PRAYERS FOR GOOD HUMOUR AND FOR PRIESTS

Because 22nd June falls on a Sunday this year, the feast day of St Thomas More is not celebrated. However, below is a prayer by St Thomas More for the gift of good humour - something he himself had in spades.

Below again is a prayer for priests by St Therese of Lisieux to mark the World Day of Prayer for Priests on 27th June, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

'Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest. Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it. Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil, but rather finds the means to put things back in their place. Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.” Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor. Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others. Amen.'

'O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep all Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart where none may harm them. Keep unstained their anointed hands which daily touch Thy Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips purpled with Thy Precious Blood. Keep pure and unearthly their hearts sealed with the sublime marks of Thy glorious priesthood. Let Thy holy love surround them and shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they have ministered be here below their joy and consolation and in Heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown. Amen.

O Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us;

obtain for us a number of holy priests.