We praise You, invisible Father, giver of immortality, and source of life and light. You love all human beings, especially the poor. You seek reconciliation with all of them and You draw them to Yourself by sending Your beloved Son to visit them.
Make us really alive by giving us the light to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent. Grant us the Holy Spirit and enable us to speak volumes about Your ineffable mysteries. Amen.
St Serapion
Faithful servant of God and invincible martyr, St George, inflamed with a burning love of Christ, you fought against the dragon of pride, falsehood, and deceit. Neither pain nor torture, nor the sword nor death could part you from the love of Christ.
I implore you for the sake of this love to help me by your intercession to overcome the temptations that surround me, and to bear bravely the trials that oppress me, so that I may patiently carry my cross, and let neither distress nor difficulty separate me from the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd.
You know each of us
and you call us by name
to serve in faith.
Help us respond generously to Your voice.
Give courage and guidance
to those You call to the priesthood
and the diaconate,
to religious life and lay ministry,
so they may respond wholeheartedly
and serve devotedly.
We ask this
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
On the crucifix and the first three beads (of ordinary Rosary beads) we say:
O Jesus, Divine Redeemer, be merciful to us and to the whole world. Amen.
Strong God, holy God, immortal God, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Amen.
Grace and mercy, O my Jesus, during present dangers; cover us with Your Precious Blood. Amen.
Eternal Father, grant us mercy through the Blood of Jesus Christ, Your only Son; grant us mercy, we beseech You. Amen, Amen, Amen.
On the large beads we say:
V. Eternal Father, I offer You the Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. To heal the wounds of our souls.
On the small beads we say:
V. My Jesus, pardon and mercy.
R. Through the merits of Your Holy Wounds.
O Divine Heart of Jesus, noblest and best of all human hearts, remember, we beseech thee, how dearly thou didst love thine own native land, and how earnestly thou didst strive for the conversion of thine own people. By the example of thine own fervent desires and earnest toil, grant us to pray and labour much for the conversion to thy Holy Faith of our own dearly beloved country. Not for our own glory, O Lord, nor for any personal interest of ours do we pray, but that thy Heavenly Father may be honoured and that thy Holy Faith may be loved by all our countrymen. Amen.
From a prayer book
AN ACT OF LOVE BEFORE HOLY COMMUNION
O loving Jesus, concealed under the form of bread, thou art my hope, and thou art also my love; for how great, how unconquerable must have been thy love to induce thee, the Son of the Most High, the object of the adoration of Heaven, to descend from thy throne of eternal glory to this miserable earth to dwell among us and become our very own?
It did not satisfy thy love to remain as man among us for a few passing years: thou wouldst always remain with us. Thou wast not satisfied to shed thy Blood once for us in terrible suffering on the cross; thou wouldst have the sublime sacrifice daily offered for us. O love of my Saviour, unfathomable abyss, what must be the perversion and hardness of heart that cannot love thee in return! I love thee, my Jesus; at least I desire to love thee as fervently as thou meritest to be loved.
Inflame my cold heart with thy love and let thy holy fire never be extinguished; let this love be stronger in me than death; nothing henceforth shall separate me from thy love, O Jesus; neither life nor death, neither the world nor the flesh, neither affliction nor distress. In this love will I persevere to my last hour, and be thine, O Jesus, forever.
St Anthony’s Treasury
Not ours to know the reason why,
unanswered is our prayer,
but ours to wait for God’s own time
to life the cross we bear;
not ours to know the reason why
from loved ones we must part,
but ours to live in faith and hope,
though bleeding to the heart;
no ours to know the reason
why this anguish, strife and pain,
but ours to know a crown of thorns
sweet graces for us gain,
a cross, a bleeding heart and crown –
what greater gifts are given?
Be still, my heart, and murmur not;
these are the Keys of Heaven.
From a prayer book
Sing of Christ, proclaim his glory,
sing the resurrection song!
Death and sorrow, earth’s dark story,
to the former days belong.
All around the clouds are breaking,
soon the storms of time shall cease;
in God’s likeness, people, waking,
know the everlasting peace.
O what glory, far exceeding
all that eye has yet perceived!
Holiest hearts for ages pleading
never that full joy conceived.
God has promised, Christ prepares it,
there on high our welcome waits;
ev’ry humble spirit shares it,
Christ has passed th’eternal gates.
Life eternal! Heaven rejoices:
Jesus lives who once was dead:
shout with joy, O deathless voices!
Child of God, lift up your head!
Patriarchs from distant ages,
saints all longing for their heaven,
prophets, psalmists, seers and sages,
all await the glory giv’n.
Life eternal! O what wonders
crowd on faith, what joy unknown,
when, amid earth’s closing thunders,
saints shall stand before the throne!
O to enter that bright portal,
see that glowing firmament,
know, with you, O God immortal,
Jesus Christ whom you have sent!
– William Josiah Irons (1812-83)
PROVISIONS FOR THE HOURS WHEN OUR WILL AND COURAGE FAIL
A pious soul wrote on a piece of paper, which she kept in a book that she used very frequently, a selection of choice thoughts to which she gave the ingenious title: My provisions.
In the hours when her courage and her will failed under the fatigue of work, the weariness of monotony, the discouragement of deception, she unfolded her little leaf and fortified herself. She then quietly resumed her work under the influence of the impression they had made on her.
“If you knew,” she added, “how happy I feel in having always at my disposition a little strength for my soul and a little love for my heart, so often discouraged. The words on my leaflet supply me with both … I placed them, from the moment they were written, near the Heart of Jesus, as the poor place an empty basket at the doors of the rich, and Jesus filled them with his sweetness and strength.” The following lines are some of the provisions for my soul:
I am hired to God since this morning, and it is on his estate I am at work. Courage, then; work, work on. He is a good Master, and a great reward awaits me this evening.
Do you wish to please God? If so, endure, labour, and be cheerful.
There are three things which the world can never take from me: the happiness of prayer, of suffering, and of devotion. I can enjoy this happiness always and everywhere.
God looks down upon me at this hour … Master, see; I am where thou wishest me to be.
God metes out the recompense according to the fervour applied, the difficulty overcome, the weariness endured, the small satisfaction received.
My God, I hold forth my hand to thee; bestow on me a little alms, a little love, a little strength, a little joy.
If situated as I am, Jesus Christ would not have been impatient. He would not have made more haste than was necessary. He would not have been troubled by a word or a look of disapprobation. He would not have harboured malice. He would take things as they come, and would not have turned away from his duty.
The trembling of the heart under the stings of sorrow is the cry of the soul for succour … and the good God comes. Thou art near, then, my God!
At this hour there are many unfortunate souls who offend Jesus and drive Him away from them. Oh! come into my heart, Jesus; come; and I will love thee.
Do you wish that work should never weary you? Think that you are giving pleasure to another.
Do you wish to experience a great joy, concentrating itself in your soul, and embalming it for long hours? Do as much good as possible, and as secretly as possible.
Dear Golden Grains, if a few souls could place you among the provisions which they gather each day to nourish their piety, how I would thank God! Good angel who hast inspired me with them, oh! pray that they be not useless.
From: Golden Grains, Eighth Edition, M. H. Gill and Son, Dublin, 1889 (first published in Avignon, 1871)
THE LITANY OF THE DIVINE MERCY
Divine Mercy, gushing forth from the bosom of the Father,
– I TRUST IN YOU. (Repeat this after each line)
Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God,
Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery,
Divine Mercy, fountain gushing forth from the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity,
Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic,
Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness,
Divine Mercy, better than the heavens,
Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders,
Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe,
Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word, divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of Jesus,
Divine Mercy, enclosed in the Heart of Jesus for us, and especially for sinners,
Divine Mercy, unfathomed in the institution of the Sacred Heart,
Divine Mercy, in the founding of Holy Church,
Divine Mercy, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism,
Divine Mercy, in our justification through Jesus Christ,
Divine Mercy, accompanying us through our whole life,
Divine Mercy, embracing us especially at the hour of death,
Divine Mercy, endowing us with immortal life,
Divine Mercy, accompanying us every moment of our life,
Divine Mercy, shielding us from the fire of hell,
Divine Mercy, in the conversion of hardened sinners,
Divine Mercy, astonishment for Angels, incomprehensible for Saints,
Divine Mercy, unfathomed in all the mysteries of God,
Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery,
Divine Mercy, source of our happiness and joy,
Divine Mercy, in calling us forth from nothingness to existence,
Divine Mercy, embracing all the works of His hands,
Divine Mercy, crown of all of God’s handiwork,
Divine Mercy, in which we are all immersed,
Divine Mercy, sweet relief for anguished hearts,
Divine Mercy, only hope of despairing souls,
Divine Mercy, repose of hearts, peace amidst fear,
Divine Mercy, delight and ecstasy of holy souls,
Divine Mercy, inspiring hope against all hope.
Let us pray:
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is love and mercy itself. Amen.
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