PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISSI

 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow

love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there

is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness,

joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to

console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is

in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is

in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

 

PRAYER OF ST. AMBROSE

 

Lord, teach me to seek Thee, and reveal Thyself to me when I seek Thee. For I

cannot seek Thee unless Thou teach me, nor find Thee except Thou reveal

Thyself. Let me seek Thee in longing, let me long for Thee in seeking. Let me

find Thee in love, and love Thee in finding. Amen.

 

 

PRAYER TO ST. JUDE

 

Most holy apostle St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of

the traitor who delivered your beloved Master into the hands of His enemies

has caused you to be forgotten by many. But the Church honors and invokes you

universally as the patron of hopeless cases, of things despaired of. Pray for

me who am so miserable. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege

accorded you of bringing visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired

of. Come to my assistance in this great need, that I may receive the

consolations and succor of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and

sufferings, particularly ...(here make your request)... and that I may bless God

with you and all the elect throughout eternity.

 

I promise you, Oh blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, and

I will never cease to honor you as my special and powerful patron and to do all

in my power to encourage devotion to you. Amen.

 

 

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH FOR THE CHURCH

 

We come to you, O blessed Joseph, in our sore distress. Having sought the aid

of your most blessed spouse, we now confidently implore your assistance also.

We humbly beg that, mindful of the dutiful affection which bound you to the

immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and of the fatherly love with which you

cherished the Child Jesus, you will lovingly watch over the heritage which

Jesus Christ purchased with His blood, and by your powerful intercession help

us in our urgent need. Most powerful guardian of the Holy Family, protect the

chosen race of Jesus Christ; drive far from us, most loving father, every pest

of error and corrupting sin. From your place in heaven, most powerful

protector, graciously come to our aid in this conflict with the powers of

darkness, and as of old you delivered the Child Jesus from supreme peril of

life, so now defend the holy Church of God from the snares of her enemies and

from all adversity. Have each of us always in your keeping, that, following

your example, and borne up by your strength, we may be able to live holily, die

happily, and so enter the everlasting bliss of heaven. Amen.