Sunday, April 13 is the 45th Annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life.

Click to read Pope Benedict XVI's Message for this occasion. 

We encourage you to pray with the Church for this important intention, and not just on this one day!

Lord, We Pray:

* For all women who feel the call to religious life, that they will find the community God is leading them to find;

* For all families of religious sisters, that they would support and cherish the great gift of a religious vocation, and receive the religious order as part of their extended family;

* For parishes, that through their parish life and ministries, all Catholics might encourage and support women exploring religious life;

* For priests, bishops and cardinals, that they would encourage women to service in the Church by their examples of humble servanthood, thus deepening a culture of vocation within the Catholic community;

* For religious communities, that they may stay faithful to their particular charisms and be blessed with women to carry on their work in the Lord’s vineyard;

* That in the spirit of Edith Stein, who gave up success in the world for the  Cloister of Carmel, women of accomplishment may not be afraid to find a new life in the generosity of God;

* That, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that the world would find in the lives of religious women the seeds of the joy of transformation in Christ, that the Kingdom is indeed within our midst.

Amen