Prayer before Christmas Dinner

God of all gifts, we thank you for the many ways you have blessed us this day. We are grateful each of those who are gathered around this table. We ask you to bless us and our food and to bless those we love who are not with us today. In our gratitude and love, we remember your humble birth into our lives and pray for those who are without enough to eat. We remember the stable in which you were born and pray for those who have no place to live. We remember your challenging message of caring and giving and we pray for peace in families and nations throughout the world. We bless you and give you thanks in your Spirit who brings our hearts to life the Christmas Day and forever. Amen.

A Christmas Prayer

Loving Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing
which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds
with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus' sake.
Amen.

A CHILD's PRAYER

O Almighty God, 
who hast given unto me my father and mother, 
and made them to be an image of Thine authority, 
and love, and tender watchfulness; 
and hast commanded me to love, and honour, 
and obey them in all things: 
give me grace cheerfully and with my whole heart 
to keep this Thy law. 
Help me to love them fervently, 
to honour them truly, 
to yield a ready obedience to their commands, 
to comply with their wishes, 
to study their happiness in everything, 
and to bear their rebukes with patience and humility. 
Deliver me O God, from pride, 
rebellion and wilfulness, 
from passion and stubbornness, 
from sloth and carelessness. 
Make me diligent in all my duties and studies, 
and patient in all my trials; 
that so living, I may deserve to be Thy child, 
who art our Father in Heaven.

Amen.

Lamb of God

Lamb of God, 
Who takest away the sins of the world, 
grant them rest.

Lamb of God, 
Who takest away the sins of the world, 
grant them rest.

Lamb of God, 
Who takest away the sins of the world, 
grant them eternal rest.

How to Pray the Bible

1.Select a Bible Passage

Choose a text of the Scriptures that you wish to pray. Many Christians use one of the readings from the liturgy for the day (find the readings here); others prefer to slowly work through a particular book of the Bible. It makes no difference which text is chosen, as long as you have no set goal of "covering" a certain amount of text. The amount of text covered is in God's hands, not yours.

Be Comfortable in the Silence

Place yourself in a comfortable position and allow yourself to become silent. Some Christians focus for a few moments on their breathing; others have a beloved "prayer word" or "prayer phrase" they gently recite. For some, the practice known as centering prayer makes a good, brief introduction to praying with Scripture. Use whatever method is best for you and allow yourself to enjoy silence for a few moments.

Read the Text Slowly

Turn to the text and read it slowly, gently. Savor each portion of the reading, constantly listening for the "still, small voice" of a word or phrase that somehow says, "I am for you today." Do not expect lightning or ecstasies. In praying the Bible, God is teaching us to listen to him, to seek him in silence. He does not reach out and grab us; rather, he gently invites us ever more deeply into his presence.

Take a Word or Phrase Into Yourself

Sometimes you may return several times to the printed text, either to savor the literary context of the word or phrase that God has given or to seek a new word or phrase to ponder. At other times, only a single word or phrase will fill the whole time set aside for praying the Bible. Memorize it and slowly repeat it to yourself, allowing it to interact with your inner world of concerns, memories, and ideas. Do not be afraid of distractions. Memories or thoughts are simply parts of yourself that, when they rise up during this time, are asking to be given to God along with the rest of your inner self. Allow this inner pondering, this rumination, to invite you into dialogue with God.

Speak to God

Whether you use words, ideas, or images--or all three--is not important. Interact with God as you would with one who you know loves and accepts you. And give to him what you have discovered during your experience of meditation. Experience God by using the word or phrase he has given you as a means of blessing and of transforming the ideas and memories that your reflection on his word has awakened. Give to God what you have found within your heart.

Rest in God

Rest in God, and when he invites you to return to your contemplation of his word or to your inner dialogue with him, do so. Learn to use words when words are helpful, and to let go of words when they no longer are necessary. Rejoice in the knowledge that God is with you in both words and silence, in spiritual activity and inner receptivity.

Try Now!!!!!

By Father Luke Dysinger

Todays Words

"Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought
to pray and not lose heart, saying:
There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God
nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city;
and she came to him, saying, “Get justice for me from my
adversary.” And he would not for a while; but afterward
he said within himself, “Though I do not fear God nor
regard man, yet because this woman troubles me I will
avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me!”
Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day
and night to Him, though he bear long with them?
I tell you He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when
the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:1-8

Morning Offering

Dear Lord, I do not know what will happen to me today. I only know that nothing will happen that was not foreseen by You, and directed to my greater good from all eternity. I adore Your holy and unfathomable plans, and submit to them with all my heart for love of You, the Pope, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Amen.

PRAYERS TO SAINTS:

Some people ask “why say prayers to saints? Shouldn’t all our prayers be to God?” Praying to the saints is praying to God, in a fundamental way. We're praying to those who can ask God to help us in our various needs in accordance with His will. When you ask someone to pray for you are you worshiping that person? Of course not! It’s the same when we ask the saints to pray for us! In our prayers to saints we ask them to “put in a good word” for us with God in Heaven. They are not the focus of our worship, God is.
In this regard, it is worth noting that many compilations of prayers to saints also include prayers by them as well, to our Lord. The important thing to remember is that all these prayers have the same Divine destination, for our salvation.
The authors of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (“light of the nations”) noted that it was important that we “suppliantly invoke" the saints and "have recourse to their prayers, their power and help in obtaining benefits from God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer and Saviour."
For example, in one well known prayer to St. Joseph we ask him to
“assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your
divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.”
In the saints we have as advocates members of what is called the Church triumphant (those already in heaven.) We on earth are part of the Church militant.
In addition, with the Church suffering (those in purgatory) we all make up what is known as the Communion of Saints, part of one glorious mystical body of Christ in His Church. We are truly all in this together!
Note that the saints had their weaknesses and struggles just we do. But they also had a tremendous devotion to God. They became canonized (that is to say, officially recognized) as Catholic Saints after their deaths. This was usually done after a lengthy review of both the holiness of their lives and miracles associated with them.
What is comforting is that with the saints we have so many members of our Church in heaven to look out for us! Do you ever feel some days like you need all the help you can get? You can ask one of many patron saints for their assistance. They’ve been “put in charge” of various causes, occupations, (and even countries!), though popular traditions or by the Church. These saints are considered our protectors as well as our intercessors.



St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland, for example, and people get their throats blessed on the feast day of St. Blase. (Just as a reminder, a feast day in the Catholic Church is a day to give special honor, that is to say recognition, to God, saints, doctrines, or sacred events.)
Many saints are patrons of more than one occupation or cause, such as St. Joseph, who, besides being a Universal Patron of the Church is also considered a patron saint of fathers, carpenters, and social justice. St. Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower," is patron saint not only of florists but also of missions as well.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is also considered a patron saint and has been given quite a few names as one, including many for places she has appeared (as in Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady
of Guadalupe).
Many prayers to saints take these “patrons” into account. For example, people pray to St. Anthony for lost items; to St. Jude (or perhaps St. Rita) for lost causes; and to St. Peregine for Cancer victims. For many years the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel was included at the end of Mass for his help in defeating Satan.
Keep in mind that God also calls on us to be saints. If this seems like too tall an order, remember that, with God’s help we can live our lives reflecting His love and goodness, letting Him work through us, just like the saints!
As we read in the wonderful prayer of St. Francis“Lord make me an instrument of your peace…grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love.” Just ask for God's help in prayer. Remember, He’s an important part of your prayers to saints as well.

MARIAN PRAYERS

Would you like to get closer to our Blessed Mother? There are some wonderful Marian Prayers that can help give us the graces we need for our salvation. These include such essentials as the Rosary, the Hail Mary, the Hail Holy Queen the Memorare, the Angelus, and the Magnificat (Mary’s canticle of praise for our Lord). Other Marian prayers are based on names given to our Lady from her apparitions confirmed by the Church. She has often appeared to humble people in small towns requesting that we strive to live in holiness and obedience to her divine Son.
Thus, there are prayers to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Knock, Our Lady of La Salette, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, among others! In addition, the events surrounding the appearances of Our Lady of Fatima have given us several good Fatima Prayers, including one that follows each decade of the Rosary.



We are not required as Catholics to believe in these appearances, but the Church recognizes that belief in them does not run contrary to our faith. In fact, in many ways it can strengthen it!
Keep in mind that we honor, not worship, Mary in these prayers. Our petitions to her are always meant to help us to do our Lord’s will. As St. Bernard once said “the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son.” Bishop Fulton J. Sheen once called Mary “a window through which our humanity first catches a glimpse of Divinity on earth.”
Theologians over the centuries have rightly observed that the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven has been given all of God’s graces to dispense as she sees fit to assist us in our road to Eternal life.
In our prayers to Mary we appeal to her as the mediatrix par excellence in seeking her divine Son’s mercy and forgiveness for our sins. She can also help us persevere in our journey towards Eternal Life as well, especially during those times we feel anything but holy!
(If you experience spiritual “dryness” at times don’t despair! Many of our greatest saints went through what one of them, St. John of the Cross, called the “dark night of the Soul,” times during which they felt abandoned by God and unable to get any consolation from prayers.)
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that “as sailors are guided by a star to the port, so are Christians guided to Heaven by Mary.” Bishop Sheen marveled at how she “makes our prayers more bright and burning!” Feel free to approach her anytime for divine assistance in a spirit of humility, contrition, and love!

Joy in Giving

Lord, I thank You for Your blessings. Whether in plenty or with little, I want to be a cheerful giver. I desire to give from a full heart that serves, no reluctantly or with complaining. I long to see Your money used in ways that will bless others—through my tithing at church, giving to mission organizations, or helping the needy. I choose to give at whatever level I can—and I ask You to bless it.

How to Pray the Bible

A slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures enables us to discover in our daily life an underlying spiritual rhythm. Within this rhythm, we discover an increasing ability to offer more of ourselves and our relationships to the Father, and to accept the embrace that God is continuously extending to us in the person of his son, Jesus Christ.

Very often our concerns, our relationships, our hopes and aspirations, naturally intertwine with our meditations on the Scriptures. We can attend "with the ear of our hearts" to our own memories, listening for God's presence in the events of our lives. We experience Christ reaching out to us through our own memories. Our own personal story becomes salvation history.

These steps will lead you through the process of praying the word of God.

By Father Luke Dysinger

Let Us Rise Up and Be Thankful

Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn't learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn't learn a little,
at least we didn't get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn't die;
so let us all be thankful.

In Gratitude for Friends and Family

Blessed are You, loving Father,
For all your gifts to us.
Blessed are You for giving us family and friends
To be with us in times of joy and sorrow,
To help us in days of need,
And to rejoice with us in moments of celebration..

Father,
We praise You for Your Son Jesus,
Who knew the happiness of family and friends,
And in the love of Your Holy Spirit.
Blessed are you for ever and ever.

Amen.

Thanksgiving Prayer: Healing

"God, you do not create our bodies to be broken. When we are sick we are out of synch with your intended purpose. You promise that one of the benefits of relationship with you is being free to claim your healing power. Healing is a benefit. We thank you know for this power of healing, and in this specific need we thank you for applying your healing to the point of need. We will look for tangible impact and however you choose to respond we will continue to believe in your goodness and your power. In Jesus we pray."

Prayer for Fruitful Seasons

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth: We humbly pray that thy gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the harvests of the land and of the seas, and may prosper all who labor to gather them, that we, who constantly receive good things from thy hand, may always give thee thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Pledge for an Adopted Child

We did not plant you, true.
But when the season is done,
When the alternate prayers
For the sun and for rain are counted,
When the pain of weeding
And the pride of watching are through,
We will hold you high.

A shining leaf
Above the thousand seeds grown wild
Not by our planting,
But by heaven.
Our harvest.
Our own child.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,
Please make us an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let us 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. As we pray together today, let us remember that things don't happen over night.

Let us not forget the struggles we all are going thru in this movement for economic injustice.
Even if frustration may set in; Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Amen.

The Future Is Full of Promise

The future is full of promise, Holy Mystery,
if only because we discern your forces of evolution at work everywhere.

Every opening daffodil, every growing child,
every glimmer of human enlightenment, every bodily process of healing -- tells us the future is not fearsome but is full of promise.

Your face is hidden, your name unknown:
still we turn to you in faith and confidence.

Creating Spirit, we hear your comforting voice
in the steady music of the unfolding of creation.

We give thanks to exist,
and to be the joy of your heart.
Amen.

Family Thanks Giving Prayers

Dear precious Lord,
We bow our heads in heartfelt, thankful prayer;
For all the ways You've blessed our lives
And for Your loving care.
We thank You for the hands
That have prepared this special treat
And pray that You will bless all those
Who have no food to eat.

We're thankful for Salvation's plan
And for Your Holy Word;
And pray we'll help to spread
Your love to those who've never heard.
We're thankful for our freedom
And for churches that are near;
Where we can meet to praise Your Name
And worship without fear.

But still our hearts are saddened
By our brothers who aren't free;
Who suffer death and torture
For their Christianity.
We pray You'll give them strength
And courage as their cross they bear;
And let them know God's family
Remembers them in prayer.

We thank You for heroic troops
Who fight for liberty;
And daily risk their lives
And limbs to keep our country free.
Forgive us of our many sins
And keep us close today;
And bless this food You've given us,
In Jesus Name, we pray.
Amen

Family Thanks Giving Prayer

Jesus, thank you for loving us;
And providing food, shelter, and each other.
Every moment of our lives is a gift;
And we appreciate all the time You have given us.
Thank you for all our good fortune.
Amen.

Thanks giving prayers

Father in Heaven, Creator of all and source of all goodness and love, please look kindly upon us and receive our heartfelt gratitude in this time of giving thanks.
Thank you for all the graces and blessings. You have bestowed upon us, spiritual and temporal: our faith and religious heritage. Our food and shelter, our health, the loves we have for one another, our family and friends.
Dear Father, in Your infinite generosity, please grant us continued graces and blessing throughout the coming year.
This we ask in the Name of Jesus, Your Son and our Brother. Amen.

Roman Catholic's Thanks giving prayers

Thank you God for all the wonderful blessings,
For our daily meals, for clean drinking water,
For sunlight and for the cool breeze.
I'm thankful for my family, my husband, my friends, and my health.
I'm thankful for my friends, to love and be loved and for freedom.
I'm thankful to be employed;
I'm thankful to be alive and praise you for all these wonders.
I'm thankful that you have been so gracious
To give your only Son to us
Who gave his life and bore the Unbearable
For us sinners.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I take the Opportunity to thanks for countless other
things you provide us with on a daily basis.
Amen.

Traditional Blessing and Healing Chant

Just as the soft rains fill the streams,
pour into the rivers, and join together in the oceans,
so may the power of every moment of your goodness
flow forth to awaken and heal all beings--
those here now, those gone before, those yet to come.

By the power of every moment of your goodness,
may your heart's wishes be soon fulfilled
as completely shining as the bright full moon,
as magically as by a wish-fulfilling gem.

By the power of every moment of your goodness,
may all dangers be averted and all disease be gone.
May no obstacle come across your way.
May you enjoy fulfillment and long life.

For all in whose heart dwells respect,
who follow the wisdom and compassion, of the Way,
may your life prosper in the four blessings
of old age, beauty, happiness and strength.

Thanksgiving Prayers

I praise you, LORD
because you have
saved me
and kept my enemies
from rejoicing over me.

I cried to you for help,
O LORD my God,
and you healed me;
you kept me from the
grave...

You have changed my
sadness into a joyful
dance;
You have taken away my
sorrow
and surrounded me
with joy.


-- Psalm 30

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day
When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing
Thanks, amen.
Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload
We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more
To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed
My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those
Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever possibly know

Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure
Thankful that in my heart lives life's greatest treasure

That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place
And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace

So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided
And bless each and every person invited

Amen!