Spiritual Motherhood for Priests takes off

OL Seven Sorrows.jpg

Since last year I’ve been thinking of the role spiritual
mothers, in the example of Our Lady, play in the lives of Catholic priests. I am thinking in particular of Our Lady of Sorrows for this type of spiritual maternity. In the past I mentioned this idea here and here at the beginning of 2009 (perhaps I should do it more). The
call to be a priest’s spiritual mother includes a woman’s offering herself to
God, praying in intercession and reparation for the priest, spending time in
Eucharistic Adoration and becoming a point for God’s grace to work in the life
of a priest. A woman of any age can do this work of intercession; she can be single, married, or widowed. This spiritual work is hidden and contemplative, sacrificial and
silent. It is in this special work that the reparation for the sins of priests
might happen for as the Holy Father said, “nothing makes the Church, the Body
of Christ, suffer more than the sins of her pastors.”

My interest has been sparked by two people, Franciscan
Cardinal Claudio Hummes and Benedictine Father Mark Kirby, the latter drawing
on 

Adoration & Spiritual Maternity.pdf to ask the Divine Majesty to renew priesthood
through a special devotion to the Eucharist. But there’s been other work done by
people such as Catherine Dougherty, Mother Marie des Douleurs and Maria Sieler as well as the countless laity and consecrated men and women of the Church.

In October 2008 Tulsa, OK, Bishop Edward Slattery started a
process of formation for women
to dedicate their prayer for the needs of the
priesthood. I am told that there are some women in the Bridgeport Diocese that there
are women who dedicate their lives as a spiritual mother for priests but they
are so hidden no one knows them. Something has to be done in the manner in
which Bishop Slattery is doing this holy work! 

More recently Jane, living in France, has begun some work
and prayer on spiritual maternity for priests. Her blog, Spiritual Mothers of
Priests
, is a good personal initiative to assist priests (and I presume
seminarians) with prayer and sacrifice during this Year of the Priest. Ladies,
visit and follow the work of Jane and join other women to this special work for
priests.