Sunday, October 31, 2010

A Prayer in Sickness

A Prayer in Sickness

O God,
I am in your hands.
You know me from my mother's womb.
O Wise Creator,
soothe my pain; heal my body and soul.

O Good Jesus,
you went doing good and healing many.
Once your hands raised the dead to life:
restore my health to me.
Once your hands gave sight to the blind:
take me from the darkness of my fears.
Once your hands made the paralyzed walk:
let me walk again
with my family and friends.
Once your hands were nailed to the cross:
strengthen me in sickness and pain.

O Holy Spirit,
Giver of Life,
Helper and Friend,
Source of all good gifts,
bring peace and comfort to me.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer

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;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Friday, October 29, 2010

A Prayer Seeking God

A Prayer Seeking God

Teach me to seek you,
and reveal yourself to me
when I seek you.

For I cannot seek you unless
you first teach me,
nor find you unless
you first reveal yourself to me.

Let me seek you in longing,
and long for you in seeking.
Let me find you in love,
and love you in finding.

Spacer--Saint Ambrose of Milan, c. 340 - 397

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

For Protection in the Night

For protection in the night

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Prayer for All People in Need

Prayer for All People in Need

O Lord,
we bring before you
the distress and dangers of peoples and nations,
the pleas of the imprisoned and the captive,
the need of the refugee,
the weariness of the despondent,
and the diminishment of the aging.

O Lord,
stay close to them all.

--Saint Anselm of Canterbury

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Mother's Prayer

A Mother's Prayer

I need your help today.
I want to care
for those you've sent into my life,
to help them develop the special gifts
you've given them.

But I also want to free them
to follow their own paths
and to bring their loving wisdom
to the world.

Help me
to embrace them without clutching,
to support them without suffocating,
to correct them without crushing.

And help me
to live joyfully and playfully, myself,
so they can see your life in me
and find their way to you.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Mealtime Blessings

Mealtime Blessings

Lord, bless our meal
and as you satisfy our needs,
make us mindful of the needs of others.


Give food to the hungry, O Lord,
and a hunger for you
to those who have food.

May the Lord bless us and keep us.
May the Lord let his face shine on us.
May the Lord look kindly on us
and give us peace.

Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts
which we have received
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

God in heaven,
bless the food of earth
and bless us at this table
with every gift from above. Amen.

May God bless our meal
and give us hearts open to each other.

May God who comes
bless our meal
and help us see his coming
every moment that we live. Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Look Kindly on My Child

Look Kindly on My Child

Lord,
look kindly on my child,
so marvelously made,
fashioned by you from the womb.

Keep fear and trouble far away,
and any hand raised to harm
this child of mine.
And when life's storms come,
give my child rest,
as on a mother's breast.
In days to come
- which you alone know -
grant my child
eyes of faith for seeing far,
a loving heart for welcoming life,
hope that never despairs,
and a place always at your side.

O God,
I thank you for this precious gift,
and pray my child grows
wise and well.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Keep His Passion in Mind

Keep His Passion in Mind

Lord Jesus,
many years have passed
since you hung upon the cross
with searching eyes
and outstretched arms.

Gone now is the pain of Calvary
but not the love
and not the searching.
Your arms are still wide open,
still reaching out to us.
You have loved us
with an everlasting love,
never closing your heart,
never counting the cost.

Lord Jesus,
may the memory of your Crucified Love
and the grace of your Risen Presence
comfort us,
set us free,
give us hope,
and make us strong.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Prayer for Guidance

Prayer for Guidance

O creator past all telling,
you have appointed from the treasures of your wisdom
the hierarchies of angels,
disposing them in wondrous order
above the bright heavens,
and have so beautifully set out all parts of the universe.

You we call the true fount of wisdom
and the noble origin of all things.
Be pleased to shed
on the darkness of mind in which I was born,
The twofold beam of your light
and warmth to dispel my ignorance and sin.

You make eloquent the tongues of children.
Then instruct my speech
and touch my lips with graciousness.
Make me keen to understand, quick to learn,
able to remember;
make me delicate to interpret and ready to speak.

Guide my going in and going forward,
lead home my going forth.
You are true God and true man,
and live for ever and ever.

--St Thomas Aquinas, 1225-74

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

I shall not want

I shall not want

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.

He guides me in right paths for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil;
for you are at my side with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.

Psalm 23


Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Glory to the Father. . .

Glory to the Father. . .

O God, you are my God,
for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
I long for you
like dry, weary land without water.
Give me your strength and your glory.

I wish to praise you all my life
fill my soul as with a banquet.
I cling to you;
hold me close in your hands.
Psalm 63

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Act of Spiritual Communion

Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus,
I believe that you are
in the Blessed Sacrament.
I love you above all things,
and I long for you in my soul.
Since I cannot now
receive you sacramentally,
come at least spiritually
into my heart.
I know you have already come.
I embrace you and unite myself
entirely to you;
never permit me
to be separated from you.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

The Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
our Lord.
He was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Hail Mary

The Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Friday, October 15, 2010

The Doxology

The Doxology

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be for ever.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them
the fire of your love.

V. Send forth your Spirit,
and they shall be created.
R. And you shall renew
the face of the earth.

Let us pray.
O God,
who did instruct
the hearts of the faithful
by the light of the Holy Spirit;
grant that,
by the gift of the same Spirit,
we may be always truly wise,
and ever rejoice in his consolation.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.


Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Forward this e-mail to a friend who could use a prayer.

Subscribe to receive The Daily Prayer in your e-mail every morning.