A Week of Prayer for All of Our Priests and Consecrated Members: August 9th – 15th
Regnum Christi invites our entire spiritual family and all our friends to join us in praying especially for our brothers and sisters living the consecrated vocations of Legionary priests, Consecrated Women, and Lay Consecrated Men in our territory.
Each week throughout the year, we will pray together for a different group of Legionaries and Consecrated, spanning all the communities across the territory, as our “Priests and Consecrated of the Week.”
Our Consecrated members are men and women who have said yes to Christ’s call to follow him, leaving everything behind to dedicate their entire lives to him and to join him in the mission of building his Kingdom. We come together to support them with our prayer, asking our Lord to strengthen them, hold them close to his Sacred Heart, and give them his deep joy as they live their mission each day.
This Week We Pray for
Sonia Baldwin was born in Newcastle, Australia, and was consecrated in 2006. She has carried out her mission primarily in the administrative and financial fields, placing her professional experience at the service of the mission. During the early years of her consecrated life, Sonia served at the formation center in Rhode Island and supported fundraising initiatives. She later served at Everest Academy in Lemont, Illinois, as a formation instructor and member of the ECYD team in Chicago. She subsequently served as territorial finance officer for the North American Territory until 2020 in Atlanta, when she was appointed general finance officer of the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi in Rome. She was recently re-elected to this role for a further six-year term.
Fr. Simon Cleary, LC is from Dunedin, New Zealand, and was ordained in 2014. His older sister, Sarah, is a Consecrated woman of Regnum Christi and his younger brother, Fr. James, is a Legionary priest. As a priest, he has served as a missionary in Mexico, Italy, the United States, and Nicaragua. He is currently the chaplain to Mano Amiga Academy Philippines, a school that provides quality education and support for underprivileged families. Fr. Simon also preaches retreats in the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand. He is the author of “God’s Carpenter,” a small novel on the life of St. Joseph.
Claire Umali is from Manila, Philippines, and was consecrated in 2009—making her the very first Filipina Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi! Before her consecration, she served as an RC missionary for two years. She was assigned to the RC Manila Locality in 2013 after completing her formation years in Spain. Over the years, she has held various leadership roles in Manila, including Director of Mission Youth Philippines, Formation Director at Everest Academy Manila, ECYD Girls’ Director, and RC Young Women’s Section Director. Still residing in Manila, she serves as a board member for both Mano Amiga Academy and Everest Academy Manila, a council member to the RC Delegate in Asia, and the Community Director of the Consecrated Women.
Fr. Aaron Smith, LC was born in Forest Lake, Minnesota and was ordained in 2010. After serving in youth work in Florence, Italy, and Santiago, Chile, he served as Regnum Christi director in Detroit in 2014, as well as head of the board of Everest Collegiate in Clarkston, Michigan. Fr. Aaron then took on the role of international communications director in 2017, and served for six years in London, England. In 2024, he was named Territorial Directive College delegate. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where he also serves as LC community councilor.
Fr. Michael O’Connor, LC is from Grand Rapids, MI and was ordained in 2016. His first assignment as a priest was at Clear Water Academy, a Regnum Christi school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he served in various roles for six years. In 2022, Fr. Michael was sent to Cumming, Georgia, to serve as the boys’ ECYD director for RC Atlanta, running retreats and camps for middle school and high school students, as well as taking them on various pilgrimages and missions. In 2025, Fr. Michael took on his current role as the high school chaplain at Pinecrest Academy. He is also the LC community administrator for RC Atlanta.
Prayer for Priests and Consecrated Members in Regnum Christi
God our Father,
We thank you for our spiritual family of Regnum Christi, and for those within it that you have called to total consecration as Legionaries of Christ, Consecrated Women, and Lay Consecrated Men.
We ask you to renew their encounter with your Son Jesus Christ,
who goes out to meet them and reveals the love of his heart to them.
Deepen their personal love for Christ
and their trust in his love for them.
Gather them close to him,
form them,
and send them out accompanied by your Son,
in the mission of forming apostles and Christian leaders who make your Kingdom present in hearts, in families, and in society.
Send your Holy Spirit to sanctify and strengthen them,
And to help them respond generously and courageously to their mission each day.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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