Prayers for all Occasions, Needs, and Intentions

PERSONAL PRAYERS

A collection of beautiful prayers to enrich your personal life.

Prayer To My Patron Saint

Great Saint (mention name here), who at my Baptism was chosen as my guardian and under whose name I became an adopted child of God and solemnly renounced Satan, his works and allurements, assist me by your powerful intercession in the fulfillment of these sacred promises. You also made them in the days of your earthly pilgrimage, and your fidelity in keeping them to the end has obtained for you an everlasting reward in heaven.

I am called to the same happiness that you enjoy. The same help is offered to me that enabled you to acquire eternal glory. You overcame temptations like those I experience.

Pray for me, therefore, my holy patron, so that, being inspired by your example and assisted by your prayers, I may live a holy life, die a happy death and reach eternal life to praise and thank God in heaven with you. Amen.

Prayer of St. Theresa  

May there be peace within. May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. 

Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance and love. It is there for each and every one of you. 

A Prayer For Perseverance

All-powerful Lord, since You permit evil that You may draw more good from it, listen to our humble prayers in which we beg of You the grace of being faithful to You till death, ever conforming ourselves to Your most holy will. Amen. 

A Prayer To My Guardian Angel

My dear guardian angel, you were given to me by my merciful God to be my faithful companion. I honor and love you as my most devoted friend, to whom God has entrusted the care of my immortal soul. With all my heart I thank you for your love and constant care of me. Amen.

A Prayer For Peace and Joy

Jesus, I want to rejoice in you always. You are near. Let me have no anxiety, but in every concern by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving I wish to let my petitions be made known in my communing with God.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard my heart and my thoughts in you. Amen.

A Prayer to Know God's Will

God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Author of glory, grant me spiritual wisdom and revelation. Enlighten the eyes of my mind with a deep knowledge of you and your holy will. May I understand of what nature is the hope to which you call me, what is the wealth of the splendor of your inheritance among the Saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of your power toward me. Amen.

A Plea for Divine Help

Hear us, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, and graciously send your holy angel from heaven to watch over, to cherish, to protect, to abide with, and to defend all who dwell in this house, Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer Of Resignation

O my God, I accept from Your hands whatever You wish to send me: health or sickness, joy or sorrow, comfort or suffering. I know that You, my infinitely loving Father, will allow nothing that is not for Your glory and for my good. I accept all things in obedience to Your divine will. Do with me what You wish in this short life, O Father of infinite goodness, but bring me safely by Your mercy and protection to the happiness of Your home in heaven. Amen. 

To Those I Love

If I should ever leave you whom I love, to go along the silent way, grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were there. I'd come, I'd come, could I but find a way! But would not tears and grief be barriers? And when you hear a song or see a bird I loved, please do not let the thought of me be sad...for I am loving you just as I always have...you were so good to me! There are so many things I wanted still to do, so many things to say to you...remember that I did not fear, it was just leaving you that was so hard to face. We cannot see beyond but this I know; I loved you so 'twas heaven here with you! 

A Prayer For All In Military Service

O God, we beseech you, watch over the souls of all who are exposed to the horrors of war, and to the spiritual dangers inseparable from a military life. Bless them with such a strong faith that no human respect may ever lead them to deny it, or fear to practice it. Do you by your grace fortify them against the contagion of bad example. Keep them always in your friendship. May nothing in life or death ever separate them from you. Amen. 

A Prayer For All In Trouble

Most blessed Virgin, in your life of glory, remember the sorrows of earth. Look with kindness on those who suffer, who struggle against difficulties, who drink unceasingly the bitterness of this life. Have pity on those who love each other and are separated. Have pity on the lonely of heart. Have pity on the weakness of our faith. Have pity on the objects of our affection. Have pity on those who weep, those who pray, those who fear. Obtain for all, hope and peace. Amen.

Prayer for Faith

My Jesus, how often I feel very small and inadequate before great tasks and responsibilities. What can I do but bring all that I have, even though it isn't much, and place all this in Your hands, wait for Your blessing, breaking, thanking and receive back again with amazing power to reach all who depend on me, fill them with goodness and still have more than what I started with.

May I never hold back my gifts from You. May I believe that Your blessing multiplies my smallest gifts to maximum powers. May I rejoice that You return the task to me and I have the personal thrill of seeing many satisfied by my ministrations. I adore Your wisdom, Your power, Your sharing. Amen. 

A Prayer For Goodness

O Holy Spirit of God, take me as Your disciple. Guide me, illuminate me, sanctify me. Bind my hands that they may do no evil; cover my eyes that they may see it no more; sanctify my heart that evil may not dwell within me. Be my guide; wherever You lead me, I will go; whatever You forbid me, I will renounce; and whatever You command me in Your strength, I will do. Lead me then to the fullness of Your truth. Amen. 

A Prayer In Affliction

O Lord, keep me from bitterness. It is so easy to nurse sharp bitter thoughts each dull dark hour! Against self-pity, Man of Sorrows, defend me with your deep understanding and your gentle power! And out of all this hurt of pain and heartbreak help me to harvest a new sympathy for suffering humankind; a wiser pity for those who lift a heavier cross with you. Amen. 

A Prayer for Patience

Lord Jesus Christ, temper my impatience! I get excited so easily. I am so prone to anger. Let me see things in their true perspective. When others are unfair to me, let me find my justice in you. If others are hard and heartless, let me find love in you. When difficulties block my path, let me recall that your divine providence has sent them. Guide me with your spirit. Amen. 

A Prayer for those Addicted to Drugs and Alcohol

Drugs and alcohol were a gift to us by you Father, and in your plan of creation they are good. Yet, some of us have been weak and intemperate in their use and have become their slaves.

When we see the de-humanizing effects of drugs and alcohol ill-used, we can but turn to you and beg for a lasting solution to the drug and alcoholic problems as they touch our lives and the lives of those around us.

Help us to learn where to go for help and what must be done and give us the strength to do it. Grant also that the illegal sale of alcohol, illegal supplies of drugs and the pushers be stopped. Protect us from the evils created by the abusive use of drugs and alcohol. Grant your help and protection to all under their influence. We ask this in your name and in the name of your Son, Christ our Lord. Amen. 

A Prayer For Humility

O meek and humble Jesus, creator and Lord of the universe, You humbled Yourself and became a servant to redeem the world. Help me to understand that humility is necessary for every other virtue I desire to possess. You resist the proud and give Your grace only to the humble.

Let me remember always that I am Your creature completely dependent on You.

Let me prove my humility by cheerfully accepting humiliations from others.

Let me seek only Your approval and Your reward rather than the approval and praise of this world. Amen. 

A Prayer For Temperance

O gentle Jesus, You suffered agonizing thirst on the cross to atone for the many sins that would be committed by men through their sense of taste.

Accept my sorrow for all my lack of mortification and my many sins in this regard. You have created so many good things to satisfy our bodily appetites without sin and to make us grateful! Yet by drunkenness and gluttony so many of us have turned these good things to our own destruction.

Spare me from such sins. Make me truly and always grateful. Inspire me to practice moderation to safeguard my soul and to make atonement for those who abandon themselves to inordinate desires. Amen. 

A Prayer For Meekness

My loving redeemer, how great is the contrast between Your conduct under insult and injury, and mine.

You were silent when You were falsely accused. You did not complain when they crowned You with thorns and scourged You at the pillar. You prayed for the forgiveness of those who nailed You to the cross.

And I? How quick I have been to show resentment and anger even for unintended slights; how often I have planned revenge for even imaginary wrongs; how long I have harbored ill-feelings against those who hurt me.

I am sorry that I have been so reluctant to follow Your example. Grant me the grace to be silent and forgiving whenever I am tempted to anger. Amen. 

A Prayer For Health

Gentle Jesus, who cured the sick and laid a healing hand upon the lame, the blind and the crippled, look with compassion upon me in my suffering. If it is not Your will to heal me, then give me strength to bear my burden and offer it up to You. You suffered so much for me. give me grace to offer my sufferings in union with Your own, in reparation for my sins and those of others, for the needs of this troubled world and for the release of the souls in purgatory. Mary, health of the sick, comforter of the afflicted, pray for me. Amen. 

A Prayer In Time Of Sickness

O Jesus, You suffered and died for us; You understand suffering; Teach me to understand my suffering as You do; To bear it in union with You; To offer it with You to atone for my sins; And to bring Your grace to souls in need. Calm my fears; increase my trust. May I gladly accept Your holy will and become more like You in trial. If it be Your will, restore me to health so that I may work for Your honor and glory and the salvation of all men. Amen.

Mary, help of the sick, pray for me. Amen.

A Prayer for Courage

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous, teach me to serve Thee as Thou deservest, to give and not count the cost, to fight and not heed the wound, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek reward, save that of feeling that I do Thy Will. Amen. (St. Ignatius) 

A Prayer For Light

O Holy Spirit of God, take me as your disciple: guide me, illuminate me, sanctify me. Bind my hands that they may do no evil; cover my eyes that they may see it no more; sanctify my heart that evil may not dwell within me. Be you my God; be you my guide.

Wherever you lead me I will go; whatever you forbid me I will renounce; and whatever you command me in your strength I will do. Lead me, then, unto the fullness of your truth. Amen. 

Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe in you; I hope in you; I love you. I am heartily sorry for all my sins. Come into my heart, cleanse it, purify it, and remain there forever. My Lord, Jesus Christ, preserve my soul unto life everlasting. Amen. 

Act of Sorrow

Forgive me my sins, O Lord, forgive me my sins; the sins of my age, the sins of my youth, the sins of my soul, the sins of my body; my idle sins, my serious voluntary sins, the sins I know, the sins I have concealed so long, and which are now hidden from my memory.

I am truly sorry for every sin, mortal and venial, for all the sins of my childhood up to the present hour.

I know my sins have wounded your tender heart, O my Savior, let me be freed from the bonds of evil through the most bitter passion of my Redeemer.

O my Jesus, forget and forgive what I have been. Amen. 

Blessing of My Home

Visit, O Lord, we beseech you this home; and drive far from it all snares of the enemy. Let your holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace, and may your blessing be always upon us through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the divine assistance remain always with us. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. 

Prayer for the Chronically Ill

Lord Jesus, you have chosen some of us to share in a special way in your sufferings for the salvation of the world. Help those who share your sufferings in the body by giving them renewed life in their souls.

Let them realize the value and power that comes from their suffering, from their vocation to contribute to the salvation of all men. Help them to be strong and courageous as they share in your work of atonement. Let them be a sign for all of us of the strength of your grace. Grant them happiness and joy in their knowledge of serving you.

Lord, if it be in the Father’s plan, grant health in body to those too weak to bear their cross, and also to those so strong in faith that their cure would witness to your glory and love. Amen. 

Hospitalization Prayer

Jesus, I give You all those parts of my body which have suffered from illness. You know what it is like to endure pain. Let me see how You reshape and make that part of my body new, just as You and Your Father fashioned me with such exacting precious precision at the moment of my conception.

Give Your gift of wisdom to my Physician that He may be guided by the Holy Spirit in all he does.

Bless, too, my medication and my nurses so that their hands will become Your hands as they touch me. Amen. 

A Prayer In Time Of Suffering

Behold me, my beloved Jesus, weighed down under the burden of my trials and sufferings, I cast myself at Your feet, that You may renew my strength and my courage, while I rest here in Your presence. Permit me to lay down my cross in Your Sacred Heart, for only Your infinite goodness can sustain me; only Your love can help me bear my cross; only Your powerful hand can lighten its weight. O Divine King, Jesus, whose heart is so compassionate to the afflicted, I wish to live in You; suffer and die in You. during my life be to me my model and my support; At the hour of my death, be my hope and my refuge. Amen. 

A Prayer For Our Beloved Dead

Good Jesus, whose loving Heart was ever troubled by the sorrows of others, look with pity on the souls of our dear ones in purgatory. O you, who "loved your own," hear our cry for mercy, and grant that those whom you called from our homes and heart, may soon enjoy everlasting rest in the home you love in heaven.

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. 

Let Me Bring Love

O God, make me an instrument of peace, that I may bring love where there is hate; that I may pardon where there is guilt; that I may unit where there is dissension; that I may bring truth where there is error; that I may bring faith where there is darkness; that I may bring joy where there is suffering;

That I may seek; not to comforted, but to bring comfort; not to be understood, but to understand; not to be loved, but to love; this alone is important. 

For when we give, we receive; when we pardon, we are forgiven; when we die, we enter new life. Amen. 

A Prayer For Enlightenment

Come, Holy Spirit, enlighten the darkness of my understanding and sharpen my conscience, so that I may recognize God's will in all things. Send forth your light and truth into my soul! May I see all my sins and failures in this light and confess them with a contrite heart. Jesus Christ gentle Savior, I put my hope of salvation in you. Accept my confession with loving mercy and move my heart to true sorrow for my sins.

Heavenly Father, when you look into my soul, look not so much at the evil I have done but at the genuine sorrow that I feel within my heart. Help me to confess all my sins with a childlike trust in your loving forgiveness. Amen. 

A Prayer For The Souls In Purgatory

O Divine Heart of Jesus, grant, we beseech you, eternal rest to the souls in purgatory, the final grace to those who shall die today, true repentance to sinners, the light of faith to pagans, and your blessing to me and mine.

To you, O most compassionate Heart of Jesus, I commend all these souls, and I offer to you on their behalf all the merits, together with the merits of your most holy Mother and of all the saints and angels, and all the sacrifices of the Holy Mass, Communions, prayers and good works, which shall be accomplished today throughout the Christian world. Amen. 

A Prayer For The Restoration Of Things Lost And Stolen

O Blessed St. Anthony! The grace of God has made you a powerful advocate in all necessities and the patron for the restoration of things lost or stolen. To you I turn today with childlike love and heartfelt confidence. O how many thousands have you miraculously aided in the recovery of lost goods! You were the counselor of the erring, the comforter of the afflicted, the healer of the sick, the raiser of the dead, the deliverer of the captive, the refuge of the afflicted. To you do I hasten, O Blessed St. Anthony!

Help me in my present affliction. I recommend what I have lost to your care in the secure hope that you will restore it to me if it be to the greater glory of God and to the spiritual benefit of my soul. Obtain also for me an active faith, peace of mind, disgust for the vain pleasures of the world, and an ardent desire for the imperishable goods of eternity. Amen. 

Prayer For The Elderly

Lord, Our God, You have given these Your faithful the grace to maintain their hope in You through all life's changes and to taste and see Your goodness.

We bless You for the gifts You have showered on them for so many years. We ask that they may find joy in a renewed strength of spirit, that they may have good health, and that they may inspire us by the example of their serene way of life.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Miracle Prayer

Lord Jesus, I come before You just as I am. I am sorry for my sins. I repent for my sins. Please forgive me. In your name I forgive all others for what they have done against me. I renounce Satan, the Evil Spirits, and all their works. I give You my entire self Lord Jesus. I accept You into my life Jesus. I accept You as my Lord, God and Savior.

Heal me, change me, strengthen me in body, soul and spirit.

Come Lord Jesus; cover me with Your precious blood and fill me with Your Holy Spirit.

I thank You Jesus, I shall follow You every day of my life. Amen. 

Prayer On A Birthday

God of all creation we offer You grateful praise for the gift of life.

Hear the prayers of N., your servant, who recalls today the day of his/her birth and rejoices in Your gifts of life and love, family and friends.

Bless him/her with Your presence and surround him/her with Your love that he/she may enjoy many happy years, all of them pleasing to You. Amen. 

Prayer For Air Travelers

Immaculate Lady of the Air, I commend my soul and body to your safe keeping, especially in flight. Through your gracious intercession, preserve me from all bodily harm. Keep loving vigil over the wings that sustain me in flight. Guide the hands that guide the craft. Keep me mindful that my earthly wanderings will one day end in final journey to the judgment seat of God.

These graces I ask through your stainless hands, O Immaculate Lady of the Air. Amen. 

Prayer For The Separated And Lonely

O most Holy Virgin, do not in the midst of your greatness forget our earthly sorrows. Cast down your tender look upon those who suffer, who struggle against difficulties, and who cease not wetting their lips in the bitter draughts of this life.

Have pity, I beseech you, on those who although united in love, have been cruelly parted, and take pity on the lonely-hearted. grant us you help in our unbelief, and have compassion on those most dear to us.

Have compassion on those who mourn, who pray, who tremble, and grant all hope and peace. Amen.  

Prayer for Reverence of Life

All mighty God, giver of all that is good. We thank you for the precious gift of human life.

For life in womb, coming from your creative power For the life of children, making us glad with their freshness and promise For the life of young people, hoping for a better world For the life of the handicapped and disabled, teaching us humility For the life of the elderly, witnessing the ageless values of patience and wisdom.

Like Blessed Mary, may we always say yes to your gift. May we defend it and promote it from conception to it's natural end and bring us at last oh Father to eternal life, in Jesus Christ our lord. Amen.

Entrusting Myself to the Hands of Jesus (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ) 

I've come to think that the only, the supreme, prayer we can offer up, during these hours when the road before us is shrouded in darkness, is that of our master on the cross: "In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum." (Into your hands I commend my spirit.)

To the hands that broke and gave life to the bread, that blessed and caressed, that were pierced; . . . to the kindly and mighty hands that reach down, to the very marrow of the soul, that mould and create, to the hands through which so great a love is transmitted, it is to these that it is good to surrender our soul, and above all when we suffer or are afraid, and in so doing there is a great happiness and a great merit. Amen.  

Prayer of Complete Trust (St. Francis de Sales) 

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life with fear. Rather, look to them with full confidence that, as they arise, God to whom you belong will in his love enable you to profit by them. He has guided you thus far in life, do you but hold fast to his dear hand, and he will lead you safely through all trials. Whenever you cannot stand, he will carry you lovingly in his arms.

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same eternal father who takes care of you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day of your life, either he will shield you from suffering or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace then, and put aside all useless thoughts, all vain dreads and all anxious imaginations. Amen.

A Prayer (Sister Bernice Kuper, SP) 

Lord, it is hard sometimes to believe that you are really present in this world of ours. But I do believe it, Lord! Please help me live my life in such a way that it will be easier for others to recognize you. 

When I find doubt, help me bring a little light. Where I find discouragement, let me be a ray of hope in the darkness.

To those who feel estranged and alienated from you and from your church, let me be as a bridge. 

When I meet those who have been hurt or misunderstood, help me leave only the imprint of your healing love and compassion.

Lord, wherever I go and whomever I meet, help me be an instrument of your peace. Amen. 

Prayer for All who Work

Direct us, O Lord, in all our work, with pride in craftsmanship, conviction in purpose and strength in difficulty. Sustain and preserve our good efforts. And finally, by Your mercy, grant us eternal rest from all labor. Amen.

Prayer for Purity

O good Jesus, I know that every perfect gift and above all others, that of chastity depends on the powerful action of Thy divine Providence; I know that without Thee a creature can do nothing. This is why I beseech Thee to defend, by Thy grace, the purity of my soul and of my body. And if I have ever received any impression whatsoever of a sentiment capable of soiling this ineffable virtue, do Thou, O supreme Master of my faculties, blot it out from my soul that with a clean heart I may advance in Thy love and in Thy service, offering myself chaste all the days of my life on the most pure altar of Thy divinity. It is the Cross that I adore. The Cross of the Lord is with me. The Cross is my refuge. Amen.

Prayer for Wisdom

O Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, prince of theologians and model of philosophers, bright ornament of the Christian world and light of the Church: O heavenly patron of all Catholic schools, who didst learn wisdom without guile and dost communicate it without envy, intercede for us with the Son of God. Wisdom itself, that the Spirit of wisdom may descend upon us and enable us to understand clearly that which thou has taught and fulfill it by imitating thy deeds; to become partakers of that doctrine and virtue which caused thee to shine like the sun on earth; and at least to rejoice with thee forever in their most sweet fruits in Heaven, together praising the Divine Wisdom for all eternity. Amen.

Prayer in Thanksgiving

O God, Whose mercy is beyond measure and who goodness is an infinite treasure, we give thanks to thy most gracious majesty for the gifts thou hast given us; begging always of thy clemency that granting gifts to those who ask, Thou wilt, not abandoning them, dispose them for eternal rewards. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for Sinners

Eternal Father, in the name of thy adorable Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and by the merits of His most Precious Blood, have mercy on poor sinners and convert them. Holy Mary, refuge of sinners, pray for them, O Mary, Queen of light, enlighten sinners and bring them to the heart of Thy Divine Son. Amen.

Prayer for Deceased Parents

God, You commanded us to honor our father and our mother. In your mercy have pity on the soul of my father (mother), and forgive him (her) sins. May I see him (her) again in the joy of everlasting brightness. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for Choosing a State of Life

O Lord, I beseech Thee to grant me Thy divine light, that I may know the designs of Thy providence concerning me, and that, filled with a sincere desire for my soul's salvation, I may say, with the young man in the Gospel: What must I do to be saved? All states of life are before me; but, still undecided what to do, I await Thy commands, I offer myself to Thee without restriction, without reserve, with a most perfect submission.

Far be it from me, O Lord, to oppose the order of Thy wisdom, and, unfaithful to the inspiration of Thy grace, to strive to subject the will of the Creator to the caprice of the creature. It is not for the servant to choose the way in which he will serve his master: do Thou lay upon me what commands Thou pleasest. My lot is in Thy hands. I make no exception, lest perchance what I except be that which Thou willest, and because I am too short-sighted to discover in the future the different obstacles I shall meet with, if, without Thy guidance, I make myself the arbiter of my own conduct. Speak, Lord, to my soul; speak to me as Thou dist to the youthful Samuel: Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth. I cast myself at Thy feet, and I am ready, if it be Thy will, to sacrifice myself as victim to Thee for the remainder of my days, in such wise as Thou shalt deem most worthy of Thy greatness.

O my God, inspire the affections of my parents, and guide their projects according to the counsels of Thy wisdom. Lord, I sincerely desire to consult Thee who art the Eternal Truth; grant that my parents also may submit themselves to its decrees, faithfully and without reserve. Amen.