Monthly calendar helps people develop ongoing prayers for men who answer God’s call.
Anna Maria Dias calls herself a “prayer warrior” and welcomes others to join her.
For the past 10 years, she has designed prayer calendars which includes the names of priests of the Archdiocese of Hartford. In addition, she designs a separate calendar each month for the deacons of the archdiocese. The calendars are distributed through email.
“I never heard of anyone saying they pray for priests,” Dias says. “The thought of praying for priests was foreign to me.”
The goal of the calendars, she says, is to keep the ministry of the priesthood and diaconate in everyone’s heart and mind. “They see the struggles and everything the people deal with every day,” Dias says. “It’s a lot of burden to carry.”
For the priest’s calendar, a different name is printed in a square for each day of the month, with two squares always devoted to Pope Francis and Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne.
Dias became interested in praying for priests after learning about the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, a contemplative community in Tennessee which prays for priests and promotes the glory of God.
In 2012, Dias became an Oblate of the Precious Blood in 2012. She heard about a prayer calendar for priests in other dioceses and went to work right away to design one for the Diocese of Springfield, Mass., where she resides and prays.
After some Connecticut parishioners heard about the Springfield prayer calendar, they contacted Dias and asked if she could produce one for priests within the Archdiocese of Hartford. She began the local calendar here in 2015. Shortly afterward, a calendar for deacons followed.
At the top of the calendar each month, Dias prints a prayer which expresses gratitude to God for priests who have answered the call to ministry. The February prayer reads:
“We thank you God, our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry. Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love, lead them to new powerful consolation of the Holy Spirit. Increase their profound faith in the sacraments they administer. Grant that your priests may inspire us to strive for holiness by their good example. Heavenly Father, guard your tender care upon these chosen ones, so dear to your infinitely considerate heart.”
A message from Father Gerald Fitzgerald, who founded the community of Handmaids of the Precious Blood in 1947, is also included on the bottom of the calendar.
His current message is: “Be not afraid! When the brief moment of your life is over, the great high priest will come to you and let you take your place in his heart; for what you did for his priests was done for him.”
Father Anthony Federico, director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Hartford, receives the priest calendar each month. “It’s a beautiful gesture to take ownership of promoting vocations in the Church,” he says.
The Archdiocese of Hartford, he adds, is seeing an increase in vocations through several efforts including parish vocations committees, praying the Prayer for Priestly Vocations, parish holy hours and rosaries, the St. John Vianney Vocation Prayer Society and the priestly prayer calendar.
Dias says is looking for more prayer warriors. “The more prayers warriors, the better,” she adds.
To be placed on the distribution list for the monthly prayer calendars for priests and deacons, email Dias at faithfirst@1791.com.
“Doing the calendar gives me peace to know I’m trying to help the priests with prayers,” she says. “It keeps my mind focused.”
Download the February calendars at archdioceseofhartford.org/catholictranscript.
Story by Karen A. Avitabile
Catholic Transcript