Remember, O Lord, infants, children, the growing youths, the young men and women, the middle-aged, the old, the decayed; hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, captive, and friendless strangers; those possessed with devils and tempted to suicide; those troubled by unclean spirits; the sick in soul or body; the fainthearted, the despairing; those in prisons and chains, and all under the sentence of death; orphans, widows, foreigners, travellers, voyagers; women with child, women who give suck; those in bitter servitude, those who work in mines, and those who suffer loneliness. Amen.
Prayer for a Bishop
God, eternal shepherd, you tend your Church in many ways and rule us with love. You have chosen your servant, N., to be a shepherd of your flock. Give him a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he build your Church as a sign of salvation for the world. Amen.
Prayer for a Family
Lord, bless our family, all of us now together, those far away, all who are gone back to you. May we know joy. May we bear our sorrows in patience. Let love guide our understanding of each other. Let us be grateful to each other. We have all made each other what we are. O Family of Jesus, watch over our family. Amen.
Prayer for a Happy Death
by the Venerable Bede (673-735)
If it so please my Maker, it is time for me to return to Him who created me and formed me out of nothing when I did not exist. I have lived a long time, and the righteous Judge has taken good care of me during my whole life. The time has come for my departure, and I long to die and be with Christ. My soul yearns to see Christ, my King, in all His glory. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
amen.
Prayer for a Parish
by the Cure d’Ars
My God, grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer all my life whatsoever it may please Thee to lay upon me; yes, even for a hundred years am I prepared to endure the sharpest pains, only let my people be converted. My God, convert my parish. Amen.
Prayer for a Priestly Heart
by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Give me, O Lord, an ever watchful heart which no subtle speculation may ever lure from you. Give me a noble heart that no unworthy affection shall ever draw downwards to earth. Give me a heart of honesty that no insincerity shall warp. Give me a heart of courage that no distress shall ever crush or quench. Give me a heart so free that no perverted or impetuous affection shall ever claim it for its own. Amen.
Prayer for a Visit to the Blessed Sacrament
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
My Lord Jesus Christ, who for the love which You bear us, remain night and day in this Sacrament full of compassion and love, awaiting, calling, and welcoming all who come to visit You, I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar. I adore You from the abyss of my nothingness, and I thank You for all the graces which You have bestowed upon me and in particular for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, for having given me Your most holy Mother Mary as my Advocate, and for having called me to visit You in this church. I now salute Your most loving Heart; and this for three ends: first, in thanksgiving for this great gift; secondly, to make amends to You for all the outrages which You receive in this Sacrament from all Your enemies; thirdly, I intend by this visit to adore You in all the places on earth in which You are present in this Sacrament and in which You are the least reserved and the most abandoned. My Jesus, I love You with all my heart. I grieve for having hitherto so many times offended Your infinite goodness. I purpose by Your grace never more to offend You for the time to come. And now, miserable and unworthy though I be, I consecrate myself to You without reserve; I give You and renounce my entire will, my affections, my desires, and all that I possess. Henceforward, dispose of me and of all that I have as You please. All that I ask of You and desire is Your holy love, final perseverance and the perfect accomplishment of Your will. I recommend to You the souls in Purgatory, and especially those who had the greatest devotion to the most Blessed Sacrament, and to the most Blessed Virgin Mary. I also recommend to You all poor sinners. Finally, my dear Savior, I unite all my affections with the affections of Your most loving Heart, and I offer them, thus united, to Your Eternal Father, and beseech Him in Your name to vouchsafe for Your love, to accept and grant them. Amen.
Prayer for All
O Lord, Jesus Christ, hear my prayers for our Holy Father, our Bishop, our clergy, and for all who are in authority over us. Bless the whole Catholic Church, and turn all hearts toward your most merciful Heart. Bless my relatives, benefactors, friends and enemies. Help the poor, the sick, and those who are in their last agony. Have compassion on the souls in purgatory; grant them eternal rest and peace. Amen.
Novena and Prayers to Saint Jude Thaddeus
Glorious Saint Jude Thaddeus, by those sublime privileges with which you were adorned in your lifetime, namely, your relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh, and your vocation to be an Apostle, and by that glory which now is yours in heaven as the reward of your apostolic labors and your martyrdom, obtain for me from the Giver of every good and perfect gift all the graces of which I stand in need: (your request).
May I treasure up in my heart the divinely inspired doctrines that you have given us in your Epistle: to build my edifice of holiness upon our most holy faith, by praying for the grace of the Holy Spirit; to keep myself in the love of God, looking for the mercy of Jesus Christ unto eternal life; to strive by all means to help those who go astray.
May I thus praise the glory and majesty, the dominion and power of Him who is able to keep me without sin and to present me spotless with great joy at the coming of our Divine Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Consecration to Saint Jude:
Saint Jude, Apostle of Christ and glorious martyr, I desire to honor you with a special devotion. I choose you as my patron and protector. To you I entrust my soul and my body, all my spiritual and temporal interests, as well as those of my family. To you I consecrate my mind so that in all things it may be enlightened by faith; my heart so that you may keep it pure and fill it with love for Jesus and Mary; my will so that, like yours, it may always be one with the Will of God.
I beg you to help me to master my evil inclinations and temptations and to avoid all occasions of sin. Obtain for me the grace of never offending God, of fulfilling faithfully all the duties of my state of life, and of practicing all those virtues that are needful for my salvation.
Pray for me, my holy patron and helper, so that, being inspired by your example and assisted by your prayers, I may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to the glory of heaven, there to love and thank God forever. Amen.
Prayer to the Father:
O God, you made your Name known to us through the Apostles. By the intercession of Saint Jude, let your Church continue to grow with an increased number of believers. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Novena in Honor of the Miraculous Medal
Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
All: And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Leader: Let us pray. O God, who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Leader: O Mary, conceived without sin,
All: Pray for us who have recourse to you. (three times).
All: O Lord Jesus Christ, who have vouchsafed to glorify by numberless miracles the Blessed Virgin Mary, immaculate from the first moment of her conception, grant that all who devoutly implore her protection on earth, may eternally enjoy your presence in heaven, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, live and reign, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who for the accomplishment of your greatest works, have chosen the weak things of the world, that no flesh may glory in your sight; and who for a better and more widely diffused belief in the Immaculate Conception of Your Mother, have wished that the Miraculous Medal be manifested to Saint Catherine Laboure, grant, we beseech you, that filled with like humility, we may glorify this mystery by word and work. Amen.
Memorare
All: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother; to thee we come; before thee we kneel sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despite not our petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer them. Amen.
Novena Prayer
All: O Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively confidence in your all-powerful and never-failing intercession, manifested so often through the Miraculous Medal, we, your loving and trustful children, implore you to obtain for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if they be beneficial to our immortal souls, and the souls for whom we pray.
(privately note your requests)
You know, O Mary, how often our souls have been the sanctuaries of your Son who hates iniquity. Obtain for us then a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone so that our every thought, word and deed may tend to His greater glory. Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we may discover by penance what we have lost by sin and at length attain to that blessed abode where you are the Queen of Angels and of men. Amen.
An Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
All: O Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of your affection for us and a constant reminder of our duties toward you. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by your loving protection and preserved in the grace of your Son. O Savior, keep us close to you every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, your children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with you, we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. Amen.
Leader: O Mary, conceived without sin.
All: Pray for us who have recourse to you.