GIG HARBOR — Every week, Donna Tims, a member of St. Nicholas Parish, spends an hour praying for her pastor, Father Mark Guzman.

Six other women in the parish also pray an hour for Father Guzman on their assigned days, covering him with prayer each day of the week through the Seven Sisters Apostolate ministry.

“I take great comfort knowing the women pray for me and that our Lord, through their intercessory prayer offered for me, also transforms their hearts, too,” Father Guzman said in an email.

The Seven Sisters Apostolate, started in Minnesota in 2010, is a largely hidden ministry of prayer for pastors of parishes here and across the country. The St. Nicholas group is one of 60 in the Archdiocese of Seattle, according to Holly Dodd, a parishioner at St. Michael Parish in Olympia who coordinates the apostolate in the Archdiocese of Seattle.

The first Seven Sisters group in the archdiocese was formed in 2018 at Holy Redeemer Parish in Vancouver by Deb Roettger, who picked up a flyer about the ministry while visiting family in Wisconsin, Dodd said. The apostolate has spread by word of mouth, with 30 groups forming in 2022-23 and two more groups launched already this year, Dodd said.

“It’s a really organic thing,” she said. “It spreads from people who have the heart to pray for their priest.”

Tims said she was inspired to start a group at St. Nicholas after reading an article about the apostolate.

“I knew that the mission was important,” she said. “I feel I wouldn’t be where I am spiritually and as a Catholic without Father Mark.”

Strengthening the church through prayer

The mission of the Seven Sisters Apostolate, according to its website, is to strengthen the church by praying every day for a specific priest or bishop, a “lavishing of prayer for his deeper conformity to Christ.”

As the website explains, each group consists of at least seven women, with one designated the “anchoress,” who commit to praying for a priest for a year. The anchoress makes a two-year commitment, Dodd said.

When a group is formed, the anchoress gives the priest information about the ministry and lets him know that a group is praying for him, Dodd explained. The anchoress mediates all communication with the priest, such as prayer requests and whether he wants to know who the other six women are. (It’s his choice.)

“The hiddenness is another beautiful aspect of our apostolate,” Dodd said.

Members of the Seven Sisters Apostolate group at St. Mary Parish in Anacortes pray for their pastor, Father Mel Strazicich, known as Father Straz. Pictured in front are Jean Bell, left, and Jan Gagnier. In the back are Karen Hutchinson, left, Karen Ryan, Judy Graham and Iris Perkins. Some of the women are wearing special Seven Sisters shirts. (Photo: Courtesy Karen Hutchinson)

The first group formed in a parish prays for the pastor. If other groups form in that parish, they can pray for a parochial vicar, a retired priest, a priest serving in a non-parish assignment or a bishop, according to the Seven Sisters website. The group prays for their priest until he is reassigned; his successor becomes the recipient of the group’s prayers, which “helps us to guard against and undue attachment to a certain priest,” the website says.

Ideally, each woman spends on hour in prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, either in an adoration chapel or in front of a tabernacle. It can be in her parish church or another church, as some churches may not offer adoration or may not be open certain hours, the website notes.

If a church isn’t open, Dodd said, some local women will pray in their car in the church’s parking lot or get permission to get the church key so they can go inside and pray.

Finding community, spiritual discipline

Monica Bernstein, who leads the Seven Sisters Apostolate group at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle, said the ministry has resulted in community and spiritual discipline.

Offering a Holy Hour for someone else “has opened my eyes to the other ways you can pray for someone,” Bernstein said. “It’s a blessing for the priest, but it unfolds blessings in the lives of the women as well.”

A closeup of the custom shirts ordered by the members of the Seven Sisters Apostolate at St. Mary Parish in Anacortes. (Courtesy Karen Huchinson)

During the summer of 2023, about 100 women representing 20 Seven Sisters Apostolate groups gathered at St. Michael in Olympia for a retreat. Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, who joined three priests in a panel discussion about why priests need prayer and how to pray for them.

“We were really pleased to have his support,” Dodd said, noting that several Seven Sisters groups are praying for Archbishop Etienne’s intentions. “It’s an honor to pray for the archbishop,” she added.

Father Thomas Nathe, pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish, is pleased to have support of the women in the apostolate at his parish.

“When it comes to people praying for me, my priestly vocation and ministry, I know it is doing tremendous good,” Father Nathe said in an email.

Without the prayers of others, the pastor said, he would have left parish ministry years ago.

“That the laity pray for the extremely few who accept this invitation from the Lord is simply essential and irreplaceable,” Father Nathe said. “I am so grateful for the Seven Sisters Apostolate and for all who pray and do penance for priests.”

“There can’t be anything more important than lifting up our shepherds in prayer,” Roettger said.

Praying for your priest is “such a simple thing,” Dodd said. “This one hour is so powerful.”

Start a Seven Sisters group

To learn more about starting a Seven Sisters Apostolate group in Western Washington, contact Holly Dodd at [email protected].