Beloved Family,
The Prayer of Ordination of Priests, which Fr. Charles Cairnie and Fr. Nathan Frankart will have heard on their ordination day this weekend, is so beautiful that I believe it is worth reprinting here in its entirety.
Draw near, O Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, author of human dignity: it is you who apportion all graces. Through you everything progresses; through you all things are made to stand firm. To form a priestly people, you appoint ministers of Christ your Son by the power of the Holy Spirit, arranging them in different orders.
Already in the earlier covenant offices arose, established through mystical rites: when you set Moses and Aaron over your people to govern and sanctify them, you chose men next in rank and dignity to accompany them and assist them in their task.
So too in the desert you implanted the spirit of Moses in the hearts of seventy wise men; and with their help he ruled your people with greater ease.
So also upon the sons of Aaron you poured an abundant share of their father’s plenty, that the number of the priests prescribed by the Law might be sufficient for the sacrifices of the tabernacle, which were a shadow of the good things to come.
But in these last days, holy Father, you sent your Son into the world, Jesus, who is Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Through the Holy Spirit he offered himself to you as a spotless victim; and he made his Apostles, consecrated in the truth, sharers in his mission. You provided them also with companions to proclaim and carry out the work of salvation throughout the whole world. And now we beseech you, Lord, in our weakness, to grant us these helpers that we need to exercise the Priesthood that comes from the Apostles.
Grant, we pray, Almighty Father, to these your servants the dignity of the Priesthood; renew deep within them the Spirit of holiness; may they henceforth possess this office, which comes from you, O God, and is next in rank to the office of Bishop; and by the example of their manner of life, may they instill right conduct.
May they be worthy co-workers with our Order, so that by their preaching and through the grace of the Holy Spirit the words of the Gospel may bear fruit in human hearts and reach even to the ends of the earth.
Together with us, may they be faithful stewards of your mysteries, so that your people may be renewed in the waters of rebirth and nourished from your altar; so that sinners may be reconciled and the sick raised up. May they be joined with us, Lord, in imploring your mercy for the people entrusted to their care and for all the world.
And so may the full number of the nations, gathered together in Christ, be transformed into your one people and made perfect in your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. All: Amen.
Let His Peace be with you,
Fr. Stephen
