serra Boston initiates Adopt-a-Priest Apostolate
Serra Boston is posting the ordination dates and birthdays (month and day only) of each diocesan priest in the hope that many individuals will remember and celebrate their priests throughout the year.
