Elderly Catholic Priest Info

He'd be a busy man. He would have private devotions, at the very least Morning and Evening Prayer, with extensive prayers of his own for a large list of other people, causes, and situations. He's almost certainly going to live in quarters adjoining the church, with some very-part-time housekeeping help; these quarters may well also directly adjoin the parish office, work in which would take up a great deal of his day. He will have a ton of paperwork and phone calls on many days. Many of these will deal with parish activities ... trying to round up volunteers for various activities such as food/clothing drives; assistance to the elderly; trying to garner upkeep for the buildings and grounds; Altar Guild, meaning flowers, linens, etc; preparing for or working with religious education efforts for the laity such as catechism classes, RCIA, etc; often a conference with the Music Director about music or choir practice; reports of various kinds to the Diocese or Archdiocese (depending on which he is in); collecting information for the next bulletin and Sunday newsletter; writing the day's or week's homilies (and researching for that); preparing for the next required meeting or training on Arch/Diocesan concerns such as social justice, sexual abuse, priestly formation, etc; and things connected with his membership in whatever priestly organizations he belongs to, of which there are hundreds; activities connected with his order, if he is a Jesuit, Dominican, etc., which many are; and some exercise, as most Arch/Dioceses have a considerable interest in making sure priests stay healthy. This is all assuming that he doesn't have any pastoral counseling appointments or people just wanting to talk with him about various matters, and that there's no impending funerals or baptisms, and that there's no calls for private confession. On top of this, there's visitations to the sick and shut-ins, and activities making sure that the buildings, grounds, and activities are in compliance with local laws (e.g., handicap access, etc.) And then there's just the ordinary things of life, like shopping, which can be a chore as most priests make very modest salaries ... somewhere around the $17,000 a year range. Of course, room and board are included, as is health insurance and retirement. Still, for someone with at least a master's degree and thirty years of work experience behind them, they're not in it for the money.

"And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--" "Skip a bit, brother."

If he's not retired or semi-retired he'd probably get up, start with the Liturgy of the Hours, as that's an obligation they must do every day and he'll make time for it through out the day. Depending on what's going on at the parish, he might have daily business, meetings and appointments. He might work with specific charities or have special ministries that he does on a daily basis. Perhaps he tends to sick parishioners at the hospital, maybe he visits older, homebound parishioners (I know when one of my mom's friends the rector from her church did come to see her). If he's the rector of the church he probably has more obligations regarding the day to day functions.

A while back I found a blog entry from a young priest (in his 30s) who talked about his day to day life. I 'll have to look for it but I can find it for you. There are a lot of priests who do blog, perhaps you might get a sense of their lives by reading those as well.

(I wouldn't call someone in their 60's elderly-- many of my friends are in their sixties and they're far from elderly. One of the priests at my parish is 83 and still quite active despite being elderly. ) ;-)

I know my answers were a bit vague and not overly helpful, but if you need more info, PM and I'll find you more info.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Maria
http://cosmicink.livejournal.com/
A Promise Unfulfilled '06

"…therein is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident." H.L. Mencken

I second a lot that has already been said. An awful lot of priests are in their sixties and older, so he would probably still be busy and working. One of my closest friends is a Catholic parish priest and he does all the things people have already mentioned, eg. sick visiting, hospital visiting, meetings, fundraising etc. He also goes in to the local prison once a week. Priests may also be school chaplains and run youth clubs and activities at the church. Depending on the size of your parish there may or may not be another priest or priests working and living with him. I have been to churches that have one priest and churches that have six or seven.

The other thing to remember is although they are very busy (and my priest friend is the busiest person I know by far) priests do have lives. The last time I saw my friend was when he came into London to take me to dinner and a concert (although I had to wait for him to finish his prayers before we could go.) So priests do still have friends whose birthday parties they go to and have personal crises and all the rest of it. They also have families so there are still family problems (sick parents, siblings getting divorced, neices and nephews birthdays to remmeber.) Sorry. Lots of details here. My last nano was about a priest!

All these comments are wonderful. Thanks. I guess what I was more looking for was things like the Liturgy of the Hours and the like-- things he would have to do as obligation/devotion no matter what else was going on. Don't they also have to say mass at least once a day, privately if not publically?

I guess a better way to phrase my question for my purposes is-- if the world around him took a sudden, inexplicable shift, (like he was abducted by purple space monkeys, or something) what would he still cling to as an obligation or a devotional practice?

My novel is not about, nor does it contain, purple space monkeys. Yet. Just to clarify.

Thanks.

I think I follow you better now ...

If he were abducted by purple space monkeys and taken on a rocket to Neptune ...

He would have to dispense the Sacraments to any of the purple space monkeys who were Catholic ... or be there to minister and pray for their conversion if they weren't. He would be attentive to any opportunities to educate them, and if he found one on the brink of death he might well attempt to obtain its consent for baptism. He would certainly pray daily, with his Daily Office (Liturgy of the Hours ... Google it). If he didn't have his breviary along, then he'd say a daily Rosary. (You don't have to have the beads ... I've done rosaries on the steering wheel of a car, and even simply on my fingers. Or he could make one out of knotted string ... I've also done that.) He'd have to remain celibate, of course. While saying Mass daily is strongly encouraged, it is not a binding requirement.

The main thing is for him to retain his 'priestly character' in whatever he does, no matter how difficult or strange the circumstances. A very short but good article on just what "priestly character" means was written by the famous Catholic priest and theologian John Courtney Murray, SJ. Here's the link: http://woodstock.georgetown.edu/library/Murray/1938.htm

If he sincerely tries to persevere in all this ... this I'd say is the main thing.

"And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--" "Skip a bit, brother."

My parents live in an area made up of many small towns. The priest, who recently retired in his late 70s or early 80s, traveled to several churches in the area to do services and whatever else priests do. In that area, there was just the priest and one nun who ran things. I would imagine the parishioners helped out some, but I think Father B and Sister A pretty much did everything as far as keeping house and preparing meals. I do know Sister A did all the driving, at least in the more recent past.

So, one thing to consider is how small your small town is and what the parish or diocese or whatever can afford as far as supplying the town and/or nearby towns with personnel.

I thought it might be useful to add that priests of all ages are not allowed to say mass more than three times a day.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f398/blackhawkgirl91/effects1.jpg
There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman.
-Emile Zola