Prayer
Prayers to the Holy Spirit
Spirit of God,
descend on me this day.
Grant me the Spirit of joy, to lift me,
the Spirit of hope to inspire me,
the Spirit of love to surround me and
the Spirit of truth to enlighten my path.
Holy Spirit,
I pray for a new outpouring of your grace,
so that I may grow in worship of your name
in love of you in my prayer
and in my actions towards others.
Come Holy Spirit into my life to guide me.
Strengthen and defend me,
so that I may be drawn ever closer to you.
Help me this day and always
to be a channel of grace
in all I say and do
and invite others into relationship with you.
Amen
Breathe into me, Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit,
that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may always be holy.
(St Augustine)
Psalm 29
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
Lord, I will give you all praise, for you have rescued me
and not let my foes triumph over me.
My Lord God, I cried to you
and you healed me.
Lord, you led my soul out from the underworld,
gave me life so that I would not sink into the abyss.
Sing to the Lord, his holy ones,
and proclaim the truth of his holiness.
His anger lasts a moment,
but his favour for a lifetime.
At night there are tears,
but in the morning, joy.
Once I was secure. I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
Lord, by your
favour you had given me strength, set me high;
but then you turned your face from me
and I was shaken.
I cried to you, Lord,
and prayed to my God.
“What use is my life,
when I sink into decay?
Will dust proclaim you,
or make known your faithfulness?”
The Lord heard and took pity on me.
The Lord became my helper.
You have turned my weeping into dancing,
torn off my sackcloth and clothed me in joy,
It is my glory to sing to you and never cease:
Lord, my God, I will proclaim your goodness for ever.
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
St Thérése of Lisieux
O my God! I ask you for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfil perfectly your holy will, to accept for love of you the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all eternity. Amen.
Isaiah 54
The mountains may depart,
the hills be shaken,
but my love for you will never leave you
and my covenant of peace with you will never be broken,
says the Lord who takes pity on you.
Prayer of St John Henry Newman
May God support us all the day long
till the shadows lengthen
and the evening comes
and the busy world is hushed
and the fever of life is over
and our work is done –
then in mercy –
may God give us a safe lodging
and a holy rest
and peace at the last.
The Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God, my saviour.
Because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
From this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm:
he has routed the proud of heart,
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
the rich he has sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
according to the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Prayer of St Patrick (St Patrick's Breastplate)
I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.Christ shield me today
Against wounding
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 down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation.
Icelandic hymn 1208 (by the Viking, Kolbeinn Tumason)
Hear, maker of the heavens,
what the poet asks.
May softly come unto me
thy mercy.
So I call on thee,
for thou hast created me.
I am thy slave,
thou art my Lord.
Prayer of St Francis
Most High, Glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of our minds.
Give us a true faith, a firm hope and a perfect charity,
so that we may always and in all things act according to Your Holy Will.
Prayers of St Anselm
O Lord, we bring before you the distress and dangers of peoples and nations, the pleas of the imprisoned and the captive, the sorrows of the grief-stricken, the needs of the refugee, the impotence of the weak, the weariness of the despondent, and the frailty of the ageing. O Lord, stay close to all of them. Amen.
O Lord my God,
Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,
Where and how to find you.
You have made me and remade me,
And you have bestowed on me
All the good things I possess,
And still I do not know you.
I have not yet done that
For which I was made.
Teach me to seek you,
For I cannot seek you
Unless you teach me,
Or find you
Unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire,
Let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you,
Let me love you when I find you.
Daily Prayer: St Thomas Aquinas
Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen
Prayer of St Augustine
Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you,
the joy of the hearts that love you,
and the strength of the wills that serve you;
grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you,
and so to love you that we may fully serve you,
whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus Christ our Lord
Prayer for World Peace (Pax Christi)
The peace Jesus gives us
is a peace for today and for the future.
May the Lord give us this peace,
full of hope,
that makes us fruitful,
that makes us communicative with each other,
that creates community
and that always looks to the definitive
peace of Paradise. Amen
Evening Prayer of St Augustine
Watch, Lord, with those who wake or weep tonight.
Give the angels and saints charge over those who sleep.
O Lord Jesus Christ, tend your sick ones, rest Your weary ones,
bless Your dying ones, soothe the suffering ones,
pity all the afflicted ones, shield the joyful ones,
and all for Your love's sake. Amen.
Prayer of St Augustine
Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you,
the joy of the hearts that love you,
and the strength of the wills that serve you;
grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you,
and so to love you that we may fully serve you,
whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus Christ our Lord
Coronavirus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, you travelled through towns and villages curing every disease and illness. At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the Coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.
Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through medical care. Heal us from our fear.
Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace.
Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they serve. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.
Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Lord Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace. Lord Jesus, heal us. Amen
Prayer for the Unemployed
Father, our world is the work of your creation. In these troubled times look lovingly and compassionately on the growing number of those unemployed and without work. Many are unable to provide for themselves and their families. May they not lose their confidence and self-respect. Help those who run firms and businesses which have folded due to the Coronavirus. Lead all those with feelings of inadequacy to find the dignity of work in new and lasting opportunities. Help especially those living on the margins of society, the homeless, those who have lost their homes, families and increasingly rely on handouts, credits and food banks. Guide us to act selflessly and responsibly to avoid further lockdowns. May all men and women, through their employment, become part of your creative work. We ask this through Christ, your Son. Amen.
Prayer from Citeaux (Cistercian Abbey)
Father of mercy,
your love embraces all
and, through the resurrection of your Son,
You call them into your beautiful light.
Dispel our darkness
and make of us a single people
who sing praise without end
to our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner (Repeat at least three times thinking of each word in the prayer and about your relationship to God)
Words of St Augustine and a related prayer
God does not command impossibilities, but by commanding admonishes you do what you can and to pray for what you cannot, and aids you that you may be able.
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next. Amen
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 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 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 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.
St Therese of Lisieux on prayer
In order to secure a hearing there is no need to recite set prayers composed for the occasion... I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers. I only get a headache because of their number, and besides, one is more lovely than another. Unable therefore to say them all, and lost in choice, I do as children who have not learned to read--I simply tell Our Lord all that I want, and He always understands. With me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy. In a word, it is something noble, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites it to God. Sometimes when I am in such a state of spiritual dryness that not a single good thought occurs to me, I say very slowly the "Our Father" or the "Hail Mary," and these prayers suffice to take me out of myself, and wonderfully refresh me.
Spirit of God,
descend on me this day.
Grant me the Spirit of joy, to lift me,
the Spirit of hope to inspire me,
the Spirit of love to surround me and
the Spirit of truth to enlighten my path.
Holy Spirit,
I pray for a new outpouring of your grace,
so that I may grow in worship of your name
in love of you in my prayer
and in my actions towards others.
Come Holy Spirit into my life to guide me.
Strengthen and defend me,
so that I may be drawn ever closer to you.
Help me this day and always
to be a channel of grace
in all I say and do
and invite others into relationship with you.
Amen
Breathe into me, Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit,
that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may always be holy.
(St Augustine)
Psalm 29
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
Lord, I will give you all praise, for you have rescued me
and not let my foes triumph over me.
My Lord God, I cried to you
and you healed me.
Lord, you led my soul out from the underworld,
gave me life so that I would not sink into the abyss.
Sing to the Lord, his holy ones,
and proclaim the truth of his holiness.
His anger lasts a moment,
but his favour for a lifetime.
At night there are tears,
but in the morning, joy.
Once I was secure. I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
Lord, by your
favour you had given me strength, set me high;
but then you turned your face from me
and I was shaken.
I cried to you, Lord,
and prayed to my God.
“What use is my life,
when I sink into decay?
Will dust proclaim you,
or make known your faithfulness?”
The Lord heard and took pity on me.
The Lord became my helper.
You have turned my weeping into dancing,
torn off my sackcloth and clothed me in joy,
It is my glory to sing to you and never cease:
Lord, my God, I will proclaim your goodness for ever.
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
St Thérése of Lisieux
O my God! I ask you for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfil perfectly your holy will, to accept for love of you the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all eternity. Amen.
Isaiah 54
The mountains may depart,
the hills be shaken,
but my love for you will never leave you
and my covenant of peace with you will never be broken,
says the Lord who takes pity on you.
Prayer of St John Henry Newman
May God support us all the day long
till the shadows lengthen
and the evening comes
and the busy world is hushed
and the fever of life is over
and our work is done –
then in mercy –
may God give us a safe lodging
and a holy rest
and peace at the last.
The Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God, my saviour.
Because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
From this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm:
he has routed the proud of heart,
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
the rich he has sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
according to the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Prayer of St Patrick (St Patrick's Breastplate)
I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.Christ shield me today
Against wounding
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 down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation.
Icelandic hymn 1208 (by the Viking, Kolbeinn Tumason)
Hear, maker of the heavens,
what the poet asks.
May softly come unto me
thy mercy.
So I call on thee,
for thou hast created me.
I am thy slave,
thou art my Lord.
Prayer of St Francis
Most High, Glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of our minds.
Give us a true faith, a firm hope and a perfect charity,
so that we may always and in all things act according to Your Holy Will.
Prayers of St Anselm
O Lord, we bring before you the distress and dangers of peoples and nations, the pleas of the imprisoned and the captive, the sorrows of the grief-stricken, the needs of the refugee, the impotence of the weak, the weariness of the despondent, and the frailty of the ageing. O Lord, stay close to all of them. Amen.
O Lord my God,
Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,
Where and how to find you.
You have made me and remade me,
And you have bestowed on me
All the good things I possess,
And still I do not know you.
I have not yet done that
For which I was made.
Teach me to seek you,
For I cannot seek you
Unless you teach me,
Or find you
Unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire,
Let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you,
Let me love you when I find you.
Daily Prayer: St Thomas Aquinas
Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen
Prayer of St Augustine
Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you,
the joy of the hearts that love you,
and the strength of the wills that serve you;
grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you,
and so to love you that we may fully serve you,
whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus Christ our Lord
Prayer for World Peace (Pax Christi)
The peace Jesus gives us
is a peace for today and for the future.
May the Lord give us this peace,
full of hope,
that makes us fruitful,
that makes us communicative with each other,
that creates community
and that always looks to the definitive
peace of Paradise. Amen
Evening Prayer of St Augustine
Watch, Lord, with those who wake or weep tonight.
Give the angels and saints charge over those who sleep.
O Lord Jesus Christ, tend your sick ones, rest Your weary ones,
bless Your dying ones, soothe the suffering ones,
pity all the afflicted ones, shield the joyful ones,
and all for Your love's sake. Amen.
Prayer of St Augustine
Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you,
the joy of the hearts that love you,
and the strength of the wills that serve you;
grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you,
and so to love you that we may fully serve you,
whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus Christ our Lord
Coronavirus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, you travelled through towns and villages curing every disease and illness. At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the Coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.
Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through medical care. Heal us from our fear.
Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace.
Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they serve. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.
Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Lord Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace. Lord Jesus, heal us. Amen
Prayer for the Unemployed
Father, our world is the work of your creation. In these troubled times look lovingly and compassionately on the growing number of those unemployed and without work. Many are unable to provide for themselves and their families. May they not lose their confidence and self-respect. Help those who run firms and businesses which have folded due to the Coronavirus. Lead all those with feelings of inadequacy to find the dignity of work in new and lasting opportunities. Help especially those living on the margins of society, the homeless, those who have lost their homes, families and increasingly rely on handouts, credits and food banks. Guide us to act selflessly and responsibly to avoid further lockdowns. May all men and women, through their employment, become part of your creative work. We ask this through Christ, your Son. Amen.
Prayer from Citeaux (Cistercian Abbey)
Father of mercy,
your love embraces all
and, through the resurrection of your Son,
You call them into your beautiful light.
Dispel our darkness
and make of us a single people
who sing praise without end
to our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner (Repeat at least three times thinking of each word in the prayer and about your relationship to God)
Words of St Augustine and a related prayer
God does not command impossibilities, but by commanding admonishes you do what you can and to pray for what you cannot, and aids you that you may be able.
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next. Amen
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 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 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 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.
St Therese of Lisieux on prayer
In order to secure a hearing there is no need to recite set prayers composed for the occasion... I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers. I only get a headache because of their number, and besides, one is more lovely than another. Unable therefore to say them all, and lost in choice, I do as children who have not learned to read--I simply tell Our Lord all that I want, and He always understands. With me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy. In a word, it is something noble, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites it to God. Sometimes when I am in such a state of spiritual dryness that not a single good thought occurs to me, I say very slowly the "Our Father" or the "Hail Mary," and these prayers suffice to take me out of myself, and wonderfully refresh me.
