Prayers
A place to turn to when words are missing, when you don't know what to pray, when you feel lost, even when you're in the car with friends.
Office Prayer
Lord, with you today is going to be a GREAT day!
Teach me to live with my belt tightened,
always ready,
always at service,
a life in love,
here, in my home.
May the unforeseen be your providence
and keep me always
standing,
awake,
waiting for your gift.
Break my schemes every day,
broaden my commitment
and open my ears to the needs
of those near and far.
I want to look into the eyes of your children
in every meeting, every call, and every email!
May each one you put in my path
be the first, last, and only one.
May the tasks be passions,
and the goals, to fill the world with the living.
And when my human strength is no longer enough,
and the evil one invites me to give up,
remind me to NEVER GIVE UP.
Thank you Master.
The Student’s
Mother Mary Immaculate,
who for having received in your womb the Word of God,
you are the Throne of Glory and Wisdom,
grant me the grace to study with order and perseverance,
with purity of intention and eagerness to serve.
Make my work bring me closer each day
more to you and your divine son;
may I never forget to offer it to him,
as I do now, so that my study hours may be,
truly, hours of prayer.
Help me also to achieve the human and supernatural fruit
that God expects from my study,
so that by sacrificing myself in work I may attain
the joy of loving you forever in heaven.
Essential
Looking at you with Christ I delight.
Your spirit as Queen beautifies you.
You know not even a shadow of death.
You only know how to say yes.
You offer your flesh to the Father and to your children.
Feminine, you protect me.
You only care about offering your Heart
where to rest the head.
I cannot do without you,
I cannot do without you.
Blessed among all women,
You who ignore your beauty.
Nothing of yours takes up space in you,
in you I fit whole.
With you I feel unique and calm.
Your gaze understands me.
I only want to have your Heart
where to rest my head.
I cannot do without you,
I do not want to do without you.
Not even God Himself could do without you.
He did not want to do without you,
He could not do without you.
Prayer for the Annoying Friend
My Lord Jesus Christ,
give me the grace to be able to speak directly
to the heart of my friend.
Holy Spirit, enlighten my understanding and my words
so that they may be appropriate.
Change my heart for a new one,
melt it with the fire of your love
and do the same with my friend's heart.
You have the power to do that.
I trust in you to change hearts
and cleanse souls.
I am only an instrument:
your instrument.
If You want, he will change;
if You want, he will realize.
I only ask you, Father, to let me love him as he is,
because if we only love those who love us,
what merit do we have?
With the hope always that whatever You want
you will change his heart,
I meanwhile will be attentive, patient, and helpful.
Do not allow me to speak ill of him;
do not allow me to separate from him.
May it be my cross to save many souls.
Help me to love him.
Only You, oh most loving God,
have the power to change hearts.
I ask you to change mine and his.
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
After the YES
I have already said yes to you, Lord.
I asked for advice, strength, to be brave,
to understand the situation, to know it.
Lord, I tore from my heart that which I relied on
And who gave me life...
And to live with you, one must die first.
And that has happened to me: I have died to be resurrected in you!
The tearing has been cruel;
the blood flowed, transparent with purity,
through the eyes that speak of your truth.
I have climbed the hill of Calvary with you
and I have let go of the love that binds me here,
not without first begging you a thousand times looking at the sky,
crying without consolation:
"Take this cup away from me, but let your will be done."
I still have thirst, ask for water and taste vinegar;
I still have to shout to you: "Why have you abandoned me?";
there is still a wonderful path, because your yoke is easy
and the burden light.
With the confidence that this is your will,
I tell you that I surrender to you and abandon myself in you.
"Leave your homeland, leave your house and come after me and follow my footsteps,
for I am with you.
Take your knapsack, take the staff and come after me."
So here I go, Lord.
Thank you for the call,
forgive the delay,
help me to respond.
Prayer for Peace (St. Francis of Assisi)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is offense, let me sow forgiveness;
where there is discord, let me sow union;
where there is error, let me sow truth;
where there is doubt, let me sow faith;
where there is despair, let me sow hope;
where there is sadness, let me sow joy.
Oh Master, make me seek not so much
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,
in forgetting that we find,
in forgiving that we are forgiven and
in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
To Make God Happy
I respect and admire you!
A whole life with you:
that is how I want to live.
Good morning, my Father,
I come to ask for your forgiveness.
Forgive me for asking so much.
Forgive me for listening so little.
Today I come just to look at you,
I want to ease your pain.
Since I'm not going to ask you for anything
I wouldn't ask you for anything,
but my human condition
insists on this exception:
Today I ask you to smile today!
What makes you happy?
Today I ask you only that:
what makes you happy!
Before Riding the Motorcycle
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
may we have a good trip,
free of fines, mishaps, and accidents;
may the Lord be on our way
and His angels accompany us.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
The Driver’s Prayer
Give me, Lord, a steady hand and watchful eye,
so that I cause no harm to anyone in my path.
Keep my life safe at every moment today.
Protect those who accompany me,
free them from all evil, illness, or accident.
Teach me to use my car generously;
let not the passion for speed drag me away,
and, admiring the beauty of this world,
may I complete my journey with all happiness.
I ask you, Lord, through our Mother.
Saint Raphael, pray for us.
Saint Christopher, pray for us.
Amen
The Artist’s
My good God, I wish to meet you
in this moment I am going to dedicate to seeking you in beauty.
I want to put all my talents at Your service,
so that through them Your light may shine in the world.
Make me aware, true God,
that all I have received is yours.
Give me the strength of Your Spirit and a burning desire
to live You in the gifts You have given me.
Grant me a grateful and responsible heart
that always lives in the wonder of Your generosity.
May Your beauty shine in every work you make arise in me,
so that everything is a true reflection of the living God that You really are.
Make everything I write, sing, dance, perform, shape
or paint participate in the joy of Your presence. May You enjoy
with us this time and may we be Your delight.
Lead us to You through Your beloved creation, so that
with the strength of Your Spirit we may expand Your eternal Embrace
in the world, through Jesus Christ, Your beloved son, our
Poor Madman and Lord.
Amen.
Alone
To begin your prayer
You and I alone,
Our time alone.
Lord, place two guards
at the door of my senses
During this time I want to leave out everything that is not you.
Everything out.
You take me by the hand
you take me out of the village.
You and I, alone!
I close my eyes:
I enter my inhabited solitude,
in this luminous darkness.
I have no footing,
I do not reason or understand,
nor do I have anything to understand.
I simply become aware
of making myself present to the only PRESENT
I am before the one I know loves me!
Awaken my ear,
so I can listen like the disciples.
I remember that you have done wonders,
and I want to taste and see how good the Lord is.
Like you, Mary, I gather myself in prayer.
Like you, I keep in my heart the reality of what I live.
Like you, Joseph, I want to enter God's dream.
My angel, help me.
Then I will open myself to everything and everyone
in a new way,
but now: you and I alone!
Prayer of the Sucker
I surrender myself to you, my good God,
because I want to get involved for your Church
following, together with others, in communion with them,
the lifestyle of Hakuna.
Lord, I will kneel before you in the Host,
give us a life on our knees
before the mystery and before every face.
Lord, I will open myself to the distant ones;
infect us with Your passion
so that none are lost.
Lord, I will seek you alive in the Gospel,
liturgy and sacraments,
show yourself as our poor madman.
Lord, I will smile and look into the eyes,
remind us that we have not come
to criticize or judge, but to save.
Lord, I will embrace every reality
with the immeasurability of the cross;
restore our unity,
and transfigure our flesh now.
Lord, I will go to the parties seeking
that they be moments of Life,
make us find you suffering
in those thirsty for pleasure.
Lord, I will thank your trust every new day,
may a deep sense of your presence
make every day a celebration.
Mary, mother of Hakuna,
may we only know how to say 'Yes' with you,
may we live on our knees, embraced and embracing,
with the joyful face of the resurrected;
and remind us to pray every day, ALL FOR ALL.
To discover your vocation
<<< A whole God delights in conquering me. Lord, may I know how to be in this moment so uniquely ours! May I accept the poverty of not understanding. May I find wealth in the flow of your love within me. May I discover wisdom in the play of your ordinary providence, without special effects. I give you my "Yes" to face this restlessness you have placed in me. Like someone getting to know a person and wanting to know if it is truly them, I want to know if you invite me to be exclusively yours. I commit to the yes: facing it without reservations, without fears, without buts, without limits, without asking for proof. Only then will I discern! Father: may I imitate the greatness of your creative "Yes": I see creation, and you could not have been more magnificent. Son: may I be sent as you are sent by the Father. Spirit: may I hear in the silence the sighs of the Father, who desires to embrace all men with our arms in his eternal bosom. May this way of loving, your fatherhood as my fatherhood, resonate strongly within me. Your espousal as my espousal, your gift in my desire for self-offering for all. For the smallest. I for all so that you may be in all. Finally, Father, when you knock on my door each day, may you be able to say to me: "Yes, I know you, enter into my intimacy, enter into glory. You are fulfilling the name I gave you when I gave you life!" Mary, who were the Recipient of the Gift, may we only know how to say "Yes" with you. Amen. >>>
Since Youth
I want to live life:
that knows how to enjoy everything,
that does not sell me to false fun,
that seeks happiness within me.
I want to bet on great ideals:
that knows that my life is worth a lot,
that does not sell me to mediocrity,
that seeks to serve and love.
I want to get my choices right:
that knows how to distinguish good and evil,
that does not sell me to be like others,
that seeks what is worthwhile.
I want to be free:
that knows how to enslave myself for love,
that does not sell me to whim or passion,
that seeks inner freedom in you, Lord.
The Erasmus One
Thank you, my Lord, thank you for this experience in this country.
Make me truly aware of the real privilege
that it is for me,
and help me to make the most of it:
I do not deserve it,
I am aware that this situation indebts me.
Help me to ask myself repeatedly:
"What do you want from me on this journey?".
May it not be a time for me, but for others.
May I not seek to have a good time, but that others have a good time.
May I not waste any of the opportunities
it offers me to enrich myself.
May I take advantage of this situation to learn to be free.
May I not confuse these months with a sabbatical year:
increase my hunger to prepare myself as best as possible
in order to later serve society
and intervene in the world to improve it effectively.
May each day bring me closer and closer to you
and thus be a light for every person I meet.
May I be able to convey you, not only with words,
but, above all, with my joy and example.
May I know and love more each day those around me:
their hopes, worries, interests...
May I know that the best thing I can teach a person
is to truly love people.
May I love every new person I meet,
and give myself to them.
May I abandon myself in you,
aware that I can do nothing without your help.
Ultimately, may it be Christ in this university,
and may I see Christ in every person I meet.
Because it is by forgetting oneself, that one finds oneself.
Because it is by "losing" the Erasmus, that one gains it.
Amen.
To Surrender to God
Die now this self,
and let another live in me who is more than I
and for me better than I,
so that I can serve him.
He lives and gives me life:
He reigns and I am his captive,
for my soul desires no other freedom.
Saint Teresa of Jesus
The Opponent’s
Thank you Lord for this new day.
Thank you for the privilege of doing what I desire.
I ask you for strength to overcome difficulties,
intelligence to make the most of it,
humility to not give up in the face of failure,
patience to reap the fruits in their time.
But above all, give me a heart
that knows how to discern what you want from me each day.
You know Lord that I have chosen this path to
serve you better and my brothers.
Take all my effort, work, and suffering to
alleviate part of theirs.
Mary, Mother, I know you take care of me as you took care of your Son.
Teach me to study, to feel, to love as Jesus would.
Teach me to live with all my soul.
The One About Marriage
You teach love in a piece of bread!
White bread, we come to silently watch you,
to lean on your chest like John at the Last Supper,
to match our heartbeats with yours,
until we ardently desire to give life until the end;
to learn to love each other by looking at you,
until we too let ourselves be looked at without fear.
Jesus chewed by our teeth...
May we always be available to each other.
May I heal him with my forgiveness
and seek my healing in his.
May he unconditionally find tenderness in me.
May he live to feed and quench his thirsts.
May he let me be chewed by the teeth
of his imperfections.
Bread that you have come to set fire to the earth...
May our marriage burn.
May your love reach him through my love.
May your style be our style.
May we be a visible image of your invisible love.
May we spread life, peace, unity, joy, and hope.
Bread that you are living flesh...
May your infinity reach him in the tenderness of my flesh.
May the union of our bodies
be joy for body and soul.
May you fill our giving with fruitfulness.
May he understand that 'I am' to be his help.
May I make life calm, joyful, and fun for him.
Living bread that gives life to man...
The world needs the light of Christian marriages:
for those who are struggling or afraid now,
for those who live separated physically or spiritually,
for those who heroically suffer some infidelity,
for those who have lost the freshness of first love:
may none be lost! may none be lost!
You, who teach love in a piece of bread!
My Life is Christ
Proclaims my soul the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God, my savior,
because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant.
My life is Christ.
With Christ, I am a son.
I have roots. I am not the beginning of anything: "I come from".
I have a Father: my Father is God-Love.
I have a Mother: queen and mother of mercy.
I am calm within his eternal embrace.
With Christ, I am husband (fiancé) of the new Jerusalem,
the most beautiful.
Ecclesia is her name: "I live for and by her".
I am captivated by her beauty and,
on my knees,
I embrace her with all my soul,
human and divine,
one and diverse,
unique and universal,
sick and healthy.
With Christ, I am brother of the same Jesus of Nazareth,
of all men and of priests in a special way.
May we grow together in the priesthood, as a family,
embracing and being embraced, loving each other,
taking care of each other and letting ourselves be cared for: "I am with".
We ask you for the unity of all seminarians,
priests and Bishops, all fans of all.
With Christ, I am father, fatherhood received and shared.
Yes, I am the beginning of life for many: "I am for".
I have children, many children, all children:
of each one as if unique,
of anyone as known all my life,
and of those who suffer as a favored child.
I have no footing, I live in the Mystery, secure only in Christ.
I am a man: my legs fail me, fear paralyzes me,
loneliness stuns me and doubts assault me.
But I am a man taken by the Spirit,
who transfigures me without me knowing it.
You perform wonders with my arm, You embrace with my arms.
Blessed if I believe with all my soul
because what You have told me, Lord, will be fulfilled.
The One for Singles
Lord, I now place in your hands
the person I will one day fall in love with,
with whom I will share my entire life.
I ask you to bless them, take care of them, and help them.
Wherever they go,
bless their path, keep their spirits up, guide their steps,
strengthen their heart and show them your mercy.
Do not allow anything to harm their capacity to love.
Although I most likely do not know them yet
fill them with joy and make them generous.
Help me to be better to become
more worthy to be by their side;
let me know how to wait until the day I meet them,
let me prepare by learning to love each one
as they need to be loved.
Educate my heart to love selflessly.
Let me now live the mystery of sexuality
as it deserves to be lived.
During this time of waiting help me
to train myself to love one hundred percent.
Bless us and fill us with love.
I want to live now for him/her; therefore,
if you don't mind, make me meet them soon.
The Couple’s
You have taken me to wonder since
love entered my life.
I think I know you a little better
since I met N.
Thank you, and may in N. and with N.
I find the peace and happiness that
by myself I could not reach.
We want to get it right during our courtship:
know each other without deceit,
relate without reservations,
give and accept each other as we are,
see each other as a gift without getting used to it any day...,
and so many lessons we need to learn.
We are laying the foundations of what we want to be
the masterpiece of our life.
May we accept the demands of this time,
may we learn to wait,
may we get used to wanting the good of the other,
may we master instincts so that later
they can be a vehicle of the purest love.
May we learn to argue, to respect,
to give in and not to give in,
may we discover our way of
forgiving each other without resentment;
may it never occur to us to want to change the
other before understanding them...
And above all, may our trust grow:
may we learn to bare our souls
before each other without hurting,
may we always give and receive tenderness
—your tenderness!— from each other.
We come to learn from you how to nourish ourselves,
to ask you for all the couples in the world,
and to tell you that we accept the challenge of teaching
the world to be couples with Christian style:
freedom, integrity, peace, union, forgiveness, gift,
gratuitousness, purity, joy, hope, sincerity...
Finally, in the
moments when we do not know
whether to move forward or give up, give us light.
If I am not to be better for N. and N. for me,
if we are not one for the other, separate us;
allow us to reach, each by their own path,
to meet again with you in Heaven.
Mary, take care of us!
