21st ANNUAL LAY FAST FOR PRIESTS - SATURDAY, 17th OCTOBER 2026
OPENING REMARKS ~ Anna Rae-Kelly, OCDS
On October 17 we will hold the Twenty First Annual, now Global, Lay Fast Day for Priests.
The Eucharist, brought to us through the Ordained priest, is the “source and summit” (Lumen Gentium) of our Catholic life.
Jesus Christ told St Gertrude that for every Eucharist we receive with devotion, He will send a Saint to comfort us at our death.
St Bridget of Sweden teaches us that at the moment of Consecration, numberless angels come down and surround and look upon the priest, bowing toward him in reverential awe as he holds high the body of Christ. All evil takes flight in terror.
Pope Saint John Paul II taught us that during the Consecration, all time meets in the Eucharist. A mysterious “oneness in time” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia) happens and we are drawn into the mind and person of Christ present, on Calvary yet also mysteriously present at the Resurrection. Everyone who ever was and who has died in “the grace and friendship of God” (Article 988 CCC) and who now lives in Christ – our Great-Great Grandparents – are present in the Eucharist. Through Jesus in unity with the Holy Spirit, we get to say thank you to all of our ancients who are now “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2) because their prayers helped us to be here today. And everyone who is still to become – our Great-Great Grandchildren – who will only ever see photographs of us, they too are held in the mind of God, Present in the Holy Eucharist. Through Jesus, in unity with the Holy Spirit, we may ask God to tell them that we love them that we will pray and offer small sacrifices for them until the day He calls us Home.
The priest lends his voice to Christ at the Consecration and the Lord becomes Present to us. Without the priest, we would not have the Eucharist.
God the Father told St Catherine of Siena that priests are His “other Christs” (The Dialogue).
Fasting creates an impenetrable force around the one prayed for. Because priests bring us Christ Jesus in the Eucharist, and because all that is evil hates the Lord's Presence in the Holy Eucharist, priests need the power of our prayers to erect that impenetrable protection around them.
Fasting is praying with our whole body.
Will you join us on October 17 as we fast for all priests?
When the sun rises over Australia and New Zealand, all across the Far East, the Middle East and Europe, into the Americas when it finally sets in Hawaii, in every country, our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus will be fasting for priests. We will all be one.
We fast from the time we get out of bed until the 3.00 PM Hour – the time of the Death of Christ Jesus. We fast from whatever we can – food or TV or computer.
One year, a lady fasted from food and from talking. She decided it was best to stay in her room praying and reading until the 3.00 o’clock hour because she said had she come out of her room before that time, her mother would have made her speak.
We can fast wherever we are. If you are leaving for China that day, you can join us on the plane journey in prayer ! We close our fast with a private prayer at 3.00 PM.
All are most welcome to join this global army of fasters.
Please sign up above.
