Prayers for various needs – Fr. Innocent Abonyi's pastoral Diary

Lord, we thank you for our mothers
and the gift of
their tenderness and understanding,
their patience and thoughtfulness,
their kindness and love.

We can be so wilful,
so thoughtless,
so impatient,
and so unkind;
for often we demand without grace
and receive without thanks
and always we expect more.
We expect our mothers to be there
to cater to our selfishness,
and then we wonder why
she gets tired and irritable
and thoroughly fed up.
Yet through all these things she loves us.

Lord, teach us to be thoughtful
and understanding and sensitive to our mother’s needs,
that we may ease her days
and increase her joy.
We ask this through the generous and loving example
of our saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

For the expanding grandeur of Creation, worlds known and unknown, galaxies beyond galaxies, filling us with awe and challenging our imaginations:
We give thanks this day.
For this fragile planet earth, its times and tides, its sunsets and seasons:
We give thanks this day.
For the joy of human life, its wonders and surprises, its hopes and achievements:
We give thanks this day.
For our human community, our common past and future hope, our oneness transcending all separation, our capacity to work for peace and justice in the midst of hostility and oppression:
We give thanks this day.
For high hopes and noble causes, for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared:
We give thanks this day.
For all who have labored and suffered for a fairer world, who have lived so that others might live in dignity and freedom:
We give thanks this day
For human liberty and sacred rites; for opportunities to change and grow, to affirm and choose:
We give thanks this day.
We pray that we may live not by our fears but by our hopes, not by our words but by our deeds.
We give thanks this day. Amen.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,
– Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
– Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,
– Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being forgotten,
– Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being ridiculed,
– Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being wronged,
– Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being suspected,
– Deliver me, Jesus
That others may be loved more than I,
– Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
– Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase
and I may decrease,
– Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
– Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
– Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
– Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should,
– Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.

My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour!
For he has blessed me lavishly
and makes me ready to respond.
He shatters my little world
and lets me be poor before him.
He takes from me all my plans
and gives me more than I can hope for or ask.
He gives me opportunities and the ability to become free
and to burst through my boundaries.
He gives the strength to be daring, to build on him alone,
for he shows himself as the ever greater One in my life.
He has made known to me this;
It is in my being servant that it becomes possible.
For God’s kingdom to break through
here and now. Amen.

May all I do today begin with you, O Lord.
Plant dreams and hopes within my soul,
revive my tired spirit:
be with me today.May all I do today continue with your help, O Lord.
Be at my side and walk with me:
Be my support today. May all I do today reach far and wide, O Lord.
My thoughts, my work, my life:
make them blessings for your kingdom;
let them go beyond today,O God Today is new unlike any other day,
for God makes each day different.
Today God’s everyday grace falls on my soul like abundant seed,
though I may hardly see it.Today is one of those days Jesus promised to be with me,
a companion on my journey,
And my life today, if I trust him,
has consequences unseen.
My life has a purpose.”I have a mission…
“I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
God has not created me for naught…
Therefore I will trust him.
Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away.
God does nothing in vain.”He knows what he is about.” Amen.

(Attr. St. Bernard of Clairvaux)

Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we,
made in your image, may conform ourselves to it.
In our own strength we cannot image
your majesty, power and wonder;
nor is it fitting for us to try.

But your mercy reaches from the heavens,
through the clouds, to the earth below.
You have come to us as a small child,
but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts,
the gift of your eternal love.

Caress us with your tiny hands,
embrace us with your tiny arms,
and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries. Amen.

(from “,The Eternal Year”, Karl Rahner, S. J., 1904-84)

Now God says to us
What He has already said to the earth as a whole
Through His grace-filled birth:

I am there. I am with you.
I am your life. I am your time.
I am the gloom of your daily routine. Why will you not hear it?
I weep your tears – pour yours out to me.
I am your joy.
Do not be afraid to be happy; ever since I wept, joy is the standard of living
That is really more suitable than the anxiety and grief of those who have no hope.

I am the blind alley of all your paths,
For when you no longer know how to go any farther,
Then you have reached me,
Though you are not aware of it.

I am in your anxiety, for I have shared it.
I am in the prison of your finiteness,
For my love has made me your prisoner.

I am in your death,
For today I began to die with you, because I was born,
And I have not let myself be spared any real part of this experience.

I am present in your needs;
I have suffered them and they are now transformed.

I am there.
I no longer go away from this world.
Even if you do not see me now, I am there.

My love is unconquerable.
I am there.
It is Christmas.
Light the Candles! They have more right to exist then all the darkness.
It is Christmas.
Christmas that lasts forever.

(Fra Giovanni, Christmas Eve, 1513 A.D.)

There is nothing I can give you which you have not;
But there is much, very much, that while I cannot give,
You can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.
Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.
Take peace!
The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our
Reach is joy.
Take joy!
There is a radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see,
And to see we have only to look.
I beseech you to look!
Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by the covering,
Cast them away as ugly, or heavy, or hard.
Remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor,
Woven of love, by wisdom, with power.
Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand
That brings it to you.
Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty
Believe me, that angel’s hand is there, the gift is there,
And the wonder of an overshadowing presence.
Our joys, too, be not content with them as joys.
They, too, conceal diviner gifts.
Life is so full of meaning and purpose,
So full of beauty beneath its covering-
That you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.
And so, at this time, I greet you.
Not quite as the world sends greetings,
But with profound esteem
And with the prayer that for you, now and forever,
The day breaks, and all the shadows flee away.

(Attr. to Sir Francis Drake, 1577)

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love. Amen.

(Rosamond Herklots)

Forgive us Lord, as we forgive, you taught us, Lord, to pray,
But you alone can grant us grace to live the words we say.

How can your pardon reach and bless the unforgiving heart,
That broods on wrongs and will not let old bitterness depart?

In blazing light your cross reveals the truth we dimly knew:
What trivial debts are owed to us, how great our debt to you!

Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls and bid resentment cease.
Then, bound to all in bonds of love, our lives will spread your peace. Amen.

(John Greenleaf Whittier)

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm. Amen.

(Adapted from the song lyrics of “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan)

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young

(“The Pillar of Cloud”, John Henry Cardinal Newman; last verse Edward Bickersteth, Bishop of Exeter)

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on.
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Meantime, along the narrow rugged path,
Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Saviour, lead me home in childlike faith,
Home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.

(Thomas Merton 1915-1968)

O God, we are one with you.
You have made us one with you.
You have taught us that if we are open to one another,
you dwell in us.
Help us to preserve this openness
and to fight for it with all our hearts.
Help us to realize that there can be no understanding
where there is mutual rejection.

O God, in accepting one another
wholeheartedly, fully, completely,
we accept you,
and we thank you,
and we adore you,
and we love you with our whole being,
because our being is your being,
our spirit is rooted in your spirit.

Fill us then with love,
and let us be bound together with love
as we go our diverse ways,
united in this one spirit
which makes you present in the world,
and which makes you witness to
the ultimate reality that is love.

Love has overcome.
Love is victorious. Amen.

O sweet Child of Bethlehem,
grant that we may share with all the hearts
in this profound mystery of Christmas.
Put into the hearts of men this peace
for which they sometimes seek so desperately
and which you alone can give them.
Help them to know one another better,
and to live as brothers,
children of the same Father.
Reveal to them also your beauty, holiness and purity.
Awaken in their hearts
love and gratitude for your infinite goodness.
Join them all together in your love.
And give us your heavenly peace.
Amen, Amen.

In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us
and made us into tribes and nations,
that we may know each other,
not that we may despise each other.

If the enemy incline towards peace,
do thou also incline towards peace,
and trust in God,
for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things.

And the servants of God, Most Gracious
are those who walk on the Earth in humility,
and when we address them,
we say “PEACE.” Amen.

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.
Amen.

(A Salesian Prayer)

Dear Lord, as I take this exam,
I thank you that my value
is not based on my performance,
but on your great love for me.

Come into my heart
so that we can walk
through this time together.

Help me, not only with this test,
but the many tests of life
that will surely come my way.

As I take this exam,
bring back to my mind
everything I studied
and be gracious
with what I have overlooked.

Help me to remain focused and calm,
confident in the facts
and in my ability,
and firm in the knowledge
that no matter what happens today
you are there with me always. Amen.

(John Henry Cardinal Newman)

Oh, my Lord and Saviour,
support me in that hour in the strong arms of Your Sacraments,
and by the fresh fragrance of Your consolations.
Let the absolving words be said over me,
and the holy oil sign and seal me,
and Your own Body be my food,
and Your Blood my sprinkling;
and let my sweet Mother, Mary, breathe on me,
and my Angel whisper peace to me,
and my glorious Saints smile upon me;
that in them all,
and through them all,
I may receive the gift of perseverance,
and die, as I desire to live,
in Your faith,
in Your Church,
in Your service,
and in Your love. Amen.

O Jesus, Eternal Priest,
you who have lit in this world an undying flame,
enable those whom you have chosen for the episcopate
to share in the purposes of your divine Heart.

Give to those generous hearts upon whom you have bestowed
the fullness of your priesthood
the grace of honouring you and your Holy Church,
and multiply around them evermore
new and fervent apostles of your kingdom,
for the salvation of all peoples.

O Lord, grant that as they work in peace
and enjoy tranquillity of order,
the peoples and nations may prosper
under your most generous blessings,
and the Church extend ever more widely
her redeeming mission.

Save your people Lord: and bless your inheritance.
And govern them and lift them up for ever.

Go forth, O Christian soul, out of this world,
in the name of God the Father almighty, who created you;
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, who suffered for you;
in the name of the Holy Spirit, who was given to you;
in the name of the holy and glorious Mary, Virgin Mother of God;
in the name of blessed Joseph;
in the name of the angels, archangels, thrones and dominations;
in the name of the patriarchs and prophets, of the holy apostles and evangelists,
of the holy martyrs, confessors, monks and hermits,
of the holy virgins and of all the saints of God;
may peace be yours this day,
and may your home be in heaven.
Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Loving God, You speak to us
and nourish us through the
life of this church community.

In the name of Jesus, we ask you
to send your Spirit to us so that
men and women among us, young
and old, will respond to your call to
service and leadership in the church.

We pray for all ministers but, especially, for
those who hear your invitation to
be a priest, sister, brother, or deacon.

May those who are opening their hearts
and minds to your call be encouraged
and strengthened through our enthusiasm
in your service. Amen

(Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971)

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference;
living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

(Prayer from unknown author, adapted by Debra Mooney)

May God make this year a happy one!

Not by shielding us from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening us to bear it, as it comes;

Not by making our path easy,
But by making us sturdy and able to travel any path;

Not by taking hardships from us,
But by taking fear from our heart;

Not by granting us unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping our faces bright, even in the shadows;

Not by making our life always pleasant,
But by showing us people and causes that need us most,
and by making us anxious to be there to help.

God’s love, peace, hope and joy to us all for the year ahead. Amen.

(From a prayer of Catholic Relief Services following Typhoon Haiyan, November 2013)

Loving and gracious God,

All love and mercy compels us
to the side of our global brothers and sisters.

In our charity, and in our compassion,
-help us stand with them.
In our solidarity and in our sharing,
-help us stand with them.
In our advocacy, and in our prayer,
-help us stand with them.

And as we turn to them in their peril,
we ask your grace go with us;

To feed the hungry:
-give us your grace.
To give drink to the thirsty:
-give us your grace.
To clothe the naked:
-give us your grace.
To shelter the homeless:
-give us your grace.
To care for the sick:
-give us your grace.
To reach the trapped and the stranded:
-give us your grace.
To mourn the dead:
-give us your grace.

And in reaching out, may we find you in them.
And may they find you in us. Amen.

Give me, good Lord, a full and fervent charity,
a love of you, good Lord,
incomparable above the love of myself;
and that I love nothing to your displeasure
but everything in order to you.
Take from me, good Lord, this lukewarm fashion, or rather, this cold manner of meditation, and this dullness in praying to you.
Give me warmth, delight, and life in thinking about you.
And give me your grace to long for your holy sacraments and especially to rejoice in the presence of your blessed body, my sweet Saviour Jesus Christ, in the holy sacrament of the altar,
and duly to thank you for your graciousness in giving yourself to me. Amen.

(St. John Gabriel Perboyre)

O my Divine Saviour,
Transform me into Yourself.
May my hands be the hands of Jesus.
Grant that every faculty of my body
May serve only to glorify You.
Above all,
Transform my soul and all its powers
So that my memory, will and affection
May be the memory, will and affections
Of Jesus.
I pray You
To destroy in me
All that is not of You.
Grant that I may live
But in You, by You and for You,
So that I may truly say,
With St. Paul,
“I live – now not I –
But Christ lives in me”. Amen.

Hasten, O Lord! Enlighten my darkness, speak to my soul. Nothing happens without you permitting it, and nothing you permit is without comfort.

O Jesus, Son of God, you who were silent in the presence of your accusers, restrain my tongue until I find what I should say and how to say it.

Show me the path and make me follow it. In delay there is danger, but in haste there is likewise peril. Therefore Lord, give ear to my petition and show me the way.

I come to you, as the sick go to the doctor in search of aid. I long for you like the dying. O Lord, give peace to my heart. Amen

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 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 I will trust you always
though I may need 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.

(John Henry Cardinal Newman,)

I place myself in the presence of Him, in whose Incarnate Presence I am before I place myself there.
I adore You, O my Saviour, present here as God and Man, in Soul and Body, in true Flesh and Blood.
I acknowledge and confess that I kneel before the Sacred Humanity, which was conceived in Mary’s womb, and lay in Mary’s bosom;
which grew up to man’s estate, and by the Sea of Galilee called the Twelve, wrought miracles, and spoke words of wisdom and peace;
which in due season hung on the cross, lay in the tomb, rose from the dead, and now reigns in heaven.
I praise and bless, and give myself wholly to Him, Who is the true Bread of my soul, and my everlasting joy. Amen.

(Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, A Book of Blessings, Ottawa, Canada: Publications Service, 1981)

Blessed are you, loving Father,
for all your gifts to us.
Blessed are you for giving us family and friends
to be with us in times of joy and sorrow,
to help us in days of need,
and to rejoice with us in moments for celebration.

Father,
we praise you for your Son Jesus,
who knew the happiness of family and friends,
and in the love of your Holy Spirit.
Blessed are you for ever and ever. Amen.

(Walter Rauschenbusch 1861–1918)

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;
For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thorn bush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen

Blessed be God.
Blessed be his holy name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the name of Jesus.
Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be his most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most holy Sacrament of the altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and immaculate conception.
Blessed be her glorious assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, virgin and mother.
Blessed be St Joseph, her spouse most chaste.
Blessed be God in his angels and his saints.

Amen.

Lord God:
you alone are holy,
you who work wonders! You are strong, you are great,
you are the Most High,
you are the almighty King,
you, holy Father, King of heaven and earth.
Lord God: you are Three and you are One,
you are goodness, all goodness,
you are the higest Good,
Lord God, living and true.
You are love and charity, you are wisdom,
you are humility, you are patience,
you are beauty, you are sweetness,
you are sefety, you are rest, you are joy,
you are our hope
and our delight,
you are justice, you are moderation
you are all our wealth
and riches overflowing.
You are beauty, you are gentleness,
you are our shelter, our guard
and our defender,
you are strength, you are refreshment,
you are our hope.
you are our faith.
you are our love,
you are our complete consolation,
you are our life everlasting,
great and wonderful Lord,
all powerful God, merciful Savior!
Amen.

God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about. Amen.

(Attr. St Augustine of Hippo, 4th Century)

You are Christ, my Holy Father, my Tender God, my Great King, my Good Shepherd, my Only Master, my Best Helper, my Most Beautiful and my Beloved, my Living Bread, my Priest Forever, my Leader to my Country, my True Light, my Holy Sweetness, my Straight Way, my Excellent Wisdom, my Pure Simplicity, my Peaceful Harmony, my Entire Protection, my Good Portion, my Everlasting Salvation.

Christ Jesus, Sweet Lord, why have I ever loved, why in my whole life have I ever desired anything except You, Jesus my God? Where was I when I was not in spirit with You? Now, from this time forth, do you, all my desires, grow hot, and flow out upon the Lord Jesus: run… you have been tardy until now; hasten where you are going; seek Whom you are seeking. O, Jesus may he who loves You not be an anathema; may he who loves You not be filled with bitterness.

O, Sweet Jesus, may every good feeling that is fitted for Your praise, love You, delight in You, adore You! God of my heart, and my Portion, Christ Jesus, may my heart faint away in spirit, and may You be my Life within me! May the live coal of Your Love grow hot within my spirit and break forth into a perfect fire; may it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart; may it glow in my innermost being; may it blaze in hidden recesses of my soul; and in the days of my consummation may I be found consummated with You! Amen.

Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as you shine:
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.
None of it will be mine.
It will be you who shines through me upon others.
O let me praise you, in the way which you love best,
by shining on all those around me.
Give light to them as well as to me; light them with me, through me.
Teach me to show your praise, your truth, your will.
Make me preach you without preaching; not by words
but by my example and by the catching force, the sympathetic influence, of what I do –
by my visible resemblance to your saints,
and the evident fullness of the love which my heart bears for you.

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honour, and all blessing,
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,
through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.
Amen

John Bell (Iona Community)

You keep us waiting.
You, the God of all time,
want us to wait
for the right time in which to discover
who we are, where we are to go,
who will be with us, and what we must do.
So thank you … for the waiting time.

You keep us looking.
You, the God of all space,
want us to look in the right and wrong places
for signs of hope,
for people who are hopeless,
for visions of a better world which will appear
among the disappointments of the world we know.
So thank you … for the looking time.

You keep us loving.
You, the God whose name is love,
want us to be like you –
to love the loveless and the unlovely and the unloveable;
to love without jealousy or design or threat;
and, most difficult of all,
to love ourselves.
So thank you … for the loving time.

And in all this,
you keep us.
Through hard questions with no easy answers;
through failing where we hoped to succeed
and making an impact where we felt we were useless;
through the patience and the dreams and the love of others;
and through Jesus Christ and his Spirit,
you keep us.
So thank you …. for the keeping time,
and for now,
and for ever, Amen.

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit.

He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name.

If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil will I fear.

You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort.

You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow mw all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever. Amen.

Praised be my Lord God for all his creatures,
especially for our brother the sun,
who brings us the day and the light.
Beautiful is he and shines with great splendour; O Lord he shows you to us.
Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon and for the stars,
which he has set clear and lovely in the heavens.
Praised be my Lord for our brother the wind
and for the air, cloudy and serene, and for all kinds of weather,
by which You uphold the life in all creatures.
Praised be my Lord for our sister the water
who is useful and humble and precious and clean.
Praised be my Lord for our brother the fire
who, giving light in the darkness, is beautiful and playful and mighty and strong.
Praised be my Lord for our mother the earth,
who sustains us and keeps us with fruits and many-coloured flowers and grasses.

Praised be my Lord, through all who forgive and bear infirmity and suffering.
Blessed are all who endure in peace, for by You, my Lord, they shall be rewarded.
Praised be my Lord, through our sister Death, from whom no one living can escape.

All praise and bless the Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility.
Amen

(Author Unknown)

Fast from judging others;
Feast on Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from fear of illness;
Feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute;
Feast on speech that purifies.
Fast from discontent;
Feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger;
Feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism;
Feast on hope.
Fast from negatives;
Feast on encouragement.
Fast from bitterness;
Feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern;
Feast on compassion.
Fast from suspicion;
Feast on truth.
Fast from gossip;
Feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from problems that overwhelm;
Feast on prayer that sustains.
Fast from anxiety;
Feast on faith.

Amen.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation,
he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.

For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried

On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures:
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

A child’s thanksgiving for mothers (Giles Harcourt)

A Daily Prayer (by John Henry Newman)

A Lenten Prayer (Pope St Pius V, 1504-72)

A Prayer Giving Thanks (Rev O. Eugene Pickett, UUA)

Act of Charity

A Christian Litany of Humility (Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val)

A Sick Person’s Morning Prayer (From The Book of Common Prayer)

Act of Contrition

A Magnificat (tr. from German by Olga Warneke IBVM)

A Prayer for Easter (After the first letter of St Peter)

A Prayer for The Future

Act of Contrition (2)

Act of Faith

Act of Hope

A Prayer of Self-giving (Muslim Prayer)

An Orthodox Prayer

Be with Me Today, O Lord (by John Henry Newman)

Anima Christi (1)

Blessing to Brother Leo (St Francis of Assisi)

Child’s Prayer to Find God in All Things

Anima Christi (2) Pope John XXII (translated by Blessed John Henry Newman)

Beginning the Day

Child’s Bedtime Prayer

Children’s Grace at Meals

Christmas Peace Prayer

Christmas Prayer

Christmas – I Am There

Christmas Eve – Within our reach is Joy!

Christmas Prayer (Moonless darkness stands between)

Easter Prayer – Christ is Risen!

For Humility – Disturb Us, Lord

For the riches of inclusion and treasures of diversity

Glory Be

Come, My Light

Evening Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours)

For Peace in the Middle-East

For the Sick (St Benedict)

Forgiveness Prayer

Confiteor (I confess)

For children who live in fear

For the Beauty of God’s Peace

Forever Young

Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart

God be in my head (from The Book of Hours)

Grace at meals

Guardian Angel Prayer

Hail Holy Queen

Hail Mary

Hear, O Israel

Lead, Kindly Light

Native American Prayer for Peace

O God, We Are One With You

Holy Light Prayer (from the Liturgy of the Hours)

Live Simply Prayer

Love One Another – A Coptic Prayer

Morning Offering

Nativity Prayer

O My Lord Jesus (John Henry Newman)

O sweet Child of Bethlehem (Pope John XXIII)

Holy Spirit Prayer of St Augustine

Morning Offering (Marian)

Muslim Prayer for Peace

Night Prayer

Night prayer of St Augustine of Hippo

Offering

Our Father

Peace Prayer (of Saint Francis of Assisi)

Prayer before a Crucifix (St Francis of Assisi)

Prayer For a Sick Child

Prayer For a Sick Child

Praise God, Alleluia!

Prayer Before an Examination

Prayer for a Sick Person

Prayer at Pentecost

Prayer before Examinations (Adrian Porter SJ )

Prayer for a Happy Death

Prayer for Christlikeness

Prayer for Doctors and Nurses

Prayer for Peace

Prayer for the Bishops (Pope John XXIII)