Happy Damien Day!

Holy Mother Church celebrates today the life of the Leper Priest, Saint Damien of Moloka'i. Let us therefore ask my favorite saint to intercede for us this day:

Detail of a travel diptych,
written by Sister Malia Wong, O.P.

Damien, brother on the journey, happy and generous missionary, who loved the Gospel more than your own life, who for love of Jesus left your family, your homeland, your security and your dreams.

Teach us to give our lives with joy like yours, to be in solidarity with the outcasts of our world, to celebrate and contemplate the Eucharist as the source of our own commitment.

Help us to love to the very end and, in the strength of the Spirit, to persevere in compassion for the poor and forgotten so that we might be good disciples of Jesus and Mary.

Amen.

Saint Joseph Damien de Veuster, pray for us!

The prayer above came from the Diocese of Honolulu.

A Prayer for Vocations from Pope Francis

Today, Holy Mother Church observes the 53rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations on which, as Pope Francis noted in his Message for this day, "We ask the Lord to grant to all those who are on a vocational journey a deep sense of belonging to the Church; and that the Holy Spirit may strengthen among Pastors, and all of the faithful, a deeper sense of communion, discernment and spiritual fatherhood and motherhood."

He concluded this same Message with a simple prayer for vocations:

Father of mercy, who gave your Son for our salvation and who strengthens us always with the gifts of your Spirit, grant us Christian communities which are alive, fervent and joyous, which are fonts of fraternal life, and which nurture in the young the desire to consecrate themselves to you and to the work of evangelisation.

Sustain these communities in their commitment to offer appropriate vocational catechesis and ways of proceeding towards each one’s particular consecration.

Grant the wisdom needed for vocational discernment, so that in all things the greatness of your merciful love may shine forth.

May Mary, Mother and guide of Jesus, intercede for each Christian community, so that, made fruitful by the Holy Spirit, it may be a source of true vocations for the service of the holy People of God.

As you gather to pray for your family today, you might consider using this prayer to ask the Lord Jesus to send more laborers into his harvest.

Please join me in praying for Great River TEC #304

Please join me this weekend in praying for the team and candidates of Great River Teens Encounter Christ #304, which began this morning and will conclude Monday evening.

Being here in the Eternal City, I like to pray for Great River TEC weekends at the tombs of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul.

Some months back, I wrote a prayer to Saint Paul asking for his intercession; today I wrote a prayer to Saint Peter asking for his intercession.

First, the Prayer to Saint Peter:

Glorious Saint Peter,

who repented after denying the Lord

and purified your soul by obedience to him,

pray now for those striving to help others repent and obey the Lord

through their involvement in Great River Teens Encounter Christ.

Inspired by your example of humility and trust

and aided by the help of your prayers,

may the team and candidates

confess their sins

and keep their consciences clear

out of love of him who suffered for us.

You who rejoiced in your sufferings for the Gospel,

teach the team and candidates to have love for all

and to be watchful for and to resist the devil

so that they, with you, might clothe themselves in humility

and know the peace of Christ.

Amen.

Second, the Prayer to Saint Paul:

Glorious Saint Paul,
who did not weary laboring in the vineyard of the Lord
to proclaim the glorious riches of the Crucified Christ,
intercede now for those laboring in the same vineyard
through Great River Teens Encounter Christ.

Inspired by your shining example
and assisted by the help of your prayers,
may they proclaim with lives of joy and fidelity
the true freedom of the children of God
and so lead their brothers and sisters to the Son of God
who loves them and gave himself for them.

You who encountered him who died and was raised
teach the team and candidates to do good to all
and to glory only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
so that they, with you, might receive the crown of life
and the palm of victory.

Amen.

A prayer for use through Advent

If you are looking for a prayer to pray with your family around your Advent wreath, you might consider making use of this Prayer for Christmas from Aid to the Church in Need in the United Kingdom:

As our preparations to celebrate the Birth of the Savior are marked with much festivity, let us be certain to remember those whose preparations cannot be so festive.

Prayers for refugees and those suffering persecution

Over at the blog of Catholic Answers (which I highly recommend), Trent Horn has a post with three things you can do about the Syrian refugee crisis. His suggestions are, in some sense, rather obvious, but we sometimes need to be reminded of the obvious:

1. Don't rely on Facebook's French flag filter;
2. Do something; and
3. Pray

This last one is perhaps the most obvious. Even so, we do not always just what to pray for or how to pray. Well, we do, I suppose, but we do not always know how to express how petition before the throne of grace.

To help us put the desires of our hearts into words, Trent shares with us a Prayer for the People of Syria from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Almighty eternal God, source of all compassion,
the promise of your mercy and saving help fills our hearts with hope.

Hear the cries of the people of Syria;
bring healing to those suffering from the violence,
and comfort to those mourning the dead.

Empower and encourage Syria’s neighbors
in their care and welcome for refugees.
 

Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms,
and strengthen the resolve of those committed to peace. 

O God of hope and Father of mercy,

your Holy Spirit inspires us to look beyond ourselves and our own needs. 

Inspire leaders to choose peace over violence
and to seek reconciliation with enemies.
 

Inspire the Church around the world with compassion for the people of Syria,
and fill us with hope for a future of peace built on justice for all.
 

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Light of the World,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
 

Amen.

The prayer itself is adapted from one from a Prayer for Peace in Syria from Catholic Relief Services.

CRS also provides a somewhat lengthier Prayer for Iraq:

Gracious God,
we join our cries today with the people of Iraq:
who have seen too much violence,
who have seen too much war,
who have seen too much displacement,
who have seen too much mourning
and borne far too great a burden.

We cry our for peace.
We cry out for stability.
We cry out for healing.
We cry out for neighbors living as neighbors,
as we are meant to live.

For whether we call ourselves
Christian or Muslim,,
Sunni or Shiitte,
Jew or Arab,
Kurd or Mandaean,
whatever the name,
when we take up arms against our neighbor,
even when we so much as turn from our neighbor,
we shame ourselves before you.

So, we turn in prayer toward our neighbors in Iraq
in their time of great need.

In solidarity with these sisters and brothers,
we cry out to you:
Let there be joy where there is mourning.
Let there be hope where there is fear.
Let there be stillness where there is violence.
And let there be peace.
A just and lasting peace.

Lord, your grace abounds.
May it rest upon the peoples of Iraq
today and always.

Amen.

I could not find a prayer at the CRS or USCCB web sites specifically for those suffering under Boko Haram - which has now killed more people than the Islamic State - in Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon. The suffering peoples of Africa are continually ignored by too many. Aid to the Church in Need in the United Kingdom, however, provides a generic Prayer for Persecuted Christians, which we can pray on their behalf:

Almighty, everlasting God,

look with compassion on all those who suffer persecution for justice’s sake.

Grant them grace to carry their cross
with patience in the name of Thy beloved Son,
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Let the chalice pass from them if such be Thy holy Will:
yet, in all things,
may Thy Will be done.

Grant to those who persecute,
light to see the truth,
and the grace of mercy and forgiveness,
for they know not what they do.

Mary, Mother of Jesus, Comfort of the Afflicted,
help thy children in their time of bitter trial.

O Lord our God,
by the sign of Thy holy cross
deliver us from our enemies.

Amen.

Aid to the Church in Need in the U.S.A. (to which you should make a donation if you can) provides this Prayer for Refugees and Victims of War:

Lord God,

no one is a stranger to you

and no one is ever far from your loving care.

In your kindness,

watch over refugees and victims of war,

those separated from their loved ones,
young people who are lost,

and those who have left home

or who have run away from home.

Bring them back safely

to the place where they long to be,

and help us always to show your kindness

to strangers and to all in need.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

A Prayer for Great River Teens Encounter Christ

Above: Part of the chains that held Saint Paul
Below: The sarcophagus of Saint Paul

I made a little pilgrimage this afternoon to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls to pray at the tomb of the Apostle for Great River Teens Encounter Christ #298. While there, I wrote the following prayer, largely inspired by Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians:

Glorious Saint Paul,
who did not weary laboring in the vineyard of the Lord
to proclaim the glorious riches of the Crucified Christ,
intercede now for those laboring in the same vineyard
through Great River Teens Encounter Christ.

Inspired by your shining example
and assisted by the help of your prayers,
may they proclaim with lives of joy and fidelity
the true freedom of the children of God
and so lead their brothers and sisters to the Son of God
who loves them and gave himself for them.

You who encountered him who died and was raised
teach the team and candidates to do good to all
and to glory only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
so that they, with you, might receive the crown of life
and the palm of victory.

Amen.

Please join me this weekend in praying for Great River TEC #298.