As the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday is also designated as the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

One edifying way to observe the day is to participate in the Annual Global Rosary Relay, uniting our prayer with the faithful all across the world on behalf of our priests.

You can search the list of participating locations by country on worldpriest.com, where you may also find a wealth of resources about this valuable apostolate.

Even if we can’t join in the Rosary at a specific time in our own part of the world, we can still pray it privately whenever possible and participate in spirit with the Relay.

The World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests was instituted by St. John Paul II in 2002, and Benedict XVI wrote his prayer for priests for worldpriest.com.

From Pope Leo XIV’s inspiring message to his brother priests for the 2025 World Day of Prayer for their sanctification:

“Today, then, I invite you to renew before the Heart of Christ the ‘yes’ that you said to God and to His holy people on the day of your ordination.

“Let yourselves be shaped by grace and guard the fire of the Spirit received on that day, so that, in union with Him, you may be a sacrament of Jesus’ love in the world.”