Prayer
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)
Psalm for this week - Psalm 50
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
Wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from sin.
My offences truly I kow them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have don.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.
Rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
Prayer of St Anselm for all people
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.
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
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
CAFOD Prayer for Peace
May God give wisdom and courage
to those who work for peace.
We pray that their efforts may be blessed,
that they may bring an end to violence
and solace and stability to suffering peoples.
May the gift of peace permeate all troubled souls,
convert all who live by violence
and comfort all children who live in menacing situations,
that the freedom to enjoy life and grow in safety may be theirs.
And may each one of us know
peace of mind and heart,
peace of body and spirit,
peace of community and world.
Holy Spirit of Peace, grant our prayer.
Amen.
Sr Bridgetta Rooney/CAFOD
Prayers of or attributed to St Ignatius of Loyola
Love consists in sharing
what one has
and what one is
with those one loves.
Love ought to show itself in deeds
more than in words.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
Lord, teach me to be generous,
to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and not to look for any reward,
save that of knowing that I do your holy will.
Prayers of St Teresa of Avila
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
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.
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)
Psalm for this week - Psalm 50
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
Wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from sin.
My offences truly I kow them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have don.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.
Rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
Prayer of St Anselm for all people
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.
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
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
CAFOD Prayer for Peace
May God give wisdom and courage
to those who work for peace.
We pray that their efforts may be blessed,
that they may bring an end to violence
and solace and stability to suffering peoples.
May the gift of peace permeate all troubled souls,
convert all who live by violence
and comfort all children who live in menacing situations,
that the freedom to enjoy life and grow in safety may be theirs.
And may each one of us know
peace of mind and heart,
peace of body and spirit,
peace of community and world.
Holy Spirit of Peace, grant our prayer.
Amen.
Sr Bridgetta Rooney/CAFOD
Prayers of or attributed to St Ignatius of Loyola
Love consists in sharing
what one has
and what one is
with those one loves.
Love ought to show itself in deeds
more than in words.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
Lord, teach me to be generous,
to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and not to look for any reward,
save that of knowing that I do your holy will.
Prayers of St Teresa of Avila
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
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.
