Prayers (A-Z)

O Spotless Lamb of God! while Thy judges proclaim Thee an impostor, I rise without fear or shame to declare, in the face of Heaven and earth, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that I unreservedly assent to all the dogmas and to every article of truth proposed by Thy holy Church to my belief; but, O Divine Lord, give me grace to profess by my actions as well as my words the faith that is in me. 

Have mercy on all who are involved in the dreadful night of infidelity; may the light of Thy grace shine upon them, and so penetrate their hearts that they may embrace the truth, and be admitted to the communion of Thy holy Church

O Sweet Jesus, I desire neither life, nor death, but Your most holy will. You are the One, O Lord, that I long for. If it be Your holy will to have me die, receive my soul; and grant that in You and with You, I may receive everlasting rest. If it be Your holy will to have me live longer upon this earth, give me the grace to amend the rest of my life, and with good works to glorify Your Holy Name.

Amen.

O Virgin Immaculate, Mother of God and my Mother, from your sublime heights turn your eyes of pity on my. Filled with confidence in your goodness and knowing full well your power, I beg you to extend to me your assistance in the journey of life, which is so full of dangers for my soul. In order that I may never be a slave of the devil through sin, but may ever live with my heart humble and pure, I entrust myself wholly to you. I consecrate my heart to you forever, my only desire being to love your divine Son, Jesus. Mary, none of your devout servants has ever perished; may I, too, be saved.

Amen. 

Saint Ephraem of Edessa

O Virgin Mother, In the depths of your heart you pondered the Life of the Son you brought into the world. Give us your vision of Jesus and ask the Father to open our hearts, that we may always see His presence in our lives, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, bring us into the joy and peace of the kingdom, where Jesus is Lord forever and ever.

Amen

O Word of the Father, that camest into this world, and wast made Flesh!

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world! to thee do we come, and, in prostrate adoration, beseech thee to give us to drink of the Blood shed for us in thy sacred Passion. 

Show unto us the marks of thy Divine wounds! Let the invincible standard of thy glorious cross be raised on high, and, by its imperishable power, bring salvation to them that believe. 

The reed, the nails, the spittle, the gall, the crown of thorns, the whips, the spear, these were the instruments of Thy sufferings: oh! cleanse us by them from all our sins. 

May the Blood that gushed from Thy sacred Wounds, flow on our hearts and purify them from their stains of guilt, enable us to pass through this world without sin, and give us, in the next, the reward of bliss. 

That when the resurrection day shall break upon the world, brightening it with the splendors of the eternal kingdom, we may ascend by the path that leads above, and dwell in heaven, citizens eternal. 

Honor be to the eternal God! Glory be to the one Father, and to his only Son, together with the Holy Ghost: the almighty Trinity, that liveth unceasingly for ever and ever.

Amen.

O My God, I return Thee thanks for all Thou hast done, for what Thou art doing, and for everything Thou wilt do for me and all mankind. I ask Thy pardon for all that I have done wrong. I resolve to do better in the future. I hereby revoke consent to everything displeasing to Thee, desiring to die rather that to offend Thee. Give me Thy Holy Grace. Mary my Mother, pray for me.

Eternal Father, I thank Thee for myself, and on behalf of all mankind, for the great mercy that Thou hast shown us, in sending Thy Son to be made man, and to die to obtain our salvation; I thank Thee for it, and I should wish to offer Thee in thanksgiving all that love which is due for such an inestimable benefit. By His merits our sins are pardoned, and Thy justice is satisfied for the punishment we had merited; by these merits Thou dost receive us miserable sinners into Thy grace, while we deserve nothing but hatred and chastisement: Thou dost receive men to reign in Paradise. Finally, Thou hast bound Thyself, in consideration of these merits, to grant all gifts and graces to those who ask for them in the name of Jesus Christ. 

I thank Thee also, O Infinite Goodness, that, in order to strengthen our confidence, besides giving us Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, Thou hast also given us Thy beloved daughter Mary as our advocate; so that, with that heart full of mercy which Thou hast given her, she may never cease to succor by her intercession any sinner who may have recourse to her; and this intercession is so powerful with Thee that Thou canst not deny her any grace which she asks of Thee. 

Hence it is Thy will that we should have a great confidence in the merits of Jesus, and in the intercession of Mary. But this confidence is Thy gift, and it is a great gift which Thou dost grant to those only who ask Thee for it. This confidence, then, in the Blood of Jesus Christ, and in the patronage of Mary, I beg of Thee, through the merits of Jesus and Mary. To Thee, also, my dear Redeemer, do I turn; it was to obtain for me this confidence in Thy merits that Thou didst sacrifice Thy life on the Cross for me, who was worthy only of punishment. Accomplish, then, the end for which Thou hast died; enable me to hope for all things, through confidence in Thy Passion. And thou, O Mary, my mother, and my hope after Jesus, obtain for me a firm confidence, first in the merits of Jesus thy Son, and then in the intercession of thy prayers, prayers which are all-powerful in gaining all they ask!

O my beloved Jesus! O sweet Mary! I trust in Thee. To Thee do I give my soul; Thou doth love it so much, have pity on it, and save it.

Eternal Father, I humbly adore Thee, and thank Thee for having created me, and for having redeemed me through Jesus Christ. I thank Thee most sincerely for having made me a Christian, by giving me the true faith, and by adopting me as Thy son, in the sacrament of baptism. I thank Thee for having, after the numberless sins I had committed, waited for my repentance, and for having pardoned (as I humbly hope) all the offences which I have offered to Thee, and for which I am now sincerely sorry, because they have been displeasing to Thee, who art infinite goodness. I thank Thee for having preserved me from so many relapses, of which I would have been guilty if Thou hadst not protected me. But my enemies still continue, and will continue till death, to combat against me, and to endeavor to make me their slave. If Thou dost not constantly guard and succor me with thy aid, I, a miserable creature, shall return to sin, and shall certainly lose Thy grace. I beseech Thee, then, for the love of Jesus Christ, to grant me holy perseverance unto death. Jesus, Thy Son, has promised that Thou wilt grant whatsoever we ask in his name. Through the merits, then, of Jesus Christ, I beg, for myself and for all the just, the grace never again to be separated from Thy love, but to love Thee forever, in time and eternity. Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.

O God of my soul, I hope in Thy goodness that Thou hast pardoned all my offenses against Thee, and that I am now in a state of grace. I thank Thee for it with all my heart, and I hope to thank Thee for all eternity. I know that I have fallen, because I have not had recourse to Thee when I was tempted, to ask for holy perseverance. For the future, I firmly resolve to recommend myself always to Thee, and especially when I see myself in danger of again offending Thee. I will always fly to Thy mercy, invoking always the most holy names of Jesus and Mary, with full confidence that when I pray Thou wilt not fail to give me the strength which I have not of myself to resist my enemies. This I resolve and promise to do. But of what use, O my God, will all these resolutions and promises be, if Thou dost not assist me with Thy grace to put them in practice; that is, to have recourse to Thee in all dangers? Ah, Eternal Father! Help me, for the love of Jesus Christ; and let me never omit recommending myself to Thee whenever I am tempted. I know that Thou dost always help me when I have recourse to Thee; but my fear is, that I should forget to recommend myself to Thee, and so my negligence will be the cause of my ruin, that is, the loss of Thy grace, the greatest evil that can happen to me. Ah, by the merits of Jesus Christ, give me grace to pray to Thee; but grant me such an abundant grace that I may always pray, and pray as I ought! 

O my Mother Mary, whenever I have had recourse to thee, thou hast obtained for me the help which has kept me from falling! Now I come to beg of thee to obtain a still greater grace, namely, that of recommending myself always to thy Son and to thee in all my necessities. My Queen, thou obtainest all thou dost desire from God by the love thou bearest to Jesus Christ; obtain for me now this grace which I beg of thee, namely,
(State your intention here…)
to pray always, and never to cease praying till I die.

Amen.

My crucified Love, my dear Jesus! I believe in Thee, and confess Thee to be the true Son of God and my Saviour. I adore Thee from the abyss of my own nothingness, and I thank Thee for the death Thou didst suffer for me, that I might obtain the life of Divine grace. My beloved

Redeemer, to Thee I owe all my salvation. Through Thee I have hitherto escaped Hell; through Thee have I received the pardon of my sins. But I am so ungrateful that, instead of loving Thee, I have repeated my offenses against Thee. I deserve to be condemned, so as not to be able to love Thee any more. But no, my Jesus, punish me in any other way, but not in this. If I have not loved Thee in time past, I love Thee now; and I desire nothing but to love Thee with all my heart. But without Thy help I can do nothing. Since Thou dost command me to love Thee, give me also the strength to fulfill this Thy sweet and loving precept. Thou has promised to grant all that we ask of Thee: ‘You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.

Confiding, then, in this promise, my dear Jesus, I ask, first of all, pardon of all my sins; and I repent, above all things, because I have offended Thee, O Infinite Goodness! I ask for holy perseverance in Thy grace till my death. But, above all, I ask for the gift of Thy holy love. Ah, my Jesus, my Hope, my Love, my All, inflame me with that love which Thou didst come on earth to enkindle!

For this end, make me always live in conformity with Thy holy will. Enlighten me, that I may understand more and more how worthy Thou art of our love and that I may know the immense love Thou has borne me, especially in giving Thy life for me Grant, then, that I may love Thee with all my heart and may love Thee always, and never cease to beg of Thee the grace to love Thee in this life; that living always, and dying in Thy love I may come one day to love Thee with all my strength in Heaven, never to leave off loving Thee for all eternity. 

O Mother of beautiful love, my advocate and refuge, Mary, who art of all creatures the most beautiful, the most loving, and the most beloved of God, and whose only desire it is to see Him loved! ah, by the love thou barest to Jesus Christ, pray for me, and obtain for me the grace to love Him always, and with all my heart! This I ask and hope for from thee.

Amen.