Welcome to the Foundation of Prayer For Priests
Thank you for the opportunity to introduce ourselves.

Our Mission

The mission of the Foundation of Prayer for Priests is to spiritually advance and protect the holiness and fruitfulness of the ministerial Priesthood by forming a global family of intercessors dedicated to prayer, sacrifice, service, and study. Rooted in the Church’s Eucharistic life, our members affirm the indispensability of priests, and our need to see Jesus in them (cf. Jn 12:21).

Who We Are

The Foundation of Prayer for Priests is a private association of the faithful founded in 2013 with explicit support from the then Prefect of Rome’s Dicastery for the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza.

Our ministry is a response to the 2012 initiative of the Dicastery for the Clergy that calls for an international movement of continuous Eucharistic adoration and spiritual maternity (and later, spiritual paternity) for the sanctification of priests.

The Foundation of Prayer for Priests is a ministry at the service of the ministerial priesthood wherein the laity are formed to draw special, needed graces upon priests.

Praying for priests is a divine mandate, the duty and privilege of the lay faithful. The art of intercessory prayer for priests has spiritual depths only discovered in union with the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Mother.

A work of the Holy Spirit and Mary this initiative has spread to thirteen countries. Our international family includes men, women, families, parishes, and dioceses who generously work and pray for the sanctification of priests.

Our Vision

The vision of the Foundation of Prayer for Priests derives from the Church’s vision for increasing continuous prayer and sacrifice specifically for priestly holiness.

This vision is vital since, as St. John Vianney wrote, “When people want to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest.” Priests serve on the frontlines of the perennial spiritual battle for souls. Priests rightly count on the prayers of their people.

We take to heart the words of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, “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. Every slightest failing on our part brings the community under the judgment of God. Every least increase of priestly virtue brings it blessing. It is true: holy Christians guarantee holy priests. If we desire holy priests, we also should mirror holiness for them” (The Priest Is Not His Own, Ignatius Press, 2005, 76-77).

Our Four Pillars

• PRAYER. Members are very intentional about praying for priests in a variety of ways including, private and public Eucharistic holy hours. The holy Rosary is prayed by individuals, families, and prayer groups gathered in homes, or church. Devotions such the Divine Mercy chaplet and consecration to Mary are also prayed.

• SACRIFICE - Members “offer up” personal suffering, fast in some form, give alms; and love sacrificially.

• SERVICE - Spiritual mothers and fathers of priests may graciously offer to support their priest in a variety of ways as needed.

• STUDY - Members have access to formation programs in areas such as the spiritual life, priesthood, intercessory prayer, spiritual warfare, and building Eucharistic hearts and homes.

Our programs include but are not limited to:

• The personal or communal offering of Eucharistic holy hours.

• Praying the Rosary for the protection, fruitfulness and sanctity of priests and for vocations.

• The formation of family, parish, or diocesan prayer groups called “FPP Vianney Cenacles”.

• An Adopt-A-Priest program in which individuals, or families, parishes or dioceses assign intercessors for each priest, including missionaries and retired clergy.

• Formation on the vocation to spiritual motherhood and fatherhood for priests.

• Catechesis on the interior life of prayer for the clergy and laity.

• Retreats and conferences for the clergy and laity.

A Movement Rooted in the Eucharist

No Priest. No Eucharist. In accord with the Vatican’s initiative, our members pray Eucharistic holy hours and attend Mass faithfully.

Aware of the spiritual attacks against priests and the Eucharist, prayers are offered for the protection of the Eucharist and the priests who make Jesus present therein.

“The devil knows that every Mass gives immeasurable glory to the Divine Majesty, which he hates. So, he does everything in his power to seduce priests in his camp so they will not offer Mass, or offer it less often, or less devoutly; anything to prevent God from being given the glory and souls from receiving the graces that flow from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,” wrote Servant of God Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

Your Role

Are you ready to deepen your relationship with Jesus as an intercessor for His priests? We pray that the many resources on this website will inspire you to join our family of prayer warriors.

Please watch our 2024 Foundation of Prayer for Priests promotional video.

Inspiration

The FPP Handbook of Prayers and Formation

History has taught us the power of intercessory prayer, and nobody is in more need of our prayers than Catholic priests battling on the front lines for the salvation of souls. Priests are called to fight evil, but they cannot fight it alone. As attacks on the priesthood intensify, you have a vital role to play in supporting priestly renewal and vocations. Those men who have answered God’s calling depend upon you to wield the most powerful weapon against the evil one — prayer.

Here Ignatian certified retreat director and author Kathleen Beckman offers Church-approved ways in which you can contribute to the welfare of the Church. Priests, seminarians, consecrated religious, and laypeople will all benefit from insights into the indispensability of the Catholic priesthood, the mission of praying for priests in the context of the New Evangelization, testimonies of spiritual mothers and priests, and Scriptural rosaries dedicated to priests, vocations, and reparation.

The "Praying for Priests" book includes

Chapter of Prayers, Devotions, Spiritual Practices
Lectio Divina closes each chapter
The Ars Model: Priests, Warfare, Victory
The Urgency for the Salvation of Souls
Holy Orders: Necessity, Beauty, Challenge
Priests Affect Our Growth in Holiness
Mary, Priests, and Spiritual Motherhood
The Role of the Laity
The Church’s Vision
Rosary Reflections, Stations of the Cross, Litanies of Reparation
Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat

For Priests and Laity

The Litany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim is a profound and compelling prayer that opens the path to encountering Christ in a meaningful and transformative manner. While this is a litany prayer for Priests, it is also meant for people serving in parish ministries and the laity. Through baptism and confirmation, all of Christ’s followers are asked and tasked to be priests, prophets and kings. Saint John Paul II prayed this prayer in Latin when he was a seminarian and kept praying it in Latin. It's mentioned in Pope John Paul II's Spiritual Diaries.

Please view this video by clicking the St. John Paul II photo above.
You can also download the full-text PDF version of The Litany of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Contact the Foundation of Prayer for Priests

Please email us at info@foundationforpriests.org

or
Fill out the form below.
Thank you.

Postal Address

Foundation of Prayer for Priests
P.O. Box 18641
Anaheim, California 91817
U.S.A.