Do visit Jane Mossendew's wonderful new blog here:
Jane calls it a "blog created in response to Pope Benedict's institution of the Sacerdotal Year 2009-10 and which aims to spread knowledge of the vocation of a spiritual mother and to encourage women to consider embracing it." The new blog could be an effective "meeting place" for spiritual mothers of priests from around the world.
Answering Your Questions
I have been receiving so many requests concerning the call to spiritual motherhood for priests that I am unable to answer them all in a timely fashion. For the moment I am still alone, following the monastic horarium and devoting the greater part of the day to Holy Mass, the Divine Office, and Eucharistic Adoration. After prayer, I must give priority to welcoming the priests, deacons, and deacon candidates who come seeking spiritual support. The promotion of spiritual motherhood is intrinsically related to my work here in Tulsa but, not having a secretary to assist with the correspondence that comes in almost daily from women all over the country, many requests remain in the "to do" pile. I apologize for this.
The Prayer Book
With regard to the promised book of prayers for the Spiritual Mothers of Priests, I will announce its publication here on Vultus Christi as soon as it becomes available. I am still working on the final revisions of the text and on some additional content.
Indispensable Reading
In the meantime, I thank you for your patience and recommend that you read the 2007 letter from the Congregation for the Clergy entitled Adoration, Reparation, and Spiritual Motherhood for Priests here, and the equally important letter to bishops that accompanied it here.
I composed this Morning Offering for Priests for the Prayerbook for the Spiritual Mothers of Priests that I am preparing for publication.
Father most holy,
I offer You the prayers, works,
joys, and sufferings of this day
by placing them in the holy and venerable hands
of Jesus, the Eternal High Priest,
and by saying, as He did upon entering the world,
"Behold, I come to do Your will" (Hebrews 10:9).
For the sake of all His priests,
and in particular for Fathers N. and N.,
I entreat Your beloved Son to unite my offering
to the Sacrifice of the Cross,
renewed upon the altars of Your Church
from the rising of the sun to its setting (Malachy 1:11).
Most merciful Father,
look upon these men chosen by Your Son
to show forth His death until He comes (1 Cor 11:26);
keep them from the Evil One (John 17:15)
and sanctify them in the truth (John 17:17).
Bind them by a most tender love
to the Virgin Mary, their Mother
that, by her intercession,
they may be overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35)
in every act of their sacred ministry;
thus may their priesthood reveal
the Face of Jesus and the merciful love of His Heart,
for the fruitfulness of His spouse, the Church.
and the praise of Your glory. Amen.
His Excellency, Bishop Edward J. Slattery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma has given
Father Mark a special mandate to live under the Rule of Saint Benedict in adoration before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus, offering thanksgiving, intercession, and reparation for all his
brothers in Holy Orders. In this way, Father is preparing the foundation of the new Diocesan Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle. Father Mark is available to the
priests and deacons of the Diocese for spiritual and sacramental support in their pursuit of holiness. He is also charged with the spiritual formation of women who desire to dedicate themselves to spiritual motherhood in favour of priests.
