Parish Eucharistic Vocation Pilgrimage to
St. Charles Seminary

Why is this important to you?

We need more priests. There are many precious moments in our lives when we just take for granted that the priests will be there for us; from baptism to our first communion to marriage to saying masses for our deceased loved ones to being there for us when we die not to mention Sunday and daily mass and so much more. For every ten priests who die, we only have one new priest to replace them. The church is not going to be able to continue ministering to us the way we are used to if we don’t get an increase in priestly vocations.

Studies show there are three key elements that inspire a young man to enter the priesthood. They are prayer, examples of a good priest and encouragement from their family. Many people who first sign up for Prayer Power were willing to pray for vocations, but they didn’t want their son to be a priest. Once they made a Holy Hour at Saint Charles Seminary, they got an entirely different view of the Seminary. They experienced it as a holy and sacred place. They were deeply moved by the seminarians coming in and out of the chapel to pray. Once they experienced making a Holy Hour at Saint Charles, they had a change of heart. They prayed God would bless their
family with a priestly vocation. This is why we are sponsoring a one-time Parish Eucharistic Vocation Pilgrimage to Saint Charles Seminary; so lay people will be inspired to pray for a priestly vocation in their family.

When is it?

It is on Tuesdays between 1:00 and 4:00 PM from February 2005 thru May 2005. It will stop in the summer. We'll begin again in the end of September 2005 and continue until March 2006.
(No adoration between December 20th thru January 20th, and during Easter.)

How does it work?

Each parish will schedule with the Prayer Power office the time and the Tuesday that is most convenient for the parish. Prayer Power has arranged with Carey International to supply us with a bus for each parish. We'll have a van for 20 to 25 people. If a larger bus is needed it will be provided. The bus will pick up your parishioners at your parish parking lot and return them to the parish parking lot. There will be a Prayer Power representative on the bus. We will show a video with the Cardinal welcoming your parishioners to the Eucharistic Vocation pilgrimage. He will talk about how much the pilgrimage means to the church, the priesthood and the seminarians. He will thank your parishioners for coming. Father Prior will tell a little bit about the seminary and two seminarians will share how much they appreciate the prayers. We will follow the video with the rosary for vocations. Prayer Power will provide a prayer book\packet for anyone who wants to use it. When they arrive at the seminary the Prayer Power person will tell them where the restrooms are and answer any questions they may have. They will go into the chapel and make a silent holy hour. At the end of the hour they will return to the bus. We'll have a short video thanking them again for coming. Then we'll have a social for the remaining part of the trip. Prayer Power will put water, sodas and snacks on the bus.

How do we sign up?

Call the Prayer Power office 610-962-0951 and ask for Denise or Mary Pat. They will help you schedule your time. We will work with your vocation director or whomever you appoint as your parish liaison person to organize your pilgrimage to the seminary.

What will Prayer Power do for Us?