Vocations
is god calling your child?
The Family as the Domestic Church
Holy Catholic families are created to produce not just "nice people" but saints. As the Fathers of the Church and the Second Vatican Council teach us, the family is the domestic Church. A married couple lives their life of love in Christ as fruit of their baptismal call to holiness. That faithful love, through their vocation as husband and wife, becomes a seed bed for the vocations of their children. The family is where the virtues of prayer, hard work, sacrifice and generosity are lived and modeled. Parents then are given the remarkable gift of forming their children in readiness to hear and answer the Lord’s call to holiness and apostolic mission in service to Him and His Church. They are instrumental in giving their children an esteem for the wonderful dignity of the Lord’s choice of them should He honor them with a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated religious life. “Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older he will remain on it.” Proverbs 22:6
Vocations Articles
From The Word Among Us, March 20, 2007
A Home Where Vocations Grow: 12 Things Parents Can Do
Is There a Priest (or Sister) in the House: Parents, Kids & the Religious Life
"Follow Me": A Lenten Call to Parents & Kids Alike
Twin Callings: The Love of Christ impelled them
Statement of Vocations
Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde
I want to ask you, dear sisters and brothers, to pray for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life in a very particular way. I am not asking you to pray for vocations in general, for example, “Dear God, please choose someone, like the person next door.” Rather, I am inviting you to pray this way: “Dear God, if you will, please choose someone from my family – my family – to be a priest, sister or brother. And if you do, I will support that person with my prayers and encouragement.” Admittedly, this is a more difficult prayer because it reaches the heart of each family. But it is also a more generous prayer and God responds to generosity!
If God Should Call One of Your Sons or Daughters
Pope Pius XII, March 25, 1942
God has blessed your marriage and given you children…. If the Divine Master comes and asks for “His part”—one of your children, whom He has called to be a priest, a religious or a nun—what will you do? What will become of the holy inspirations that have spoken to their hearts, and His voice whispering to them: “Do you love Me? Will you follow Me?” In God’s name I beg you not to stifle in their souls their openness to the Divine Call. How deep will your Christian spirit really be if you back away from the honor of cooperating and helping in the work of spreading the Faith and the Catholic Church not merely with material help but also with the very precious gift of your children that God is asking of you? Dear married couples, help the Church, the Spouse of Christ; help Christ, the Savior of men, with the fruit of your marriage. Give God the portion of your blessing He is asking for out of your home.
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vocation prayers
Diocese of Arlington Vocation Prayer
Heavenly Father, bless our diocese with the grace of many vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life. Through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, grant to those You have called the willingness and generosity of spirit to give of themselves in devoting their lives and their talents to the service of our Lord and to His Church. Increase the faith of all within our diocese, and particularly the faith of those You have called and will continue to call. We ask this through Christ, Your Son. Amen.
With Ecclesial Approbation
Diocese of Arlington Eucharistic Holy Hour for Vocations Booklet
Click here for link to PDF file
Diocese of Arlington Eucharistic Holy Hour for Vocations Booklet
Click here for link to the SPANISH VERSION PDF file
2009-2010 Year for Priests Holy Hour Booklet
Click here for link to PDF file
Diocese of Arlington Children's Vocation Prayer 2008
Dear all-loving Lord, Guide me to my vocation. Give me the courage to embrace my calling in obedience and love for You., Who knows all. My life is Yours to mold into something beautiful. Amen.
Text: Kelley; 8th Grade, '07-'08; St. Thomas Aquinas Regional School, Woodbridge.
Artwork: Maddie; 5th Grade, '07-'08; St. John the evangelist, Warrenton. Click here to view prayer card.
Prayer for the Canonization Cause of Servant of God, Seminarian Frank Parater
Loving Father, Your servant Frank Parater sought perfection as a student, scout and seminarian. He offered himself to You completely through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through his intercession, may young people answer your call to follow Jesus as priests, deacons and religious. Grant, as well, the favors I seek, so that Your Church will recognize his holiness and proclaim him Blessed. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pope John Paul II Vocation Prayer
May an ardent prayer sustained by the motherly intercession of Mary, rise from every corner of the earth, to the heavenly Father to obtain "labourers for his harvest" (Mt 9,38). May He give zealous and holy priests to every part of his flock. Sustained by this awareness we turn to Christ, the High Priest, and we pray to Him with renewed trust:
Jesus, Son of God, in whom the fullness of the Divinity dwells,You call all the baptized to " put out into the deep", taking the path that leads to holiness. Waken in the hearts of young people the desire to be witnesses in the world of today to the power of your love. Fill them with your Spirit of fortitude and prudence, so that they may be able to discover the full truth about themselves and their own vocation.
Our Saviour, sent by the Father to reveal His merciful love, give to your Church the gift of young people who are ready to put out into the deep, to be the sign among their brothers of Your presence which renews and saves.
Holy Virgin, Mother of the Redeemer, sure guide on the way towards God and towards neighbour, You who pondered his word in the depth of your heart, sustain with your motherly intercession our families and our ecclesial communities, so that they may help adolescents and young people to answer generously the call of the Lord. Amen.
(From the Holy Father's Message for 2005 World Day of Prayer for Vocations)