SPECIAL PRAYERS
FOR A HOLY DEATH
Dear God, you require that all men must die. Since I do not know my hour of death, grant that I may pass all my days on earth in holiness and justice and that I may deserve to die with a good conscience and in your friendship. Amen.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you. Amen.
Blessed Mother, look after your child when death comes. Pray with me that I may have the strength to overcome the last temptations and obtain eternal salvation.
Merciful Jesus, by your agony, forgive the sinners of this world who are to die this day. Pity them in their last moments and, with your Holy Mother, embrace them for all eternity. This we beg, through your mercy and goodness. Amen.
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FOR THE SICK
Dear Lord, you bore our sufferings and carried our sorrows in order to show us clearly the value of human weakness and patience. I now turn to you to ask you to heal the soul and body of (name of patient). I know, Lord, that sin tears away relationships between people and you. But there is no illness and no wound that you cannot heal. Come and touch (name of patient) where she is most wounded and afflicted.
I believe in your healing power and I trust and hope that you will hear my request for my sick sister. If it is your will, however, that (name of patient) should carry this cross of illness then I humbly pray that you give her the strength and perseverance to bear her cross with love.
Grant that she and all those who are now weighed down with pain and other afflictions may realize that they are among the chosen ones whom you call blessed. Help them to understand that they are united with you in your sufferings for the salvation of the world. Amen.
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FOR THOSE WHO LIVE ALONE
Dear Lord, I pray that you will always stay by my side and guide me in all my daily activities. Grant me good health to carry on my daily work. Keep my mind, my thoughts and actions pure. Let me be kind and generous to people around me who are in need.
Protect me, Lord, from fire, from flood, from thieves, from malicious gossip, from fear and evil ones. Heal me in times of sickness or accidents. Lift up my heart when I feel low or lonely or desperate.
Dear Lord, I live alone but I have no fear, because I feel your continued presence in me. You are my strength, my fortress and my defender from all evil. Help me to always put all my trust and confidence in your great love for me. Amen.
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FOR MY HUSBAND
Lord Jesus, bless and preserve my cherished
husband, whom you have given to me; let his life be long and blessed,
comfortable and holy, successful and free. Let me ever be a blessing and
comfort to him, a sharer in all his sorrows, a consolation in all accidents and
trials of life; make me forever lovable in his eyes and forever dear to him;
unite his heart to mine in fondest love and holiness, and mine to him in all
sweetness, charity and submission. Keep me from all ungentleness; make me
humble and obedient, that we may delight in each other according to your
blessed Word. May both of us rejoice in you, having our portion in the love and
service in God. Forever. Amen.
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FOR MY WIFE
Lord Jesus, bless and preserve my cherished
wife, whom you have given to me; let her life be long and blessed, comfortable
and holy, successful and free. Help me to be the husband that you want me to be
for her. Let me ever be a blessing and comfort to her, a sharer in all her
sorrows, a strength in her moments of helplessness, a consolation in all
accidents and trials of life. Keep me from all ungentleness, infidelity,
ill-temper, and hasty judgment. Guard me from words or actions that may hurt,
ignore, or take her for granted. Let me treat her with honor and respect,
tenderness and compassion that we may delight in each other according to your
blessed Word. I place her in your care, Lord, knowing that your love for her is
greater than my own. Keep us close to each other in this life and guide us to
our true and heavenly home. Amen.
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FOR A HAPPY MARRIED LIFE
Dear Lord, You well know the sacrifices,
problems and hopes which come to all who embrace married life. Give us the
grace and love for one another and unite our hearts in unselfish harmony so
that, mindful of the needs and wishes of each other, we can live a devoted life
serving you by our faithful care for the family which you have given us. Grant
us patience that we may help each other to serve and love you here on earth.
May we never violate our pledge of love and fidelity. May we accomplish your
will in all things so that we may deserve to enjoy together in heaven the
happiness of eternity with you. Amen.
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FOR MY CHILDREN
Heavenly Father, make me a better parent.
Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to
say, and answer all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting them or
contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.
Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or
ridicule when they displease me. May I never punish them for my own selfish
satisfaction or to show my power. Let me not tempt my children to lie or steal
and guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that
honesty produces happiness. Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me. And when I am
out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue. May I ever be mindful that my
children are children and I should not expect of them the judgment of adults.
Let me not rob them of the opportunity to make their own decisions. Bless me
with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to
deny them privileges I know will do them harm. Make me fair and just and kind,
worthy to be loved and respected and imitated by my children. Amen.
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FOR THE HOME
Dear Lord, We humbly ask you to bless and
sanctify our home and all the members of our family. We offer you our gratitude
for all that you have done for us, for all that you have given to us, and for
the example of family virtues set for us by your own Holy Family. We consecrate
ourselves to you, our trials and our joys, so that our home may ever be a
shrine of peace, purity, love, labor and faith. Please protect and bless each
member of our family from all forms of danger, calamity, evil and temptation.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, look with compassion and love on all families
throughout the world. Give all of us the graces to be dutiful and pious as
parents, and holy and obedient as children, so that our home on earth may
foreshadow the love and happiness of our home which is prepared in heaven.
Amen.
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FOR MY PARENTS
Lord Jesus, I thank you for giving me my mother and father. Enlighten me so that I may realize the depth of their love and the greatness of the sacrifices they have done for me. Look upon them with mercy and love and reward them for their untiring generosity, love and care for me. Please grant them health of body, peace of soul, happiness of family, and your bountiful grace. Protect them from all dangers and temptations and keep them always in your peace and love. Amen.
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FOR MY FRIENDS
Lord, help me be a friend to all who need me. Show me how to share your love. Teach me to see you in others. Let me see that more important than money and personal achievements are the true friends I make and keep, the friends I'll come to love and cherish and always remember.
Lord, bless my friends. (Mention their names.)
Lead them closer to you just as you are doing to me. Deliver them whenever they are in darkness and draw them into the light of your love.
Cast out their cares, anxieties, worries and concerns. Sustain them with your peace and love and grant them your constant guidance throughout their lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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FOR LOVE AND SERVICE
Dear Lord, you created us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Please show us how to love you with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves. Teach us to be practical about loving one another in you and for you as you desire.
Show us our immediate neighbor today; the need of others is your call to our attention. Remind us that you count as done to you what we do for one another, and that our turning away from one another is really turning our backs to you.
Make us know, love and serve you in this life and be happy forever in the next in union with all our brothers and sisters, children of a common Father. To serve you is to reign. Amen.
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FOR A SPECIAL FAVOR
Dear Lord, You inspired us with confidence to come to you when in need. I know you will not refuse my prayer if, in your infinite wisdom, it is helpful for my eternal salvation.
I ask this favor with perfect resignation to your holy will. "Not my will but Thine be done." I am asking, seeking and knocking, as You encouraged.
And I humbly ask that, through your merits, love and sufferings, the favor I implore may be granted. Amen.
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IN TIMES OF DEPRESSION
Dear Lord, you are the one who created me and you are the one who has provided for my salvation and for my spiritual growth.
I firmly believe that you are a great God that loves me very much and that you do know where I am going and what is good for me. I humbly beseech you now, dear Lord, because I am confused, struggling and hurting in pain.
I am afraid and discouraged. I feel lost and very depressed. Let me feel your loving care and compassion. Let me feel your sense of purpose and understand what you have planned for me in this crisis that I am now undergoing.
Lord, you are my refuge, my hope and my stronghold in this very difficult time of my life. I lean on and confidently put my trust in you. For I know that you will not forsake me. I pray that you will let time heal this wound and I will become a better person because of your work in me in this crisis. Amen.
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FOR OUR COUNTRY
Lord, this is the land of my birth, the land I love. I am part of it and part of its people. You made this land and gave it to us. Rule among our people so that we may never misuse this gift through selfishness and greed.
Rule through our leaders and guide them in ways of justice and peace. Make us realize that we are called to spread the Good News not only among our own people but also throughout the whole world. So let us grow in faith, in hope, in love to become your faithful witnesses. Amen.
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FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Almighty and eternal God, may your grace enkindle in all men a love for
the many unfortunate people whom poverty and misery reduce to a condition of
life unworthy of human beings. Arouse in the hearts of those who call you,
Father, a hunger and thirst for social justice and for fraternal love in deed
and in truth. Grant, O Lord, peace in our days, peace to souls, peace to
families, peace to our country and peace among nations. Amen.
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FOR CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY
Dear Lord, so often I have turned my back
to the needs of others because of my selfishness. I have failed to reach the
perfection for which you created me, because of my unfaithfulness. Through your
mercy, I ask that I may resign all the graces which I have lost through my
carelessness and folly.
I hope that all others may regain any
graces they have lost through my own fault. Recognizing that I have sinned
through omission, I hereby consecrate myself to you and pledge participation in
those activities, civic and governmental, for which I am qualified to lend
assistance in the bettering of conditions and elimination of sufferings of my
neighbors.
I will stand for all just authority,
against violence, and will use all proper means to exercise the talents you
have given me to aid mankind. Bestow your blessings on all our government
officials so that they may fulfill their duties and obligations justly and
wisely. Amen.
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FOR INNER PEACE
Dear God, I beg that you give me the gift of inner peace, which comes to the pure of heart and those who love you. Protect me from myself and my tendency to love things too much.
Help me to control my passions, emotions and imagination. May I avoid criticism of others, all quarrels and contentions in order that I may acquire that perfect resignation to your holy will, which brings peace that the world cannot give.
Grant me the serenity to accept with patience the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
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BEFORE TRAVELLING
Dear Lord, once, you let the children of
Along the way, be our consolation. In the heat of the noonday sun, be our shade. In stormy weather, protect us. When we are weary, be our companion. In time of danger, be our protection. On slippery path, be our sturdy staff. In shipwreck, be our saving harbor.
Be our guide that we may reach the end of our journey and finally return to our home without misfortune. Amen.
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The Cross In My Pocket
I carry this cross in my pocket to remind me of who I can be, if I take up my cross and follow wherever my Savior leads me. The cross is not there as a token or a prize I can brag about. It’s there as a personal reminder of something I can’t live without.
It reminds me of Jesus my Savior Who died for me and now lives. Each day I remember my new life, and the blessings and gifts He gives. I carry this cross in my pocket along with my money and keys. I keep it close by to remind me of what’s most important to me.
This cross also is a reminder of the love that I feel in my heart for all of my fellow believers, a family of which I’m a part. So I carry a cross to remind me that along with my family and home, I take with me the love of Christ Jesus; With that I am never alone.
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The Road Ahead
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire and I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.
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Slow Me Down, Lord
Slow me down, Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me amid the confusion of the day the calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory.
Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep. Teach me the art of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values that I may grow towards stars of my greater destiny.
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PIETA
When you chose to create this world, you knew the blueprint and the design of my life: the moment of my conception, the day and hour when I would be born. You saw from all eternity the color of my eyes and you heard the sound of my voice. You knew what gifts I would have and those that I would be without. You knew also the moment and the circumstance of my dying.
These choices are all a part of your will for me. I will try lovingly to build an edifice of love and praise with these materials which you have given me. What I am is your gift to me. What I become will be my gift to you.
As to the future, I ask for the grace to sign a blank check and trustfully put it in your hands, for you to fill in all the amounts: the length of my life, the amount of success and the amount of failure, the experiences of pleasure and of pain. I would tremble to do this except for one thing: I know you love me. And, of course, you know much better than I what will truly and lastingly make me happy.
In response to your will, I want my life to be an act of love. Wherever there is a choice, help me to ask only this: What is the loving thing to do, to say, to be? To make the decision that love must, I seek and need your enlightenment. Touch my eyes with your gentle and healing hands that I might find my way along the winding course of love. Strengthen my will and direct my feet to follow that course always.
And whenever there is something special your love has designed for me to do in my life, let me be found ready and waiting. Help me to become a sensitive instrument of your grace. I believe that you have a providential master plan for this world, and I want to be a part of it. I want to make my contributions to your kingdom, the contribution you have entrusted only to me. I want you to use me to help love this world into the fullness of life.
Finally, my Lord and my God, let me be faithful in my commitment and dedication to your will, faithful until the end. Let “faithfulness” be the summary of my days and of my nights. Let the inscription on my tombstone read: PIETA.
(Some prayers are
taken from Presence: Prayers for Busy People; St. Paul Publication. 1991.)
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