Apostolate of Suffering
Are You Suffering?
If you are suffering from pain, loneliness, or desolation, you are invited to become a member of the Apostolate of the Suffering. The Apostolate of the Suffering is made of generous individuals who unite their sufferings with the Lord’s Passion for the grace of many holy vocations to the priesthood in our diocese.
You can become a member of the Apostolate of the Suffering by simply making a daily offering of your sufferings and prayers for an increase in vocations to the priesthood in our diocese. We have provided a Morning Offering prayer to be prayed daily. Also, that if it be God’s will to take you home and in His time to bring you in union with Him, you would continue to offer prayers and intercessions for vocations to the priesthood for our diocese from heaven. “Today our little Sister Maria Goretti went to our Lord… Now she is with Jesus- the first M.C. in heaven… Now with Sister in heaven we shall get many vocations.” – Mother Theresa
One of the most precious gifts God has given us is the ability to unite our suffering to Jesus Christ’s. Far from being a burden to society, a suffering person can be a source of great blessings to himself and to others by suffering for God well.
Prayer by St. Francis DeSales
Your God in His divine wisdom
Has from all eternity beheld the cross
He bestows upon you-
His precious gift
from His heart.
He contemplated this cross
With His all-knowing eye
Before bestowing it upon you.
He pondered over it
With His divine mind;
He examined it
With His all-wise justice;
With His loving mercy
He warmed it through and through.
And with both His hands
He weighed it
To determine if it be
One ounce too heavy for you.
He blessed it with His all-holy Name.
With His grace He anointed it.
And with His consolation He perfumed it.
And then once more
He considered you
And your courage.
Finally, it comes from heaven
As a special message of God
To you; an alms
Of the all-merciful love of God for you.
Suffering by St. Padre Pio
“Follow the Divine Master up the steep slope of Calvary, loaded with the cross and when it pleases Him to place us on the cross by confining us to a bed of pain, let us thank Him and consider ourselves lucky to be honored in this way, aware that to be on the cross with Jesus is infinitely more perfect than merely contemplating Him on the cross.”
Morning Offering
O my Jesus, I adore you
And I love you. Source of
All mercy, look upon me
With compassion. Through
The Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I unite my cross with yours
And offer you all of my prayers,
Works, joys, and sufferings of
This day for all the intentions
Of your Sacred Heart, especially
For holy vocations to the priesthood
For the Diocese of Sioux Falls.
Amen.
Ways you can help us get holy priests
•Start the day with the Morning Offering
•If possible, comfort others who are suffering
•Accept the services of others with patience and love
•Pray for holy vocations to the priesthood
•Recognize and appreciate God’s gift of suffering to you
•Refuse to give in to complaining, self pity, bitterness, or hopelessness
•In times of great pain, unite your suffering to Christ’s
Download the Morning Offering
