Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Universal Prayer

This is too beautiful not to share. I came across this on the ADW blog.
I shall be praying this with my family daily and ask that you join me.

God bless you this Lenten season.

Your sister in Christ, Vijaya.


THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER (attributed to Pope Clement XI)

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.
I trust in you: strengthen my trust.
I love you: let me love you more and more.
I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.
+
I worship you as my first beginning,
I long for you as my last end,
I praise you as my constant helper,
And call on you as my loving protector.
+
Guide me by your wisdom,
Correct me with your justice,
Comfort me with your mercy,
Protect me with your power.
+
I offer you, Lord, my thoughts:
to be fixed on you;
My words: to have you for their theme;
My actions: to reflect my love for you;
My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.
+
I want to do what you ask of me:
In the way you ask,
For as long as you ask,
Because you ask it.
+
Lord, enlighten my understanding,
Strengthen my will,
Purify my heart,
and make me holy.
+
Help me to repent of my past sins
And to resist temptation in the future.
Help me to rise above my human weaknesses
And to grow stronger as a Christian.
+
Let me love you, my Lord and my God,
And see myself as I really am:
A pilgrim in this world,
A Christian called to respect and love
All whose lives I touch,
Those under my authority,
My friends and my enemies.
+
Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,
Greed by generosity,Apathy by fervor.
Help me to forget myself
And reach out toward others.
+
Make me prudent in planning,
Courageous in taking risks.
Make me patient in suffering,
unassuming in prosperity.
+
Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer,
Temperate in food and drink,
Diligent in my work,
Firm in my good intentions.
+
Let my conscience be clear,
My conduct without fault,
My speech blameless,
My life well-ordered.
+
Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.
Let me cherish your love for me,
Keep your law,
And come at last to your salvation.
+
Teach me to realize that this world is passing,
That my true future is the happiness of heaven,
That life on earth is short,
And the life to come eternal.
+
Help me to prepare for death
With a proper fear of judgment,
But a greater trust in your goodness.
Lead me safely through death
To the endless joy of heaven.
+
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
+
Amen.
+++

9 comments:

Marcia said...

What a beautiful prayer. I especially appreciate stanzas 1, 4, and 5. The first reminds us that we've not arrived, even if we're on the road.

Anonymous said...

WOW. What a beautiful prayer! I think I will share this with my pastor in hopes she will share it with our church.

Beautiful.

Bish Denham said...

I lovely prayer. A way to still to prattle of the mind and stay focused on what is truly important.

Faith E. Hough said...

Thank you for sharing this; it is beautiful. Lent is a wonderful time for renewing prayer, isn't it? I hope you and your family have a blessed season.

Vijaya said...

Marcia, Donna, Bish and Faith -- I am so glad you love this prayer. I find it encompasses everything I want to pray for and more. Peace of our Lord be with you.

I've always thought that we are a Lenten people (even at Christmas) because my thoughts constantly return to this Mystery of God coming down to be with us, and then sacrificing Himself. I'm a mother, and still His love is unfathomable.

Bless you all.

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

God bless you, too, Vijaya! I was sorry to read the last post about your friends passing away. I thought about that post as I was reading this prayer and it helped me to analyze my own life.

Amy

Vijaya said...

Amy, thank you. I return to these thoughts from Ash Wed. service:

Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.

Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart…

Bless you and your lovely family this Lenten season.

Katrina said...

This is very pretty.

I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award, because your blog inspired me. It's very lovely. Come over to my blog to collect your prize. Congratulations! I hope you post more prayers soon!

http://katrinadelallo.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-lovely-blog-award.html

Vijaya said...

Thanks, Cat. You have a lovely blog yourself. I'm glad you liked the Universal Prayer. I don't know when I'll be posting next. I'm trying to minimize time spent on the Internet.