“I do not ask, O Lord, that Thou shouldst shed
Full radiance here;
Give but a ray of peace that I may tread
Without a fear’
I do not ask my cross to understand,
My way to see—
Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand
And follow Thee.
Joy is like restless day; but peace divine
Like quiet night;
Lead me on, O Lord—till perfect day
shall shine
Through peace to Light.”
Adelaide Procter: Per Pacem ad Lucem (19th century)
Our Heavenly Father make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say and to answer their questions kindly.
Keep me from interrupting or contradicting.
Help me to be as courteous to them as I want them to be to me.
Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule.
May I never punish them out of anger or spite or to show my power.
Help me, dear Lord, to demonstrate by all that I say and do that honesty does produce happiness.
Reduce, dear Lord, the meanness in me. And when I am out of sorts, help me to hold my tongue.
May I be ever mindful that my children are merely children and that I should not expect them to have the maturity and judgement of adults.
Let me not rob them of the opportunity to do things for themselves or to make their own decisions.
Help me to grant them all reasonable requests and give me the courage to deny them the privileges that I think may be harmful.
Help me to be fair and just and kind, O Lord, so that I will earn their love and respect and they will want to imitate me. This is the supreme compliment.
Amen.
A Prayer for Religious Liberty
Blessed are you God and I praise you for the gift of freedom. This day, I pray especially for government leaders – the men and women elected or appointed as the stewards of our rights and the overseers of our needs. Grant them true discernment so that they may never stray from the duties with which we citizens have entrusted them to uphold our religious freedom and care for our well-being. Give me the power to touch with your truth everything and everyone I meet. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
I discovered this beautiful prayer on-line, today, and had to share it. There are so many ‘kinds’ of mothers that need prayer and this offering covers many sides of that vocation we may not even thing about. It is given each year by Bruce Edward Wilson, the pastor of West Main Baptist Church.
Gracious God, today is Mother’s Day and we think of how we have been blessed by our mothers. Many of us have been blessed by our mothers in ways that stir deep emotion and loyalty and today we give overwhelming thanks for a strong mother’s love.
But God, I also think that today is a tough day for many women. Mother’s Day does not bring thoughts of solace and joy, but troubles the heart.
God, please hear my prayer for women who are having a hard time as mothers. I pray for the mothers who are estranged from their children, who don’t know where their children are, whose children will not speak to them. I pray for mothers whose children have hurt them and disappointed them and used them. I pray for the mothers who have given so much and their love is threadbare and tired. I pray for the mothers who are trying to do it alone because their husbands have left them or their husbands don’t care. I pray for mothers who realize too late they messed up as mothers and the guilt is overwhelming and they wish they could go back and fix things, but they don’t know how. Everyday they look for an open door.
God, I pray for mothers who have buried their children. I think of the mothers of children who have been senselessly killed. What a grief these mothers must carry, what a burden of sorrow. I think of the mothers of soldiers who have fallen this year in war. Mothers who have lost their children to starvation, to storms and floods, to violence in the street, to disease. In your mercy, comfort them today.
There are other women, God, for whom I pray. I pray for the many women who want to be mothers, but cannot and on this day they feel awkward. May they know you are with them, Lord.
And God, I pray also for those children here today whose mothers have died and they miss their mothers so much. I pray for those whose mothers are sick or far away. I pray for those whose mothers abandoned them, ran off and left them. I pray for those who would give anything to see their mother, but instead feel an emptiness today.
I pray for those children whose mothers were not good mothers, but who were distant or selfish or hateful, who were so preoccupied with their own problems and their own desires that they had no room left for their children. I wish the world were not like this God, but I know it is and that there are children in this room who ache today when they think of their mothers. They do not have happy thoughts; they have sad thoughts. Be with these today, Lord. Comfort them in your love.
Loving God, being a parent is joyous, yes, but it is also challenging. Help the mothers in this room, and the fathers, too. We need your help, we really do. Strengthen us today and tomorrow and every day. In the tender kindness of Jesus we pray. Amen.
A Priest’s Prayer
I am not alone.
Each day as a Priest I give advice with the Counselor. (Isaiah 9:6)
I solve conflicts with the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
I watch over the sheep with the Shepherd. (John 10:11)
I guide and instruct with the Teacher. (John 1:49)
I ease pain and grief with the Comforter. (2 Corinthians 1:3)
I strengthen the weak with my Rock of Refuge. (Psalm 31:2)
I build and construct with my cornerstone. (1 Peter 2:6)
I follow in the footsteps of my Leader. (Isaiah 55:4)
I make decisions with the help of the Righteous Judge. (2 Tim 4:8)
I even walk in darkness surrounded by the LIGHT. (John 1:4)
I feel protected by the Shield. ( Genesis 15:1)
I take advice from the Advocate. (1 John 2:1)
I foresee the future with the Prophet. (Luke 7:16)
I feel healed by the Physician. (Luke 4:23)
I wait and pray with my HOPE. (Psalm 71:5)
I feel fortified by the Tower of salvation. (2 Samuel 22:51)
In times of trouble, I feel saved by my redeemer. (Isaiah 59:20)
If I start to lose perspective, I remember of my eternal life.(1 John 5:20)
I nurture and nourish myself with the living bread. (John 6:51)
I am deeply in love with my beloved. (Matthew 12:18)
I rely for support on my Faithful witness. (Revelation 1:5)
I feel safe and secure in the presence of my Defender. (Psalms 84:11)
I forget about my past because I behold my beginning. (Colossians 1:18)
I feel invigorated by my strength. (Psalm 27:1)
I am truly fortified by my fortress. (Psalm 18:2)
I find companionship with my Friend. (proverbs 18:24)
I bow before the KING of Kings. (Revelation 17:14)
and I follow the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6)
I am not alone.
A friend passed this along. It is an amazing way to remember the intentions of your prayers. Leave it to Pope Francis to share such a meaningful way with us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us. From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us. From sins against human life from its very beginning, deliver us. From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us. From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us. From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us. From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us. From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us. From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world,”sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the redemption: the power of merciful love. May it put a stop to evil. May it transform consciences. May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope. Amen
As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen
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