The Beautiful Hands of a Priest

~Happy Feast Day of St. John Vianney, Patron Saint of Parish Priests~

What a great reminder to pray for our beloved priests.  Our family will be dedicating the month of August to praying extra prayers on their behalf.  There are 100 beautiful prayers for priests at this website.  Many of these can also be found on the iPieta App if you have an iPhone or Android.  (This App is one of my favorites)!
I found this poem on the iPieta that I just love:


The Beautiful Hands of a Priest
We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek them when tasting life's woes.
At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness;
Their dignity stands all alone;
And when we are tempted and wander,
To pathways of shame and of sin,
It's the hand of a priest that will absolve us,
Not once, but again and again.
And when we are taking life's partner,
Other hands may prepare us a feast,
But the hand that will bless and unite us
Is the beautiful hand of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress;
When can a poor sinner do better
Than to ask Him to guide thee and bless?
When the hour of death comes upon us,
May our courage and strength be increased,
By seeing raised over us in blessing
The beautiful hands of a priest.

We made these fun Priestly Brownies and posted at Catholic Cuisine!
I also wanted to share this great article from Cardinal Dolan on Priestly Assignments.
St. John Vianney, please pray for us and the beautiful hands of our priests.