Prayer: Joyce Rupp

We move so fast, God,
and sometimes we see so little in our daily travels.
Slow us down.
Create in us a desire to pause.
Helps us to pursue moments of contemplation.
Help us to see in a deeper way,
to become more aware of what speaks to us of beauty and truth.

Our inner eye gets misty, clouded over, dulled.
We need to see in a new way,
to dust off our heart,
to perceive what is truly of value
and to find the deeper meaning in our lives.

All of our ordinary moments are means of entering
into a more significant relationship with you, God.
In the midst of those very common happenings,
you are ready to speak your word of love to us,
if only we will recognize your presence.

Teach us how to enjoy being.
Encourage us to be present to the gifts that are ours.
May we be more fully aware of what we see,
taste, touch, hear, and smell.
May this awareness of our senses sharpen our perception
of our everyday treasures
and lead us to greater joy and gratitude.

Grant us the courage to be our true selves.
Help us to let go of being overly concerned
about what others think of us
or of how successful we are.
May our inner freedom be strengthend
and our delight in life be activated.

Life is meant to be celebrated, enjoyed,
delighted in, and embraced in all its mystery.
Guide us to our inner child.
Draw us to your playground of creation, God of life,
so that we will live more fully. Amen

Prayer: William Browning, C.P.

O Holy Spirit,

     give me stillness of soul in you.

Calm the turmoil,

     with the gentleness of Your peace.

Quiet the anxiety within,

     with a deep trust in You.

Heal the wounds of sin within

     with the awareness of Your presence.

Confirm the hope within,

     with the knowledge of Your strength.

Give fullness to the love within,

     with an outpouring of Your love.

O Holy Spirit,

     be to me a source of light strength and courage,

     so that I may hear Your Call ever more clearly,

     and follow it more generously. Amen.

Prayer: Meister Eckhart

You need not seek him here or there, for he is no further than the door of your heart; there he stands patiently awaiting whoever is ready to open up and let him in. No need to call to him from afar: he can hardly wait for you to open up, he longs for you a thousand times more than you long for him.

Prayer: Pedro Arrupe, SJ

Teach me Your way of looking at people:

as You glanced at Peter after his denial,

as You penetrated the heart of the rich young man

and the hearts of Your disciples.

I would like to meet You as You really are,

since Your image changes with whom

You come into contact.

Remember John the Baptist’s first meeting with You?

And the centurion’s feeling of unworthiness?
And the amazement of those who saw miracles
and other wonders?
How You impressed Your disciples,
the rabble in the Garden of Olives,
Pilate and his wife
and the centurion at the foot of the cross.
I would like to hear and be impressed
by Your manner of speaking,
listening, for example, to Your discourse
in the synagogue in Capharnaum
or the Sermon on the Mount where Your audience
felt you “taught as one who has authority.”

Prayer: St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

Come! Consume in us whatever prevents us from being consumed in you.

Prayer: At the Rising of Your Sun

Lord God, Creator of light,
at the rising of your sun each morning,
let the greatest of all lights - your love -
rise, like the sun, within my heart.

Prayer: Søren Kierkegaard

God our heavenly Father,
when the thought of you
wakes in our hearts,
let its awakening
not be like a startled bird
that flies about in fear.
Instead, let it be like a child
waking from sleep
with a heavenly smile.

Prayer is a gift of God

The world is not a machine, a mechanism in which every movement is determined, but a place of life, that has come from a living intelligence, and is impregnated by it, open to the action of God, and borne by a finality of love. In this world in which we live, the effects of prayer are objective and can be verified.

Prayer is a gift of God. From all eternity God has wanted this prayer that I am making here and now, at this point in time, in view of a particular effect, which He has also willed from all eternity.

And yet I make this prayer freely; on my part, it is an act of faith and love that is meritorious. And it is freely that God answers my prayer.

God, by His grace, by the action of His Spirit, inspires me to pray. I pray. God answers my prayer.

Why did God create prayer? In order to bestow the dignity of causality upon His creatures: real causality, placed between an initiative of God and His fulfilment of it.

God in His mercy has freely decreed that it is only with the collaboration of humanity that He will accomplish His plan of salvation: and prayer is an example of this.

+ + + + +

From the book titled: ‘Interior Prayer’ by a Carthusian

Prayer: St. Ignatius

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

Prayer: St Francis

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

Chorus:
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving all ourself that we receive
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

[Chorus]

Prayer: Henri Viscardi

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of others.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am most richly blessed.

Prayer: John Veltri, SJ

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DAY

O God, I find myself at the beginning of another day,
I do not know what it will bring,
Please help me to be ready for whatever it may be.

If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely.
If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly.
If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently.
If I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly.

I pray just for today,
for these twenty-four hours,
for the ability to cooperate with others
according to the way Jesus taught us to live.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
May these words that he taught us become more than words.

Please free my thinking and feelings
and the thinking and feelings of others,
from all forms of self-will,
self-centredness,
dishonesty,
and deception.

Along with my brothers and sisters, I need this freedom
to make my choices today according to your desires.

Send your Spirit to inspire us in time of doubt and indecision
so that, together, we can walk along your path. Amen.


-- adapted from an unknown source by J. Veltri

Prayer: St Augustine of Hippo

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy.

Guard me, O Holy Spirit, that I myself may always be holy.

Prayer: Rabindranath Tagore

Lord, may your love play upon my voice
and rest in my silence.

Let it pass through my heart,
into all that I do.

Let your love shine like stars
in the darkness of my sleep,
and in the dawn at my awakening.

Let it burn in all the flames of my desires,
and flow in all the currents of my love.

Let me carry your love in my life,
as a harp does its music,
and give it back to you at last with my life.