Testimonies

The Power of Daily Prayer

(Sylviane, NEW YORK)

December 2011

I started praying every day for my parish priest, Fr John, who was depressed after heart surgery. He started losing weight and we all were concerned that he had given up on life. I moved into action and started praying one hour a day. Other friends and their daughters joined and we started a prayer group. We are 7 ladies. We began taking him meals, visiting him at home, offering prayers. Fr John's transformation was remarkable. Suddenly he started to thrive, eating his meals and laughing again. Now he is much better and before Christmas he came back to our church. He is out of danger, in all senses. I thank Liana and "Adopt a Priest" for having helped me to discover the power of the daily prayer. I understood that sometimes a community’s prayers can literally save a life.

God Would Forgive me

(Antonija, CROATIA)

April 2011

Mine, is a very sad story. I had an abortion, when I was sixteen. I lived all these years with a terrible guilt and I knew I was excomunicated. I got married, but after seven years, I was not yet pregnant. I knew it was because of the abortion.

Then I met Father Dragan. It was a hazard, I was driving the mountains, searching for an address and I lost the way. I saw a monastery and asked for information. Father Dragan looked at me and told me that God would forgive me, no matter what my sin was. I was shocked. How could he know? But he knew, and I felt confident. I confessed my sin. He gave me absolution. He told me that not all the priests had this faculty, but he did.

Now I go to the church, every month I go to the monastery and confess with Father Dragan. And I hope that maybe one day, with God's help, I will be pregnant again. Father Dragan gave me a second life and I will pray for him.

Making the Priests Feel Part of our Families

(Evelyne, USA)

March 2011

I am avery busy woman, but I always find the time to go once a week to the church for the Sunday Mass and I invite every month our priest home for dinner. I think it is important to make the priests feel part of our families, they are doing so many things for free. One of my best friends spoke to me about this apostolate and I felt the necessity to do something for him. I must say that one hour everyday is a lot of time, but we do it for God, don't we? I get inspiration from Liana and I split my hour in four times of one quarter of hour each. You won't believe, but I feel better since I do everyday this hygiene of the soul. And I think that it can help Father Andrew. 

About Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

(Liana Marabini, founder of this website, MONTE-CARLO)

9th February 2011

Following Father Thomas Euteneuer's statement, I received several messages from women all over the world, asking Alter Christus website to dedicate special prayers to this priest.

 

Of course, Father Euteneuer is in our prayers. He is in my prayers too. May God have mercy on him. May Our Lady, the divine Mother of Priests, wrap him in Her arms and console him. He is a priest of God, chosen by Him to represent Him on the earth. We pray for Father Tom.

 

But I wish to say this to all our priests: never underestimate the power of the Evil one. Don't let your souls be invaded by secular stress, with secular problems and secular vanities. The consequence will be that you will feel secular ambitions, secular aspirations and secular desires. Be in the midst of your flock, but keep your heart and mind focused on God and on what He wants from you, as priests. Understanding the secular problems in order to help the faithful, but keeping oneself in a more divine dimension, is part of the difficult mission of the priest. "You are in the world, but not of the world". Don't cease to pray and to thank God for having chosen you as His priests. Don't deceive Him. Keep praying and focusing on Him. Keep in mind that all of you owe Him the priestly dignity. Be always worthy of Him and of His Church. Be models for us, poor laypeople. Never forget that your priesthood is the most beautiful and most valuable gift from God.

 

I will keep praying for all of you and your priestly mission on the earth, with all my love.

It is Thanks to Him That I am Smiling Again

(Lauren, USA)

14th January 2011

I am the only survivor of a plane crash. It was a private plane, our plane. My whole family disappeared in the accident. I was 17. It was so hard for me to heal spiritually and to become a normal person again. My priest, Father Craig, was all these years by me, helping me, all the time, at every hour of the day, all the days... It is thanks to him that I am smiling again. I pray for him.

He Helps a Lot of People

(Giuliana, Italy)

5th November 2010

My parish priest is a special priest. He loves the animals; he has a dog called Jago. I didn't use to go to Church, but I met Father Roberto in the public park of my town, in Tuscany. Our two dogs became friends and I started going to Church. Father Roberto says beautiful homilies. He helps a lot of people. He helped me to forgive myself, to accept my sins and to pray God to make me a better person. I am very grateful to Father Roberto for this. I adopted him and I am happy to do something that I know can help him in his priesthood.

A Young Priest

(Elaine, United Kingdom)

14th October 2010

I am 92 years old and all my children are gone. The last one - my daughter Rebecca - last June. She was 71 years old. I am not alone, thanks to my parish priest, Father Declan. He is 35 years old and a wonderful priest. He celebrated Rebecca's funeral. I adopted him, and I pray still more than one hour a day. I have plenty of time. I am a writer and I still write books. My next book is called "A young priest". It was inspired by Father Declan.

He is a Heaven’s Gift

(Mathilde, Montreal, Canada)

15th September 2010

I am a doctor and I have been working in my town’s hospital for two years, in the center for terminal cancer patients.

I have decided to adhere to this apostolate because I have a representant of the Catholic clergy everyday under my eyes: Father Bob. He is the chaplain of my hospital. But he does not merely celebrate the mass. He takes time to visit the sick, especially the terminal ones. With his sweetness, he speaks about eternal life, God and Paradise. He listens to their confession and gives them the anointing of the sick. He ministers the sacraments.

At the beginning, I did not believe too much in it. But when I see the wrinkled faces of these patients being de-wrinkled, when I see them smiling, when I see that they have hope again even when in reality they have only a few weeks of life (and they are aware of it), well, when I see all that, I recognize that God exists, He must exist. And He has Father Bob’s face.

I was not a great believer. I was baptized Catholic, I got married in the Church and sometimes I went to church for weddings, baptisms and funerals… but nothing more than that. Well, from some time on, I have the conviction that God exists. Father Bob demonstrates it. He has succeeded where science has miserably failed: he has restored the meaning of life of these people. He accompanies them until death and they see the smile of his face.

I have decided to adopt Father Bob and support him with my prayers. I am grateful for all what he does for "my" sick. Praying for him is the least I could do. He is a heaven’s gift.

Confession and Forgiveness

(Esther, Holland)

3rd September 2010

I’m catholic and I have been for so many years far from the Church. I was afraid to go to confession. Too many things happened in my life. I’ve always been a winner: beautiful, intelligent, successful. I married a wonderful man, widower, with a little daughter, Doris. He loved me more than his own life. He died after twelve years of marriage. I remained alone, with Doris. My life continued, I took in charge Richard’s company and worked 18 hours a day. When Doris was 23, she told me that she was in love with a man. His name was Hal. She introduced him to me. I was 50 and he was 32. I felt in love the same moment I saw him. An illogical, unexplainable love. A coup de foudre. I’ve never had that before.

I start inviting him home, with the pretext that he was dating Doris. He was a lawyer, unhappy with his practice. After a short while, I hired him as lawyer of my company. We worked a lot of hours and travelled together. One night, we were in New York, and the irreparable happened: we made love.

The guilt was so heavy, that my life changed. He told everything to Doris and asked for her forgiveness. Doris forgave him, but she didn’t see him anymore. She moved from home. She didn’t speak to me anymore.

I suffered the hell. I continued working, Hal went away from the company and I never saw him again. I still suffer, I realize it is a crazy thing, I simply love him.

Two years ago I went to a funeral (a friend’s husband had died). After the ceremony, she invited everybody home for a glass. Among the guests, there was also the priest, Father Andrew. We started talking and I liked what he was saying.

The day after, I went to his church and had confession. Father Andrew was very patient and kind. He explained me the sense of the story with Hal. I understood what happened in my soul and I am ashamed. I wrote Doris and asked her to forgive me. She did.

Six months ago she got married and she invited me. Her husband is a kind young man, he loves her. Doris is pregnant and she decided to call her daughter with my name. I cried.

I adopted Father Andrew, who changed my life.

A Proof of Love

(Sabina, Italy)

30th August 2010

The priest that I have adopted is an old friend. We knew one another during our school time. We both got married in the same year and our eldest children were born one year later. But his wife died 15 years ago. So he went to the seminary. He was ordained priest 4 years ago. His 3 children attended piously his ordination. He has become my priest, I go to confession with him and once a month he comes to dinner with us. We discuss about our past. He is happy to be a priest. I decided to spiritually adopt him, because I think that his priesthood is the last proof of love for his wife.

Praying While Jogging

(Ilona, Hungary)

30th August 2010

Our parish priest is Indian. He has suffered very much because he is catholic and priest. Perhaps his particular sensibility for the sufferance of others is due to that fact. He has healed many souls, reconciled many families and encouraged young couples to get married instead of just living together. He is a holy priest and I keep him always in my prayers.

I’m happy with this apostolate because it gives me a method in the structure of faith of my life. I pray for him when I go jogging in my town’s park: one hour each evening. After a quarter of hour of “mental” Rosary, I pray half an hour for all that concerns his person: priesthood, health and mission. The last quarter of hour is dedicated to all that concerns his charism with families: I pray God to preserve intact this grace in him, because it makes a real good to the young and old couples, inspiring them the beauty of marriage.

To Hope Always

(Yasmine, Italy)

30th August 2010

I was Muslim and I got converted to the Catholicism when I got married with an Italian. My father doesn’t speak to me anymore, and he has refused to make peace with me. I suffer very much because of that. My child has never known his grandparents, also because my husband’s parents died. The only grandparents he has are my parents. My mother has managed to write me, hidden from my father. And I have sent her a picture of Marcello, my child. I miss them.

The priest that has baptized and married me, Don Giuliano, is the only one who knows how to say the right words to me, giving me hope. I must say that the hope is the only thing that helps me not to fall into depression and I am very grateful for this gift. I have adopted him and I pray very much for him.

Our Family Priest

(Sophie Heidemann, Normandy, France)

8th August 2010

It is mentioned on the last page of my husband's book “The Catholic Priest, Image of Christ”, listed on this website: "When the priesthood is lived in conformity to its most intimate laws and demands, it is the source of a very deep joy. A priest who lives each day in accordance with the priestly virtues is a very happy man."(Canon Lefèvre, ICRSP). I met many years ago the Brazilian-born Canon Henrique Fragelli at Gricigliano, the Seminary of Christ the King near Florence; he was a perfect example of a young man who had everything and decided joyfully to terminate his professional career and follow the footsteps of Christ. He lives his priesthood in the sense of an Alter Christus; his entire existence is centered on the Tridentine Mass with its mystical and divine aura. The fruits to all those who meet him are evident. He is radiant and a model of self sacrifice. Our two oldest children were in the usual slightly difficult teenage period; we sent them last summer to stay in his parish in Warsau, in the US, for three weeks; they came back transformed and explaining us that this priest solved many of their doubts. Like so many good priests, he lives happily his vocation, always smiling, indeed a perfect example of the great amount of holy priests that the media will never talk about. We have been blessed to have such a family priest and I shall take upon me to pray for him daily, so that he will remain as he is: bringing Christ’s message with a smile to as many people as possible, in a world that needs it so much.

Happy to be a Priest

(Fr. Martín Lasarte, Salesian, Angola)

28th July 2010

I’m a humble Uruguayan catholic priest and I live in Angola since 20 years ago. I’m happy and proud of my vocation.

I feel really sorry for the great damage that some priests (who should be signs of the love of God) do to the lives of innocents. There are no words to justify such deeds.

I see the morbid exploration of this subject by the mass media, exposing in details the life of a pedophile priest.

In that sense, they show a certain priest from an US city, from the seventies, another one in Australia from the eighties, and so on with other recent cases.

It’s curious to notice the lack of interest and news for thousands of priests working zealously for children, young people, and the poor all over the world.

I suppose that for the media it’s not interesting the fact that I had to walk through mined fields in 2002 transporting several skin-and-bone children because neither the government was disposed to do so nor the NGO were allowed to.

It’s hasn’t been in the news the fact that we had to bury several little ones deceased among the war refugees and those who returned home; the fact that we saved the lives of thousands of people in Moxico thanks to the only medical post in 90,000 square kilometers and also by the distribution of food and seed; that we gave access to education to more than 110,000 kids in ten years …

It’s not of interest that with other priests, we had to aid the humanitarian crisis of nearly 15,000 people in the barracks of the guerillas, after their surrender, because the food sent from the government and the UN didn’t arrive to them.

It’s not news the fact that Fr. Roberto, a 75 years old priest, walked through the streets of Luanda healing the poor kids, bringing them to a home for the poor in order to detoxify them from gasoline; that they alphabetized hundreds of prisoners; that other priest like Fr. Stefano have provisory houses for kids victims of violence, mistreatment and rape, and looking for a refuge.

It’s not news that Friar Maiato, 80 years old, goes door to door consoling the sick and the hopeless.

It’s not news that more than 60,000 of the 400,000 priests and religious left their homes and families in order to serve their brothers in the leprosaria, hospitals, refugee fields, orphanages for children accused of witchcraft or issued of AIDS deceased parents, in schools for the needed ones, in centers of professional formation, in centers for the AIDS carriers, or in parishes and missions encouraging the people to live and love.

It’s not news that my friend, Fr. Marcos Aurelio, to save some young people during the war in Angola, and being transported from Kalulo to Dondo, has been shot in his way home; that Br. Francisco and 5 catechist ladies were killed in the street because they used to offer their help in the inmost rural zones; that several missionaries died of malaria in Angola due to the lack of sanitary aid; that others exploded in the mined fields when they went to visit their people.

In the cemetery of Kalulo are the tombs of the first priests who arrived in the region… none of them is older than 40.

It’s not news to accompany the life of a “normal” priest in his daily life, in his difficulties and joys, spending his life silently for the good of the community he serves.

The truth is that we don’t look for being in the news. We just want to spread the Good News, this news that started in the Easter night.

A fallen tree makes more noise than a whole growing forest.

I don’t intend to do an apology neither of the Church nor of the priests.

The priest is neither a hero nor a neurotic.

He’s a simple man that with his humanity seeks to follow Jesus and serve his brothers.

Mother of Jesus

(Maria, Estonia)

The priest I adopted is ill, he is 65 years old. When he heard about this apostolate, and about his adoption, he was very happy and he told me that he is feeling better now. This is a very good thing. I feel better too, because I know that with my prayers I help him.

Now I am telling all my friends about the possibility to do good to men that are doing good with their work. It is like being a little bit the mother of Jesus.

Like Fra Angelico

(Henriette, Luxembourg)

My parish priest is a wonderful artist; he paints and teaches children how to do so. He organizes beautiful exhibitions where he shows the children’s paintings. My son (8 years old) lives in a wheelchair. He is shy and had no friends until he met this wonderful priest. My son discovers a talent for painting; he is happy now and has a lot of friends.

I adopted my parish priest and I am very grateful to Liana for this apostolate. I had a wonderful opportunity to thank my parish priest for what he did and does for my little boy. God bless you all.

To Pay a Debt

(Alva, Sweeden)

I was driving my car and my sister was with me. I had an accident and she died. I had taken a few drinks before taking the road. Maybe more than a few... She was singing, and two minutes later she was dead. She was 28. In that moment, I knew my life would never be the same. I was severely injured too. In the hospital, I had the impression that everybody hated me: my parents, the doctors, my sister Krista’s friends… The only nice person was the hospital’s chaplain, a catholic priest, Father Niels (in Sweden, we Catholics are the minority). He is a nice, healthy, smiling and good-hearted priest. He is an ex-football player. He came every day and spoke to me. I don’t know how he understood that I was seriously thinking to put an end to my life… He explained me how to offer my sufferings to God. He told me beautiful things about the saints who were sinners. He helped me to accept myself again.

I will never really accept my sister’s death, but now I know that God wanted it for her. I like imagining her in heaven, with the Lord. Now I don’t drink anymore. I got married and Father Niels celebrated the marriage. Now we are expecting a baby and he will baptize him (or her).

Finally, with this apostolate I have the opportunity to do something for him.

Singing for God

(Angelika, Austria)

I’m a popular Austrian music singer (famous, yes – I sell a lot of discs) and I don’t have much time for going to Church. But when Liana told me about the possibility of adopting a priest, I was happy. I adopted a priest that I met once, in New York. I am grateful to him because he helped me not to give up singing. I was there for a concert and I was afraid to sing before 50.000 people. I even decided that morning to cancel the concert. A thought was haunting me: Why am I doing all this? For whom? For what aim? I was walking in the street (I had deserted the rehearsal) and I saw a church. I entered and confessed. The priest told me not to give up because God wanted this for me and that singing is something that God likes. I was so used to think in terms of “audience likes my music”, “registration companies like my music”, “my manager likes my music”, that hearing from him that “God likes my music” was astonishing. I saw myself with new eyes. I will never know his name; I just remember his gentle voice. But since then (6 years passed), when I feel anxious or afraid, I think about his words. Now, I have the opportunity to thank him for good. Every day, I take one hour for myself and I pray for him. I wish him a long life.

The Love of a Husband

(Giuliana, Italy)

I am a top manager, and I have 2.000 employees. I am a woman of command. I love my work, and I feel the loneliness of power. My husband died last year. I was so much in love with him... He wanted a funeral with all the sacraments. I was an atheist, and proud of being so. When I met Father Enrico for the first time, I treated him condescendingly. I am still ashamed of that. I always considered the priests as weak men; I love the men of action. I despised their “contemplation” that replaces “action”. I didn’t understand why my husband wanted all this.

But Father Enrico treated me gently. He spoke about my husband and I found out that my husband used to see him. He used to come to him for confession. He was afraid I could die because of so much work. He was afraid of not being good enough for me. Father Enrico said all this things during the funeral, in his homily. Everybody was touched and I cried for the first time in my life. After the funeral, I started going to Mass every Sunday. Father Enrico was always nice to me, he gave me a Bible and I started to read it. After three months I went to confession. He meant so much to me in such a difficult time of my life. Going straight to the point, he made me a great gift: he helped me to find God. I adhere to this apostolate and I do it with the efficiency that characterizes me. Thank you, Liana.

My Son and I

(Karola, Hungary)

Ten years ago, I was 19 and wanted to make an abortion. My boyfriend had left me for another girl and I wanted to erase in me all his traces. I went to confession and my catholic priest explained me that I would damn my soul. He was so sorry for what I was going to do, that I gave up the idea. Now my son is 9 years old and I am so proud of him. He likes music and plays the cello. I got married and my husband adopted Andy, and I am a happy woman. I am a doctor, and now I help women to change their minds when they want to get rid of their babies. Adhering to Liana’s apostolate, I have the occasion to thank Father Nagy on a regular basis. God bless.

A Legionary Priest

(Mary Ann, USA)

The priest I adopted is a legionary priest. He is my son. I pray for him one hour a day and I am so grateful for this apostolate. My heart is full of compassion for what the legionary priests are suffering. I ask all of you to pray for them.

A Priest in Prison

(Hannelore, Germany)

I am psychologist in a high security prison. I adopted the priest that works in this prison. He is a holy man. What he sees every day are dead walking men. What he hears every day are crime stories. I wonder if he has a distorted idea about the world. Who knows? I will never dare to ask him, it is a too intimate question. I pray for him and sometimes I cry for him. I agreed with my parish priest to celebrate the Mass for him every Sunday, as the apostolate is structured. I think that I’m already doing a sacrifice with him, working in the same prison.

One Hour of Prayer for a Priest

(Liana, Monaco)

I pray one quarter of hour in the morning, after the orison, for his vocation: I ask God to give him the strength to observe his vows, to keep him away from the temptations, to always fulfill his soul with the love of God, to let him feel the absolute joy of being a priest, to be immune against the flattery and the vanities, to never covet or regret the paths he hasn’t taken.

Then, I pray during one quarter of hour after the Angelus: this time is dedicated to his apostolates, which are many. I pray that he succeeds in his action. It is important for a priest to see that what he does is appreciated; this helps him not to be discouraged, and to see that his efforts are not useless.

In the afternoon, after the vespers, I pray during one quarter of hour that God gives him the strength, the imagination and the faith necessary to pass on the values of the priesthood to the young seminarians; I pray that he becomes, with his example, a source of inspiration for them.

Finally, before midnight, I dedicate one quarter of hour of prayer for him: I pray not only for his physical and mental health, but also for his interior peace, and peace before his death. The last hour before death is the most important one for all of us; it is the hour when we review our life; it is the hour when we are anxious to join the Lord and to be with him. God is the greatest love of my priest, of all the good priests, and mine also. This time must be an occasion when we thank him for having given us the possibility of living on this earth and leaving an everlasting imprint in the souls of others...

He Doesn't Know Me

(Angela, USA)

He doesn’t know me, but everybody knows him. He is a celebrity, he shows himself very often in TV. I think this is vanity and that is why I adopted him and I pray for him every day, while I drive from home to office. One hour a day. It is one hour of dialogue with God about a priest.

I really love this apostolate.