"The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council had very clearly in mind this "thirst for the truth" that burns in every human heart when they said that it is the task of priests "as instructors of the people in the faith" to see to the "formation of a genuine Christian community" ~ Pope Benedict XVI #Saints #Quotes

"[Lord,] grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer whatever you wish, for my entire life!" ~ St. John Marie Vianney #Saints #Quotes

"The Mass is the best and most beautiful thing in the Church... That is why the devil has always sought to deprive the world of the Mass through the action of heretics, making them precursors of the antichrist." ~ St. Alphonsus Liguori #Saints #Quotes

“The end for which God has instituted the priesthood has been to appoint on earth public persons to watch over the honor of his divine majesty, and to procure the salvation of souls.” ~ St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori #Saints #Quotes

"When a priest celebrates the Eucharist, he honors God, and gives joy to the Angels; he edifies the Church, helps the living, obtains rest for the departed, and makes himself a sharer in all good things." ~Thomas a Kempis #Saints #Quotes

"As the shepherd, so the sheep; as the priest, so the people. Priest-victim leadership begets a holy Church. Every worldly priest hinders the growth of the Church; every saintly priest promotes it. If only all priests realized how their holiness makes the Church holy and how the Church begins to decline when the level of holiness among priests falls below that of the people!" ~ Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen #Saints #Quotes

"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man." ~ St. John Vianney #Saints #Quotes

"At the sight of a church tower, you may say, 'What is there in that place?' 'The Body of Our Lord.' 'Why is He there?' 'Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass.'" ~ St. John Marie Vianney #Saints #Quotes

"Behind each priest, there is a demon fighting for his fall. If we have the language to criticize them, we must have twice as much to pray for them." ~St. Teresa of Avila #Saints #Quotes

"The door to heaven is the heart of Jesus. The key to this door is prayer and love." ~ Saint Andrew Bessette

"Only a poor priest, one who can endure hardship can labor here. His duties call him far and near... he leads a wandering life. There is no pleasure, except the care of souls." ~ St. John Neumann

"Our Lord Himself I saw in this venerable Sacrament ... I felt as if my chains fell, as those of St. Peter at the touch of the Divine messenger. My God, what new scenes for my soul!" ~ St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

"One saintly priest attracts more souls to Christ... than do those who lack the imprint of their sacred office." ~ Dietrich von Hildebrand #Saints #Quotes

"In doing our work we can expect to find insults, crosses and failures. That is the way in which we are tried, and through these crosses we will gain many blessings from God." ~ Servant of God Fr. Emil Kapaun #Saints #Quotes

"Pray much for priests because we need holy priests. The holier the priests are the more holy we religious will be. Then too, the more holy will be the families who are longing for God. If we have holy families we will have many holy vocations." ~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta #Saints #Quotes

"Support your priests with your love and prayers, that they may always be shepherds after Christ's heart." ~ Pope Francis #Saints #Quotes

"You are priests and religious; you are not social or political leaders or officials of a temporal power. For this reason I repeat to you "Let us not be under the illusion that we are serving the Gospel if we 'dilute' our charism through an exaggerated interest in the wide field of temporal problems." " ~ Pope Saint John Paul II

"If a priest is determined not to lose his soul, so soon as any disorder arises in the parish he must trample under foot all human considerations as well as the fear of the contempt and hatred of his people. He must not allow anything to bar his way in the discharge of duty, even where he is certain of being murdered on coming down from the pulpit. A pastor who wants to do his duty must keep his sword in hand at all times." ~ St. John Marie Vianney

"Priests have received from God a power that he has given neither to angels nor to archangels... God above confirms what priests do here below." ~ St. John Chrysostom

“When you see the Lord immolated and lying upon the altar, and the priest bent over that sacrifice praying, and all the people empurpled by that precious blood, can you think that you are still among men and on earth? Or are you not lifted up to Heaven?” ~ St. John Chrysostom

"There were only two classes of people who heard the cry Christmas night: shepherds and wise men. Shepherds: those who know they know nothing. Wise men: those who know they do not know everything. Only the very simple and very learned discovered God -- never the man with one book." ~ Ven. Arch. Fulton Sheen

"There were only a few shepherds at the first Bethlehem. The ox and the donkey understood more of the first Christmas than the high priests in Jerusalem. And it is the same today." ~ Thomas Merton #Saints #Quotes

"The priest is not a priest for himself - he is for you. After God, the priest is everything." ~ St. John Marie Vianney

"It is necessary to pray for priests because they are so often forgotten by the living, since Christians often consider that priests do not need prayers." ~St. Joseph Moscatti #Saints #Quotes

"The priesthood is the most interesting of adventures and the most necessary for the world." ~ Pope Benedict XVI #Saints #Quotes

"Our life of faith most often walks in the night. The more faith has to confront trials, the stronger it becomes. Nights of faith always end with finding the little light of God." ~ Robert Cardinal Sarah

"If the parish priest is a Saint, his people will be holy; If the priest is holy, but not yet a Saint, his people will be good; If he is good, his people will be lukewarm, and if he is lukewarm, his parishioners will be bad. And if the priest himself is bad, his people will go to Hell." ~ St. John of Vianney #Saints #Quotes

"For the priestly office is indeed discharged on earth, but it ranks among heavenly ordinances; and very naturally so: for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself, instituted this vocation, and persuaded men while still abiding in the flesh to represent the ministry of angels." ~ St. John Chrysostom #Saints #Quotes

"O, how great is the priest!” If he realized what he is, he would die." ~ St. John Mary Vianney #Saints #Quotes

"How great is the dignity of the priesthood! What a dignity, what a dignity!... To be a priest! What does that mean? O God, my God, I don't understand it! What does it mean to present the Holy, bloodless sacrifice and to administer the sacraments! ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

"Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious." ~ Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

"What tongue, human or angelic, may ever describe a power so immeasurable as that exercised by the simplest priest in Mass? Who could ever have imagined that the voice of man, which by nature hath not the power even to raise a straw from the ground, should obtain through grace a power so stupendous as to bring from Heaven to earth the Son of God?" ~ St. Leonard of Port Maurice #Saints #Quotes

"I asked [Guadalupe] for the world, for peace, so many things. I asked forgiveness, I asked that the Church grows healthy, I asked for the Mexican people. And another thing I asked a lot for: that priests be true priests, and sisters true sisters, and bishops true bishops. As the Lord wants." ~ Pope Francis #Saints #Quotes

"The priest is not a mere office-holder, like those which every society needs in order to carry out certain functions. Instead, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ’s name he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life." ~ Pope Benedict XVI #Saints #Quotes

"If priests sin, all the people are led to sin. Hence every one must render an account of his own sins; but the priests are also responsible for the sins of others." ~St. John Chrysostom #Saints #Quotes

"Blessed Juan Diego, a good, Christian Indian, whom simple people have always considered a saint! We ask you to accompany the Church on her pilgrimage in Mexico, so that she may be more evangelizing and more missionary each day. Encourage the Bishops, support the priests, inspire new and holy vocations, help all those who give their lives to the cause of Christ and the spread of his Kingdom." ~ Pope St. John Paul II #Saints #Quotes

"Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata who is queen even of God's heart." ~ St. Maximilian Kolbe

Let us take refuge like deer beside the fountain of waters. Let our soul thirst, as David thirsted, for the fountain. What is that fountain? Listen to David – With you is the fountain of life. Let my soul say to this fountain, When shall I come and see You face to face? For the fountain is God Himself. ~ St. Ambrose

"The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic Gods giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves." ~ St. Nicholas of Myra

"A holy priest is a saviour and another Christ, taking the Master’s place on earth, representing Him, clothed with His authority, acting in His name, adorned with His qualifications, exercising His judgment on earth in the tribunal of penance." ~St. John Eudes #Saints #Quotes

"Thank you for working to strengthen the bonds of fraternity and friendship with your brother priests and your bishop, providing one another with support and encouragement, caring for those who are ill, seeking out those who keep apart, visiting the elderly and drawing from their wisdom, sharing with one another and learning to laugh and cry together". ~ Pope Francis #Saints #Quotes

"Show no degree of irresolution as though you wavered betwixt the world and Christ. Remember that you can not covet popular approbation without betraying your ministry." ~Saint Francis Xavier

"The end for which God has instituted the priesthood has been to appoint on earth public persons to watch over the honor of his divine majesty, and to procure the salvation of souls." ~ St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori #Saints #Quotes

"Without priests, we have no Jesus. Without priests, we have no absolution. Without priests, we cannot receive Holy Communion." ~Mother Teresa of Calcutta #Saints #Quotes

"As the shepherd, so the sheep; as the priest, so the people. Priest-victim leadership begets a holy Church. Every worldly priest hinders the growth of the Church; every saintly priest promotes it. If only all priests realized how their holiness makes the Church holy and how the Church begins to decline when the level of holiness among priests falls below that of the people!" ~ Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen #Saints #Quotes

"We should understand the authority of the priest, and respect him for his function, and be grateful. The power he possesses by virtue of his ordination does the work, not he." ~ Servant of God Dorothy Day

"The soul without grace is a withered tree that can no longer produce fruit; but receiving the Divine grace, through the ministry of a priest, it brings forth fruits of eternal life." ~St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori #Saints #Quotes

"This audacity of God who entrusts himself to human beings – who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in his stead – this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word 'priesthood'." ~Pope Benedict XVI #Saints #Quotes

"Men whose strength is in prayer are unsinkable." ~ Cardinal Robert Sarah #Saints #Quotes

"Love transforms one into what one loves." ~ St. Catherine of Siena