I’ve told this story here before. In my grandparents’ backyard was a rather substantial, walk-in, brick grotto to our Blessed Mother. I loved to go there as a kid – not so much to pray, but it just drew me. So, the summer before I entered the seminary, I built a much more humble grotto out of river rock in our family’s backyard. 

All of that is to say, devotion to the Blessed Mother runs deep in my family.

May is a month traditionally dedicated to Mary, and a great time to resume the practice of praying a daily rosary. I typically get a rosary in each day during a walk – but even that walk has been challenging in recent months!

This year, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, traditionally called Good Shepherd Sunday fell in early May. The readings of that Sunday every year recall Jesus as our Good Shepherd, and is a time we are asked to pray particularly for vocations to the priesthood. 

I would like to share a prayer I incorporate into every rosary asking God for good and holy priests. You see the prayer in the image at the beginning of this entry. I pray this prayer at the end of each decade of the rosary, after the prayer to Jesus for mercy. Will you please add this prayer to your recitation of the rosary?

I also wish to draw your attention to the prayers Pope Francis composed and asks that we pray at the end of each rosary. You can find those prayers here.

God Bless,

+pde

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