St. Francis of Assisi Prayer for Peace

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace,
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong,
I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to
comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

-*-

Saint Francis was born in Assisi, Italy in 1182. He lived and preached a life of poverty and love of God to all men. He founded the religious Order of the Franciscans; with St. Clare, he founded the Order of the Poor Clares; and the Third Order for lay people. He died in 1226




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Prayer to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1. "Hail Mary, full of grace!"
Immaculate Virgin, here I am at your feet once again,
full of devotion and gratitude.
I return to this historic Piazza di Spagna
on the solemn day of your feast
to pray for the beloved city of Rome,
for the Church, for the whole world.
In you, "humble and highest of creatures",
divine grace had the full victory over evil.
You are for us, pilgrims on the paths of the world,
the bright model of evangelical fidelity
and the ever-living pledge of sure hope.

2. Virgin Mother, "Salvation of the Roman People!"
Watch over, I pray you, the beloved Diocese of Rome:
over pastors and faithful, parishes and religious communities.
Watch over families especially:
may love sealed by the Sacrament ever reign between spouses,
may children walk on the paths of goodness and true freedom,
may the elderly feel surrounded by attention and affection.
Inspire, Mary, in so many young hearts,
generous replies to the "call for the mission",
a subject on which the diocese has
been reflecting over the years.
Thanks to an intense pastoral program for vocations,
may Rome be enriched by new young forces,
dedicated with enthusiasm to proclaiming the Gospel
in the city and in the world.

3. Blessed Virgin, Queen of Apostles!
Assist those who through study
and prayer are preparing to labor
on the many frontiers of the new evangelization.
Today I entrust to you, in a special way,
the community of the Pontifical Urban College,
whose historic headquarters are located in front of this pillar.
May this wonderful institution founded 375 years ago
by Pope Urban VIII for the formation of missionaries,
be able to continue effectively its ecclesial service.
May those it gathers, seminarians and priests,
men and women religious and laity,
be ready to put their energies at the disposition
of Christ in service of the Gospel to the far corners of the globe.

4. "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!"
Pray, O Mother, for all of us.
Pray for humanity for those who suffers poverty and injustice,
violence and hatred, terror and war.
Help us to contemplate with the rosary
the mysteries of Him who "is our peace",
so that we will all feel involved
in a persevering dedication of service to peace.
Look with special attention
upon the land in which you gave birth to Jesus,
a land that you loved together with Him,
and that is still so sorely tried today.
Pray for us, Mother of hope!
"Give us days of peace, watch over our way.
Let us see your Son as we rejoice in heaven". Amen!

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Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity.

Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history.


Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, Mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified.


Hail Mary, woman of faith, First of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love, in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.


Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Amen.

-*-

This prayer was said during the Holy Father's August 15, 2004 visit to Lourdes, France. The Pope asked her among other things to "be our guide along the paths of the world."

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Litany of the Love of God

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us.
Thou Who art Infinite Love,
Have mercy on us.
Thou Who didst first love me,
Have mercy on us.
Thou Who commandest me to love Thee,
Have mercy on us.

With all my heart,
I Love Thee, O My God
With all my soul,
I Love Thee, O My God
With all my mind,
I Love Thee, O My God
With all my strength,
I Love Thee, O My God
Above all possessions and honors,
I Love Thee, O My God
Above all pleasures and enjoyments,
I Love Thee, O My God
More than myself, and everything belonging to me,
I Love Thee, O My God
More than all my relatives and friends,
I Love Thee, O My God
More than all men and angels,
I Love Thee, O My God
Above all created things in heaven or on earth,
I Love Thee, O My God
Only for Thyself,
I Love Thee, O My God
Because Thou art the sovereign Good,
I Love Thee, O My God
Because Thou art infinitely worthy of being loved,
I Love Thee, O My God
Because Thou art infinitely perfect,
I Love Thee, O My God
Even hadst Thou not promised me heaven,
I Love Thee, O My God
Even hadst Thou not menaced me with hell,
I Love Thee, O My God
Even shouldst Thou try me by want and misfortune,
I Love Thee, O My God
In wealth and in poverty,
I Love Thee, O My God
In prosperity and in adversity,
I Love Thee, O My God
In health and in sickness,
I Love Thee, O My God
In life and in death,
I Love Thee, O My God
In time and in eternity,
I Love Thee, O My God
In union with that love wherewith all the saints and all the angels love Thee in heaven,
I Love Thee, O My God
In union with that love wherewith the Blessed Virgin Mary loveth Thee,
I Love Thee, O My God
In union with that infinite love wherewith Thou lovest Thyself eternally,
I Love Thee, O My God

My God, Who dost possess in incomprehensible abundance all that is perfect and worthy of love, annihilate in me all guilty, sensual, and undue love for creatures. Kindle in my heart the pure fire of Thy love, so that I may love nothing but Thee or in Thee, until being so entirely consumed by holy love of Thee, I may go to love Thee eternally with the elect in heaven, the country of pure love. Amen.

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PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

O Jesus/ our great High Priest/ hear my humble prayers

on behalf of your priests.

Give them a deep faith/ a bright and firm hope/

and a burning love/ which will ever increase/

in the course of their priestly life.

In their loneliness/ comfort them/

In their sorrows/ strengthen them/

In their frustrations/ point out to them that it is through

suffering/ that the soul is purified/ and show them

that they are needed by the Church/ they are needed

by souls/ they are needed for the work of redemption.

O Loving Mother Mary/ Mother of Priests/ take to

your heart your sons who are close to you/ because

of their priestly ordination/ and because of the power

which they have received/ to carry on the work of

Christ/ in a world which needs them so much.

Be their comfort/ be their joy/ be their strength/ and

especially help them/ to live and to defend the ideals

of consecrated celibacy. Amen.

+John Joseph Cardinal Carberry

Archbishop of St. Louis

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Litany of the Cross

The cross is the hope of Christians
the cross is the resurrection of the dead
the cross is the way of the lost
the cross is the savior of the lost
the cross is the staff of the lame
the cross is the guide of the blind
the cross is the strength of the weak
the cross is the doctor of the sick
the cross is the aim of the priests
the cross is the hope of the hopeless
the cross is the freedom of the slaves
the cross is the power of the kings
the cross is the water of the seeds
the cross is the consolation of the bondsmen
the cross is the source of those who seek water
the cross is the cloth of the naked.
We thank you, Father, for the cross.



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PRESENTATION

It was a late spring morning, somewhere between the years 30 and 33 of our era. In a street of Jerusalem -- which in centuries to come would be known simply as the "Via Dolorosa" -- a small procession was winding its way: escorted by a patrol of Roman soldiers, a man condemned to death advanced, carrying the patibulum, the horizontal arm of a cross whose vertical arm was already standing amid the stones of a small, rocky promontory called in Aramaic, Golgotha, and in Latin, Calvary, "the place of the skull".

This was the last chapter of a familiar story whose central figure is Jesus Christ, the man crucified and humiliated, the Lord risen and glorious. It was a story that began in the darkness and gloom of the evening before, beneath the olive branches of a field called Gethsemane, "the olive-press". A story that quickly unfolded in the strongholds of religious and political power and culminated in a sentence of death. Yet the case of that condemned man was unlike that of so many other victims of the brutal torture of crucifixion, which the Romans reserved for the punishment of revolutionaries and slaves. Not even the tomb, offered by a man of means named Joseph of Arimathea, could be the end of the story.

There would in fact be another chapter, astonishing and unexpected: the condemned man, Jesus of Nazareth, would splendidly reveal another nature hidden beneath the features of his human countenance and body: that of the Son of God. The end of the story was not the Cross and the tomb, but rather the brilliant light of his Resurrection and his glory. As the Apostle Paul, a few years later, would say: the one who renounced his glory to become powerless and weak like us, and abased himself even to accepting a shameful death by crucifixion, was exalted by the Father, who made him the Lord of earth and heaven, of history and eternity (cf. Phil 2:6-11).

For centuries Christians have retraced the steps of the Via Crucis, a path that leads to the hill of the crucifixion, with their gaze fixed on its ultimate goal, the light of Easter. They have made that journey as pilgrims along that same street in Jerusalem, but also in their cities, their churches and their homes. For centuries writers and artists, both famous and forgotten, have sought to touch the hearts of the faithful by bringing to life those steps or "stations", making them moments of meditation along the way to Golgotha. They have painted pictures ranging from the striking to the ordinary, from the sublime to the simple, from the dramatic to the plain and unaffected.

In Rome, this spiritual journey in the footsteps of Jesus sets out anew each Good Friday, led by the Pope, the Bishop of this City and the universal pastor, in union with Christians the world over. This year's reflections for each station are narrative and meditative in character, and follow the story of the Passion as recounted by the Evangelist Saint Luke. They have been written by a biblist, Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, prefect of the Ambrosian Library and Gallery in Milan, a cultural institution founded four centuries ago by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, Archbishop of that city and a cousin of Saint Charles Borromeo. A century ago, among its prefects, was Achille Ratti, the future Pope Pius XI.

Let us now begin together this journey of prayer, not simply for the sake of remembering past events and a tragic death, but to experience the crude realism of a story which nonetheless speaks of hope, joy and salvation. Perhaps others who are still searching, uncertain and troubled will make this journey alongside us. And as we make our way, step by step, along this path of suffering and of light, we will be able to hear an echo of the stirring words of the Apostle Paul: "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory?… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Cor 15:54-55, 57).

*** A moment of silence

PRESENTATION

OPENING PRAYER

FIRST STATION

SECOND STATION

THIRD STATION

FOURTH STATION

FIFTH STATION

SIXTH STATION

SEVENTH STATION

EIGHTH STATION

NINTH STATION

TENTH STATION

ELEVENTH STATION

TWELFTH STATION

THIRTEENTH STATION

FOURTEENTH STATION

BLESSING
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