Vocations prayer

Spirit of eternal Love,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
we thank You for all the vocations
of apostles and saints which have enriched the Church.
Continue, we pray, this work of Yours.

Remember when, at Pentecost,
You descended on the Apostles gathered together in prayer
with Mary, the mother of Jesus,
and look upon your Church which today has
particular need of holy priests,
of faithful and authoritative witnesses of your grace;
she needs consecrated men and women,
who show the joy of those who live only for the Father,
who make their own the mission and the offering of Christ,
who build up in charity the new world.

Holy Spirit, eternal Spring of joy and peace,
it is You who open the heart and the mind to the divine call;
it is You who make effective every impetus
towards good, towards truth, towards charity.
Your "inexpressible groans"
rise up to the Father from the heart of the Church,
which suffers and struggles for the Gospel.

Open the hearts and minds of young men and women,
so that a new flowering of holy vocations
may show forth the fidelity of your love,
and all may know Christ,
the true light come into the world
to offer to every human being
the sure hope of eternal life.
Amen.
John Paul II
Message for 1998 World of Prayer for Vocations (excerpt)

posted on the Vocations website
of the Diocese of Buffalo