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An Explanation of a Timely Practice

for the Sanctification of Priests and

Candidates for the Priesthood.

FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES

by

Winfrid Herbs t, S. D. S.

Published by

THE SALVATORIAN FATHERS

St. Nazianz, Wisconsin

1938



PRIEST’S SATURDAY

Divine Savior, Sanctify Thy Priests

!

To Our Catholic People:

Listen to what our Holy Father, Pope Pius

XI, says:

“God in heaven and I on earth, we desire
nothing more ardently than prayer and sacri-

fice for priests . . . Let us beg God that He may

give us holy priests! If we have this, all else

will follow; but if this be wanting, all else will

avail nothing.” It was from this trend of

thought that the idea of the “Priest’s Saturday”

took its origin, which idea the Superior General

of the Salvatorian Fathers placed before the

Holy Father in special private audience on

November zi, 1934. His Holiness was much

pleased with the plan and said, in conclusion:

“We heartily praise and Bless the work ....
We repeat, the thing pleases Us, We praise and
bless it heartily.”—What is this plan?

The Priest’s Saturday

It is something quite simple and easy, yet

immeasurably great in its results. You should

make it a point to offer the Saturday after the

First Friday of each month to your Savior,

through the hands of Mary, the great mediatrix

of all graces, for the sanctification of all the

priests and students for the priesthood through-

out the whole world. For this purpose you

should give the Saturday wholly and entirely

to Him, that is to say, Holy Mass, Holy Com-

munion, all prayers, labors, sacrifices, joys, and

—2—



sorrows. Whatever you cannot do on this day

(Holy Mass and Holy Communion) you ought

to supply immediately on Sunday. So there is

really nothing new for you to do. You merely

offer up this Saturday (or even every Saturday)

for the sanctification of priests. It is not a

case of any sodality or fraternity or anything

like that. Like the First Friday in honor of

the Sacred Heart, the Priest’s Saturday seeks to

become something religiously observed by all

the Catholics of the world.

As the Holy Father, so also bishops and

priests have greeted the Priest’s Saturday with

joy, have blessed it, and have recommended

it to all. Bishop Dr. Nicholas Bares of Berlin,

from whose diocese the Priest’s Saturday

went out into the world, said: “It is with

great joy that I welcome this saving thought

of the Priest’s Saturday. If a holy priest is

the gift of heaven to earth, then the efforts of

the faithful, through prayer and sacrifice, for

holy priests will be the fairest gift of earth to

heaven . . . Therefore I wholeheartedly recom-

mend and bless this work.’’

Concern about the holiness of priests is the

concern of the Heart of the Divine Savior and

of His Blessed Mother. Therefore, you also

should be sure to take part in this “apostolate

to the apostles.’’ The Holy Father, all bishops,

all priests, all students for the priesthood, and

especially also your own pastor, earnestly beg
of you thus to participate.

Remarks

i. The Priest’s Saturday brings about an

intimate union between priests and people.

Surely the people will welcome with great joy

—3—



the opportunity thus given to co-operate, by

prayer and sacrifice, with the priest in all the

work that he does for the parish. They will

thus merit to have, and will efficaciously make,

zealous and holy priests. Experience shows

that also the children easily understand the

Priest’s Saturday and enter with joy upon this

apostolate.

z. Especially the sick, the convalescent, and

the bodily disabled, who are often so deeply
pious and abounding in virtue, will find Priest’s

Saturday a great and apostolic field of holy

endeavor and their lonely days will take on a

new and profound significance as they realize

that a marvelous life-work lies open before

them. Such unselfish and holy effort in behalf

of priests, such prayers and sacrifices, will yield

most glorious fruits and the world will soon

feel the blessed influence of the Priest’s Saturday.

3. New vocations to the priesthood will be
aroused and fostered, and surely in many a

woman’s soul, as she prays and sacrifices for

the sanctification of priests, the hidden wish

will be felt: “Oh, if I myself might become the

mother of a priest!’’

4. God grant that all take part in this great

“apostolate to the apostles’’! Surely it is a

thing most pleasing to God and most fruitful

in blessings here upon earth, even as it redounds

to the salvation of countless souls. Spread

this idea wherever and whenever you can. Be

a promoter. Get others to spread and promote

it. Remember that concern for the sanctifica-

tion of priests is most dear to the Sacred Heart

of the Divine Savior and to the Sweet Heart of

His Blessed Mother. It is their concern.



Offering to be Made of the

Priest’s Saturday

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Who hast en-
trusted the whole work of Thy redemption,

the welfare and salvation of the world, to

priests as Thy representatives, through the

hands of Thy most holy Mother and for the

sanctification of Thy priests and candidates for

the priesthood I offer thee this present day

wholly and entirely, with all its prayers, works,

joys, sacrifices, and sorrows.

Give us truly holy priests who, inflamed with

the fire of Thy divine love, seek nothing but

Thy greater glory and the salvation of our souls.

And thou, Mary, good Mother of priests,

protect all priests in the dangers of their holy

vocation and with the loving hand of a Mother,

also lead back to the Good Shepherd those

poor priests who have become unfaithful to
their exalted vocation and have gone astray.

Amen.

In addition to the above make it a -point also to

recite frequently the following:

Prayer for My Pastor and for

All Priests

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Who hast en-
trusted the weal and woe of Thy Holy Church

to priests, with all the fervor of my heart I
recommend to Thee the wants of my pastor
and all priests. Enrich them more and more

with true priestly sanctity! Give them gener-

ous, all-embracing, apostolic hearts, full of

love for Thee and for all Thy souls, so that

they, being themselves sanctified in Thee may

sanctify us who are confided to their care and



may lead us safely to heaven. Bestow upon

them in rich abundance all Thy priestly graces!

Let them ever give us a glowing example of

love and fidelity towards Holy Mother Church,

towards the Pope and bishops, and grant that

by word and example they may shine as models

of every virtue.

Most loving Jesus, bless all their priestly

labors and sacrifices! Bless all their prayers

and words at the altar and in the confessional,

in the pulpit, and in school, in confraternities

and at the bedside of the sick! Protect and

preserve them in all dangers from withrn and

from without!

Divine Savior, give to Thy Church priests

who abound in true holiness! Call many good

boys and young men to the priestly and re-

ligious state! Aid and sanctify all those who
are to become Thy priests. — And to the souls
of departed priests grant everlasting rest!

But to me give a true spirit of faith and

humble obedience, in order that in my pastor
I may ever behold the representative of God and

willingly follow all his teachings! Amen.

/One who recites any ecclesiastically ap-
proved prayer for vocations to the priestly

and religious state can gain an indulgence of

7 years and 7 quarantines; and once a month,

if the prayer is said every day, a plenary in-

dulgence under the usual conditions.—Pius

X, Oct. 27 and Nov. 9, 1907./

—6—



FATHER GENERAL ON THE AIR

Regarding Priest’s Saturday

On July 14, 1936, the Most Rev. Pancratius

Pfeiffer, Superior General of the Society of the

Divine Savior, gave an address on Priest’s

Saturday over the Vatican Radio Station, Vati-

can City, Italy. He spoke as follows:

Some time ago the Holy Father, Pope Pius

XI, in a discourse delivered by him, gave utter-

ance to the following striking words: “Let us

beg God that He give us holy priests! If we

have this, all else will follow; but if this be

wanting, all else will avail nothing.” The

realm of things religious is here meant. The

Holy Father spoke the above-mentioned words

with great emphasis,—a sign of what im-
portance he attached to them. Furthermore,

we know from the Gospel how at the Last

Supper the Savior Himself prayed for His

Apostles: “Father, sanctify them in truth!”

In a similar way does the Catholic Church pray

in her liturgy: Ut Deo ab omnibus gradibus

fideliter serviatur—that God may be faithfully
served by all the degrees (of the hierarchy).

Two years ago a certain pious practice came
into being. It consists in this, that prayers be

offered in a special way for the sanctification

of priests and candidates for the priesthood

throughout the Catholic world. This is done

in the following way. All who engage to
practice this devotion, every month on a fixed

day offer up through the hands of the Mother

of God, for priests and candidates for the

priesthood throughout the Catholic world,

Holy Mass and Communion as well as all the

prayers and good works performed during that

—7 -



day; and this they do that God may sanctify

them, so that they may be or may become

priests after His own Heart. This pious practice

was started by the Society of the Divine Savior,

whose members, called Salvatorians, make it

their task everywheie to preach Christ the

Savior, in order that the human race redeemed

by Him may find in Him its temporal and eternal
happiness. The Founder of this religious

Congregation was the German priest Francis

Mary of the Cross Jordan, who was born in

1848 at Gurtweil in Baden and died in the odor

of sanctity at Tafers in Switzerland in 1918.

The pious practice mentioned was joyfully

received by priests and people. About a year

after it had started it already numbered nearly

three million adherents. Over two hundred

bishops of various countries and parts of the

world welcomed the practice and praised it as

a means of obtaining from the good God the

holiness of priests and candidates for the

priesthood through united prayer and of ever

more closely binding priests and people together

in one common endeavor. The spread of the

devotion was made considerably easier inasmuch

as it is not a case of a confraternity or a society

but solely of a pious practice that requires

neither a formal reception nor a registering of

names nor annual dues. It is a practice of a

purely religious character, which requires

nothing more than prayer for the sanctification

of priests and candidates for the priesthood,

and that in accord with the prayer of the Savior

at the Last Supper: “Holy Father, keep them

in Thy name whom Thou hast given Me; that
they may be one, as We also are. I have given
them Thy word, and the world hath hated

—8 -



them, because they are not of the world. I

pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of

the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them

from evil. Sanctify them in truth.”

Catholic people, everywhere, who know the

value of the priesthood and of the good priest

and who also know full well what power there

is in trustful prayer in common, rightly ap-

preciated the importance of the devotion. This

is the explanation of the remarkable fact that

in less than two years four million Catholics in

various countries and nations have made their own

the -pious practice and that the prayer of offering is

already said in more than fifteen languages , even in

Chinese and Arabic. All pray in the same way

in their own tongue: Father, sanctify them!

Grant that they may be one!

The Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, to whom
the Superior General of the Society of the Di-

vine Savior made a report on this pious practice

in the year 1934, spoke words of gracious

acknowledgment. “We heartily praise and
bless the work,” said His Holiness. “We re-
peat: the thing pleases Us, We praise and
bless it heartily.” In the following year, 1935,

the Holy Father, in the same spirit and with

the same benevolence, bestowed the Apostolic

Benediction, and that through a special docu-

ment of His Eminence Cardinal Pacelli, Papal

Secretary of State, with the wish “that this

timely practice for priests and the souls entrusted

to them may be a source of abundant graces.”

As regards the choice of the day on which to

practice this devotion, the Saturday after the

first Friday of each month was at first chosen.

The special reason for this was because on the

First Friday many of the faithful go to the

—9—



Sacraments; and so the reception of the Sacra-

ments or of Holy Communion on the day im-

mediately following does not place any great

additional burden on the priests who hear con-
fessions. It seemed well to take this circum-

stance into consideration in countries where

there is a scarcity of priests. From the choice

of Saturday came the name Priest’s Saturday.

Under this name the pious practice is known,

for instance, universally in Germany, in Austria,

and in Switzerland. (Editor’s note: And in

the United States.) In numerous dioceses it is

held as a congregational devotion by ordinance of the

respective bishops.

When in 1935 the very important Papal En-
cyclical Letter on the Catholic Priesthood ap-

peared with the added new votive Mass to

honor Jesus Christ, Supreme and Eternal Priest,

in which Encyclical the Holy Father empha-

sizes so strongly and desires so ardently the

holiness of priests, the wish was expressed that

the pious practice of Priest’s Saturday might be

brought into connection with the above-

mentioned Encyclical and votive Mass. Be-

cause Thursday was chosen for the votive Mass

the desire manifested itself here and there, also

in high ecclesiastical circles, that, instead of

Saturday, Thursday should be chosen. The

Holy Father, asked about the matter, approved

of the thought that Thursday be preferred in

connection with the votive Mass; yet those

who for certain reasons, such as those indicated

above, e. g., easier reception of the Sacraments,

retain the Saturday are not to be hindered.

Moreover, His Holiness decreed that if with

the permission of the Most Reverend Bishop of

the place prayers in common are said in a church

—10—



or chapel for the sanctification of priests on the

first Thursday or Saturday of the month, a

votive Mass to honor Jesus Christ, Supreme and

Eternal Priest, may be read, also then when the

rite of the day does not otherwise permit a

votive Mass. The Decree of the Sacred Congre-

gation of Rites regarding this matter was

published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis under date

of June 30, 1936, and will be brought to the

attention of the faithful in detail in the diocesan

papers. As has been said, the choice of the

day is left to the Most Reverend Bishops. In

Latin countries the Thursday will probably be

preferred. Thus in Italy we have “La Giornata

Sacerdotale,” in Spain “Ei Jueves Sacerdotal,”

in France it may be “La Journee Sacerdotale.”

In England, too, at the wish of His Excellency

the Most Reverend Archbishop Hinsley of

Westminster, Thursday was chosen and received

the name of Priest’s Thursday. All who take

to heart the practice and spread of the devotion

are guided by these sentiments of our Holy

Father, Pope Pius XI: “Let us beg God that

He may give us holy priests! If we have this,

ail else will follow; but if this be wanting, all

else will avail nothing.” And all likewise see

that this pious practice is most timely. The

priest must be able to fulfil his arduous duties

also in our own day and in all lands, and he will

be able to do so if he is a priest after the Heart

of God. To such a one apply the words: “Say

not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that

I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall com-

mand thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of

their presence: for I am with thee.”—But even
more than through the power of his words will

the holy priest accomplish through the might

11—



of his good example. Be he friend or foe, deep

in his heart no one can help respecting such a

priest. Let us, therefore, pray with the Savior:

Sanctifica eos in veritate
—

“Sanctify them in

truth!”

INDULGENCES FOR PRIEST’S SATURDAY

The following official decree, which we have

translated from Latin into English, will be of

great interest to those who observe the pious
practice of Priest’s Saturday and to all pro-

moters thereof.

6698/’36

The Sacred Penitentiary Apostolic,

Office of Indulgences

Most Holy Father:

The Superior General of the Society of the

Divine Savior, prostrate at the feet of Your

Holiness, humbly submits the following. The

said Society began to promote the pious practice

of praying for the sanctification of the clergy,

namely, the devout custom of offering to God

on a fixed day every month Mass and Com-

munion as well as all the prayers of the same

day and all good works whatsoever for the

priests and levites of the Catholic Church. For

the attainment of more abundant spiritual fruits

from this pious practice, the petitioner earnestly

requests, in favor of the faithful who, either

privately or in common in some church or

oratory, perform the said pious exercise, the

Indulgences which follow, to be gained under

the usual conditions: i. Plenary on the first

Thursday or the first Saturday of each month,

on Holy Thursday, on the feast of the Blessed

—12—



Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and on

the feasts of the Holy Apostles; z. Partial of

seven years on other days of the year on which

the same pious practice is performed. He also

asks for a Partial Indulgence of three hundred days

to be gained by the faithful who with at least

a contrite heart and devoutly recite the invo-

cation: “Jesus, Savior of the world, sanctify

Thy priests and levites.”

Et Deus, etc.

December 15, 1936.

The Sacred Penitentiary Apostolic, in virtue

of faculties granted to it by His Holiness Pope

Pius XI, graciously grants in perpetuity the

favor requested in the petitions and that without

any issuance of Apostolic Letters in brief form.

Anything to the contrary notwithstanding in

the least.

De mandato Emi.

S. Rossi, Sectetarius S. Luzio Regens

Concerning the Votive Mass

Regarding the votive Mass of Christ, the

Supreme and Eternal Priest, to which reference

is made at the top of page 11 of this booklet,

the following is to be noted (Cf. A. A. S., Feb.

zo
y 1937, p. 35): i. Gloria and Credo are to

be said. z. When this Mass is impeded by a
feast of superior rite, namely by a double of the

first or second class, in place of the impeded

Mass one may make a commemoration of the
same under one conclusion with the first oration

of the feast, if a feast of our Lord Jesus Christ

or its Octave does not occur. 3. White color

is to be used.

—13—



A FRANCISCAN LOOKS AT

PRIEST’S SATURDAY

Read the following scholarly exposition of the

subject by Father Sebastian Erbacher, 0. F. M.

Holy priests are the most urgent need of the

hour. Opportunities for spiritual good are

more numerous today than ever before. The

world-wide economic and political unrest is

but the covering of a deep-seated hunger after

the higher things of life, of a yearning for the

lasting and satisfying values of the soul. Only

a whole-hearted return to God and His law, to

Christ and His Gospel, will bring universal

peace to the war-conscious nations of the earth.

Priests are the ministers of this Gospel, the

ambassadors of Christ, the interpreters of the

divine law to the people.

Pope Pius XI has written beautifully and

forcibly of the dignity, the power, the responsi-

bility of the Catholic priesthood in his en-

cyclical of December 2.0, 1935. Repeatedly the

Holy Father stresses the necessity of sanctity in

the priest. He tells us: “It is quite true that

so holy an office demands holiness in him who

holds it. A priest should have a loftiness of
spirit, a purity of heart and a sanctity of life

befitting the solemnity and holiness of the

office he holds. . . . The priest must, there-

fore, approach as close as possible to the per-

fection of Him whose vicar he is, and render

himself ever more and more pleasing to God,

by the sanctity of his life and of his deeds;

because more than the scent of incense, or the

beauty of churches and altars, God loves and

accepts holiness.’ * (The Catholic Mind , XXXIV
[February 8, 1936], pp 52.-53 .) Toward the

—“14"-



end of this letter the Holy Father says:
4

‘If,

however, your work is to be blessed by God

and produce abundant fruit, it must be rooted

in holiness of life. Sanctity, as We said above,
is the chief and most important endowment of

the Catholic priest. Without it other gifts

will not go far; with it, even supposing other

gifts be meager, the priest can work marvels.”

(Ibid., p. 76.)

Some time before he wrote his encyclical on

the Catholic priesthood Pope Pius XI is reported

to have said: ‘‘God in Heaven and I on earth,

we desire nothing more than prayer and sacri-

fice for priests .... Let us beg God to send
us holy priests. If we have these, everything

else will follow; but if these are wanting,

nothing else will help.” (Die Schildwache
, 2.3

[February i, 1935], p. 142..) Whenever the

Holy Father considers the welfare and the

needs of the Church at large he directs his

attention to priests and clerical students. He

wrote his letter on the priesthood as a mark of

his loving interest in priests and their work;

to assist the faithful to appreciate more fully

the sublimity of the sacerdotal office; ‘‘above

all, that those who are themselves called may
have still deeper understanding and esteem of

their vocation.” (The Catholic Mind, XXXIV
[February 8, 1936], p. 41.)

Priests are commissioned by Christ to be ‘‘the

salt of the earth” (Mt.,
5
:i3) and ‘‘the light of

the world” (ib.,
5
:i4). Next to God the salva-

tion of men depends upon them. As clerics they

have cast their lot with the Lord. Conse-

crated to the sole service of God, priests must

devote their whole life, all their talents and

energy, to the promotion of the glory of God

—15—



and the good of souls in that part of the vine-

yard of the Lord to which obedience has as-

signed them. Priests have not so much chosen

Christ, as Christ has chosen them. The Holy

Father’s letter calls attention to the definition

of the priest as given by St. Paul: “For every

high priest taken from among men, is ordained

for men in the things that appertain to God,

that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for

sins” (Hebr., 5:1). (Op. cit., p. 44.) These

“things that appertain to God” require the

various virtues mentioned by the Holy Father

in the second part of his letter.

By his very calling the priest is obliged to

lead a life of Christian perfection. This duty

has been instilled into his mind and heart

during his seminary days. On the day of his
ordination and on the day of his first solemn

Mass he was possessed by the strong desire to

become a holy priest of God. No matter how
far he may stray from the path of priestly per-

fection, he cannot efface from his conscience

the feeling of guilt because he is not striving

to be a saint.

The faithful know that the priest must be

holy. To them the “things that appertain to

God” are sacred and demand sanctity on the

part of the ministers to whose care they are

entrusted. They admire, they love, they obey

a saintly priest. The mere preaching of the

doctrines of Christ and the Church will not

bring about a more intimate relationship be-

tween the law of God and the individual

conscience of the people. Men and women

wish to see their religion lived first of all by

the priests who preach the faith. Like Jesus
who “began to do and to teach” (Acts, 1:1),

—

-

16—



His priests must make the Gospel of Christ

known and loved and lived first by example

then by word of mouth. Today as ever before

the power of the priest lies in his holiness of

life, and not in any other natural equipment or

personal achievement.

Although “ordained for men in the things

that appertain to God,” the priest is neverthe-

less “taken from among men.” He is frail and

subject to all the weaknesses of human nature

as the remainder of men. The priest is well

aware of this fact, and the good lay people

make due allowance for it. Religious priests

enjoy a greater degree of protection against the

distracting influences of the modern world than

the secular priests, who live in the very midst
of its corrupting atmosphere. All priests,

however, religious and secular, are in need of

the grace of God to persevere in their holy

vocation. For this reason the Holy Father

toward the end of his encyclical urges the

priests to be faithful to the “spiritual exercises”

and adds: “It is not enough to withdraw to

the sacred seclusion of the Spiritual Exercises

only at the intervals and in the exact measure

prescribed by ecclesiastical law but you should

enter into retreat more often and for longer

periods, as far as possible to you, and you

should consecrate, in addition, a day of each

month to more fervent prayer and greater recol-

lection, according to the practice of priests of

great zeal.” (Ib., p. 77.)

Priests need prayer. Before Jesus chose His

apostles He prayed. “And it came to pass in

those days, that he went out into a mountain

to pray, and he passed the whole night in the

prayer of God. And when day was come, he

17—



called unto him his disciples: and he chose

twelve of them (whom also he named
apostles).” (Luke, 6:13, 14.) How touching
are the words which Jesus addressed to Peter

after the last supper. “And the Lord said:

Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to

have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but

I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:

and thou, being once converted, confirm thy

brethren” (Luke, 22. -.31, 31). No doubt Peter
often recalled the words: “Simon, I have

prayed for thee.” What an inspiration and a

source of strength this assurance of the prayer

of Jesus must have been to the prince of the

Apostles. The priests of today are no less

fortunate. When Jesus prayed for the disciples
at the last supper He also prayed for them.

“I pray for them: I pray not for the world,

but for them whom thou hast given me : because
they are thine” (Jn., 18:9). Again Jesus said:

“Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom
thou hast given me; that they may be one, as

we also are” (ib.
,
v. 11).” It is holiness above

all that Jesus asks of His heavenly Father for

His disciples, for His priests: “I pray not that

thou shouldst take them out of the world, but

that thou shouldst keep them from evil. They

are not of the world, as I also am not of the

world. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is

truth. As thou hast sent me into the world,

I also have sent them into the world. And for

them do I sanctify myself, that they also may

be sanctified in truth” (Ib., vv. 13, 19).

Who, next to Jesus, was more interested in

the holiness of the apostles and the disciples of

Christ than His Blessed Mother Mary? St.

John concludes his gospel with these words:

—is—



“But there are also many other things which

Jesus did; which, if they were written every

one, the world itself, I think, would not be

able to contain the books that should be

written” (11:15). Is it too farfetched to be-

lieve that one of these unwritten things is

Christ’s recommendation of His disciples to

the constant prayer of Mary His Mother? Under

the cross of Jesus stood the mother of the Savior

and the disciple whom He loved. “He saith
to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After

that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy

mother. And from that hour, the disciple

took her to his own” (Jn,, 19:16, 17). What

a consolation the Mother of God must have

been to the apostles in their early struggles

against Judaism and Paganism; what a source

of courage and comfort the prayers of Mary

must have been in their sufferings and trials.

The “Queen of the Apostles” became the

“Regina Cleri,” the “Queen of the Clergy.”

The Holy Father pleads for true piety in the

priest :
‘

‘This piety should primarily be directed

towards God our Father in Heaven; yet it

should be extended also to the Mother of God.

The priest even more than the faithful should

have devotion to Our Lady, for the relation of

the priest to Christ is more deeply and truly

like that which Mary bears to her Divine

Son.” (The Catholic M.ind
,
XXXIV [February

8, 1936], p. 56.)

Mary, the Queen of the Clergy, has become

the center of a new movement to foster the

prayers of the faithful for the sanctification of

the priesthood. This movement is known as

Triest s Saturday. It originated in Germany,

has the approval of the Holy Father, and is

—19—



supported by the Bishops of Germany, Poland,

Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, France, Switzer-

land, and other countries. The first Saturday

of the month, following upon the first Friday,

is dedicated to the priesthood. The faithful

offer all their prayers and good works of the

entire day, their sacrifices, Masses, communions,

sufferings, and joys, through the pure hands of

Mary, the Mother of Priests, to Jesus, the

“Supreme and Eternal Priest,” for the sanctifi-

cation of priests and candidates for the priest-

hood. Parishioners are asked to pray especially

for their parish clergy. If Jesus prayed for His

apostles; if the Mother of God prayed for

them; why should not our Catholic people
pray for their successors, the Pope, the Bishops,

and the priests?

The first Priest's Saturday was established in

the cathedral of St. Hedwig in Berlin, on

September 8, 1934, by Dr. Nicholaus Bares,

Bishop of that city, who died on March 1, 1935.
God chose a little child, Bertl Baumann, lame

all her life, to announce this far reaching

apostolate to the modern world. A victim of
her powerful idea, she was called into eternity

by the Eternal High Priest on the feast of the

Purification of Mary, 1935, her first Priest's

Saturday
,
as she had requested of almighty God.

Before departing from this life as a victim for

priests, she beheld in a vision crowds of God’s

anointed in glory. Immediately after her death

she began her mission for the salvation of

priests. The Salvatorian Fathers suggested the

idea of a Priest's Saturday to Bishop Bares,

and met with a hearty approval. He told

them: “I am in sympathy with the thoughts

expressed in this movement, because to me the

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sanctification of our priests appears to be the in-

dispensable condition for the sanctification and

renewal of the world.” He was the first bishop

to approve and recommend the movement.

‘‘With great joy,” he said, “I greet this salu-

tary thought of a Priest’s Saturday , for if a holy

priest is the greatest gift of heaven to earth,

then the pleading of the faithful in prayer and

sacrifice for holy priests will be the most beauti-

ful gift of earth to heaven. With this apostolate

so pleasing to God we in our own way work

at the realization of the prayer of the Eternal

High Priest and His Blessed Mother, the Queen

of the Clergy, that the Church may shine with

a deeply believing, humble, and strong priest-

hood, so much needed and desired in these grave

times. Therefore I recommend and bless this

work most cordially.”

On November zi, 1934, the feast of the Pre-

sentation of Mary in the Temple, the General

of the Salvatorians, P. Pancratius Pfeiffer, in a

private audience with the Pope, presented the

idea of the Priest’s Saturday to His Holiness,

Pius XI. The Holy Father was very favorably

impressed and said in conclusion: ‘‘We heartily

praise and bless the work; we repeat: the idea

pleases Us very much: We heartily praise and
bless it.”

A few days after the death of Bertha Baumann
Bishop Bares said in an address: ‘‘Christian

people, you know it. You stand with your

priests. And I say to you: You also fall with

your priests. Therefore, pray and make sacri-

fices for them.” In his letters to his friends

and penitents he always added the final petition:

“Oremus pro invicem”
—

‘‘Let us pray for each

other.” The idea of praying and doing penance



for poor fallen priests made a strong appeal to

him. He said: “That is fine. Whoever ob-

serves Priest's Saturday
,
may and should know,

that the golden plate marked ‘The Holy of the

Lord’ can drop to the ground from the forehead

of the priest. ” (Cf. Exodus
, 39:2.9, and Leviticus ,

8:9.) It was he who wrote the words in the
Offering to be made on Priest s Saturday

,
asking

Mary with the loving hand of a Mother to

lead back to the Good Shepherd those poor

priests who have become unfaithful to their
sublime calling and have gone astray.

A wide field for Catholic Action opens before
us in this recent movement to foster a closer

union between the clergy and the laity by

means of prayer and sacrifice. It is built upon

the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ.

St. Paul says :
‘

‘Now you are the body of Christ,

and members of member” (1 Cor., 12.^7). This

apostolate of prayer for priests will unite the

people with their spiritual leaders, the bishops

and priests. With St. Paul the latter implore

the former: “I beseech you therefore, brethren,

through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the

charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me

in your prayers for me to God” (Rom., 15:30).
The Queen of angels and saints will undoubtedly

enlist the help of her great following in heaven

in her endeavor to further the cause of holiness

among priests, and what the Poor Souls in

Purgatory, above all the souls of priests, can

do for the movement is known to God alone.

Priest's Saturday will appeal to the aged and

the sick, the many shut-ins, who often feel as

if their lives were useless. Their prayers and

sufferings will become a mighty force for good

in the Church of God. Together with the

—22—



children these chosen souls will form the

second line of defense in the battle of the Church

against the enemies of salvation. Not all can

go to the front and fight in the ranks; the

majority must remain at home and help furnish

the supplies and the weapons used in the first

line of defense. Religious actively engaged will

be glad to join their sisters behind cloister walls

in emulating the Little Flower of Jesus in her

work for priests. The most ardent enthusiasts

for this movement ought be the priests them-

selves, the very beneficiaries of the apostolate

for apostles. “Oremus pro invicem” should

be their slogan for Priest s Saturday . In one

of his jubilee sermons Cardinal Faulhaber of

Munich cried out: “Who in all the world
should be willing to make sacrifices, if not the

priests, who daily ascend the altar of sacri-

fice and kiss the relics of the martyrs in the

sephulchre of the altar-stone?” (Cf. Pfarrer,

Dr. Franzmathes, “Ubung priesterlicher Heili-

gung,” Sanctificatio Nostra, VI [Juni 1936], pp.
2.62.-2.65.) The Holy Father expects the priest

to be a leader of his people in “that crusade of

expiation and penance to which We have in-
vited all men of good will. For there is need of

reparation for the blasphemies, wickedness and

crimes which dishonor humanity today, an age

perhaps unparalleled in its need for the mercy

and pardon of God.” (The Catholic Mind,

XXXIV [February 8, 1936], p. 43.)

Mary, the Mother of the Priest of priests, to

whom so many priests owe their very vocation,
cannot be indifferent to the pleadings of the

faithful. What a change this movement to

foster sanctity among priests and clerical

students, will produce, once it becomes wide-

—23—



spread in America as it is in certain countries

of Europe today. If priests and the candidates

for the sacred ministry take an active part in

this crusade, not only by making it known and

encouraging it among the laity, but by adding

their own prayers and sacrifices for one another,
the drive for greater sanctity among priests

will produce untold good in an abundant

harvest of souls. There have been some indi-

vidual efforts in this direction in the United

States, but as yet the movement has not been

launched on a national scale. Who is interested
in making holiness of priests a national issue?

Up to January i, 1938, over 750,000 pieces of
literature on Priest’s Saturday were distributed,

on request, by the Publishing Department at

St. Nazianz, Wis.,—an indication of the extra-
ordinary interest taken in this movement by

our Catholic people everywhere.

Jmprtmt JlfltfBt:

Ralph M. Fontaine, S. D. S.,

Superior Provincialis et

Censor Deputatus

Jmprtmatur:

•k Paulus Petrus,

Epps. Sinus Viridis.

Green Bay, Wis.,

Nov. 19, 1937.

—24—



SPECIAL QUANTITY PRICES

FOR THIS BOOKLET

Other literature for spreading the devotion

of the Priest’s Saturday can be secured from

us at the following prices:

1. A six-page folder at $1.25 per thousand.

2. Holy Card number one with prayers to

be said for priests at $ 1 .00 per thousand.

3. Holy Card number two with prayers and

short explanation at $1.00 per thousand.

7/ cash is sent with order there will

he no charge for postage.

Single copies

2 5 copies for

50 copies for -

100 copies for

$ .05

1.15

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4.00

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