I was delighted to learn that a young man of our acquaintance has put himself forward as a candidate for the Priesthood. He is assured of my prayers and Masses will be offered this coming year for our seminarians, for vocations along with those for the propagation of the Faith . I have met several of our seminarians over recent months and couldn't wish to meet a greater group of dedicated and well balanced men.
I understand that my old friend from University days at Manchester, Rev Mr M. McCarthy FSSP will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood next year. When times were very much more desperate we attended Mass together in some odd places and met some equally odd people just to hear those sacred words and witness those sacred actions. (I was probably odder than most!)
A consecrated Bishop will lay hands on and anoint Rev. McCarthy who will then be able to administer the Sacraments
At Confession tonight when my confessor gave me absolution, the only part of him I saw was his hand through the grill.
Reflecting on the advice I had received on the way home, I suddenly recalled the words of a little devotional leaflet I discovered in my great grandmother's missal, now long gone.
Two minutes of googling helped me find the words contained on this leaflet ...
The Beautiful Hands of a Priest.
We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek it while tasting life's woes.
When we come to this world we are sinful,
The greatest as well as the least.
And the hands that make us pure as angels
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.
At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness
Their dignity stands alone.
For there in the stillness of morning
Ere the sun has emerged from the east,
There God rests between the pure fingers
Of the beautiful hands of a priest.
When we are tempted and wander
To pathways of shame and sin
'Tis the hand of a priest that absolve us.
Not once but again and again.
And when we are taking life's partner
Other hands may prepare us a feast
But the hands that will bless and unite us,
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress,
What can a poor sinner do better
Than to ask Him who chose them to bless
When the death dews on our lids are falling,
May our courage and strength be increased
By seeing raised o'er us in blessing
The beautiful hands of a priest.
Deo gratias!
