Chapter 12
PRAYERS
Prayer of Trust
Thomas Merton
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think 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 I have that desire in all 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, I will trust you always, though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you never leave me to face my perils alone.
Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.
Saint Theresa of Avila
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out to the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless his people.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
The fruit of silence is prayer.
The fruit of prayer is faith.
The fruit of faith is love.
The fruit of love is service.
Lord, open our eyes that we may see you in our brothers and sisters.
Lord, open our ears that we may hear the cries of the hungry, the cold, the frightened, the oppressed. Lord, open our hearts that we may love each other as you love us.
Renew our Spirit. Lord, free us and make us one.
Prayer from The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis (1379 - 1471)
O Almighty God, let your grace assist us, that we who have undertaken the office of Priesthood, may be able to wait upon you worthily and devoutly, in all purity, and with a good conscience. And if we cannot live in so great innocence of life as we ought to do, grant to us, at the least, worthily to lament the sins that we have committed; and in the spirit of humility, and with the full purpose of a good will, to serve you more earnestly for the time to come. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Guardian Angel of Portugal
to the Fatima Seers
(1916)
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I adore you profoundly. I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which he is offended. And through the infinite merits of his Most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.
Prayer for Those We Love
Saint Ambrose of Milan (339 - 397)
Lord God, we can hope for others nothing better than the happiness we desire for ourselves. Therefore, I pray you, do not separate me after death from those I tenderly loved on earth. Grant that where I am they may be with me, and that I may enjoy their presence in heaven after being so often deprived of it on hearth. Lord God, I ask you to receive your beloved children immediately into your life-giving heart. After this brief life on earth, give them eternal happiness. Amen.
Prayer by Saint Augustine
(354 - 430)
Watch, dear Lord, with those who wke or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O lord Jesus Christ, rest your weary ones, bless your dying ones, soothe your suffering ones, shield your joyous ones, and all for your love's sake.
Old Gaelic Blessing
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rains fall softly upon your fields. Until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
Prayer for Peace
Pope Leo XIII
(Pont. 1878 - 1903)
O Lord, you see how everywhere the winds have burst forth, and the sea is convulsed with the great violence of the rising waves. Command, we beseech you, you who alone are able, both the winds and the sea. Restore to mankind the true peace of your Name, that peace which the world cannot give and the calm of social harmony. Under your favor and inspiration may men return to due order, and having overthrown the rule of greed, bring back again as ought to be, the love of God, justice, charity toward neighbor, temperance in all desires. May your kingdom come. May all recognize that they are subject to you, and must serve you who are truth and salvation; that without you they labor in vain. In your law is reason and fatherly kindness. You are ever at hand with your strength and your copious power to help man to keep it. Life upon earth is a warfare, but you watch the contest and aid the man to conquer. The week you sustain; the victor you crown.
Prayer for Peace
Pope John XXIII
(Pont. 1958 - 1963)
Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace, who are yourself our peace and a reconciliation, who so often said, "Peace to you," grant us peace. Make all men and women witness of truth, justice, and brotherly love. Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace. Enlighten our rulers that they may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace. May all the people of the earth become as brothers and sisters. May longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always over us all.
Prayer for Peace
Pope John Paul II
(Pont. 1978 - 2005)
O God, Creator of the Universe, who extends your paternal concern over every creature and guides the events of history to the goal of salvation, we acknowledge your fatherly love when youbreak the resistance ofmankingd and , in a world torn by strife and discord, you make us ready for reconciliation. Renew for us the wonders of yourmercy: send forth your Spirit that He may work in the intimacy of hearts, that enemies may begin to dialogue, that adversaries may shake hands and people may encounter one another in harmony. May all commit themselves to the sincere search for true peace which will e xtinguish all arguments, for charity which overcomes hatred, for pardon which disarms revenge.
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