Prayers for all Occasions, Needs, and Intentions

SPECIAL PRAYERS

A collection of beautiful prayers for special intentions

A Prayer to St. Jude

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved and preserved throughout the world now and forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.

St. Jude, worker of miracles, pray for us.

St. Jude, helper of the hopeless, pray for us.

Prayer To The Blessed Virgin

O most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God. Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me here that you are my mother. O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to secure me in my necessity (mention request). There are none that can withstand your power, O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recoursed thee (3 times). My cause is in your hands.

Lovely Lady Dressed In Blue

Lovely Lady dressed in blue-teach me how to pray! God was just your little boy, tell me what to say!

Did you lift Him up, sometimes, gently on your knee? Did you sing to Him the way Mother does to me?  Did you hold His hand at night? Did you ever try telling stories of the world? O! And did He cry?

Do you really think He cares if I tell Him things-little things that happen? And do the Angel's wings make a noise? And can He hear me if I speak low? Does He understand me now? Tell me, for you know?

Lovely Lady dressed in blue, teach me how to pray! God was just your little boy, and you know the way.

Prayer To St. Anthony

Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints.

Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore of you to obtain for me (mention request). The answer to my prayer may require a miracle even so, you are the saint of miracles. O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Sweet Infant Jesus, Who loved to be folded in your arms and the gratitude of my heart will be yours. 

Prayer To St. Michael

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in our hour of conflict; Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God restrain Him, we humbly pray, and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast Satan into Hell, and with him all the other evil spirits, who wander through the world, for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer to St. Raphael the Archangel

Glorious Archangel, St. Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land, or sea, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners. I beg you, assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the "medicine of God" I humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of my soul and the ills that afflict my body. I especially ask of you the favor (mention request) and the great grace of purity to prepare me to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer Of St. Francis Of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me 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.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

A Prayer Of St. Ignatius Loyola

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve You as You deserve: to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward save that of knowing I am doing Your will.

A Prayer Of St. Patrick

Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

St. Andrew Novena Prayer to Obtain Favors

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen. (mention request)

(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (30th November) until Christmas will obtain what is asked.) 

Prayer To The Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart with Your holy gifts.

Let my weakness be penetrated with Your strength this very day that I may fulfill all the duties of my state conscientiously, that I may do what is right and just.

Let my charity be such as to offend no one, and hurt no one's feelings; so generous as to pardon sincerely any wrong done to me.

Assist me, O Holy Spirit, in all my trials of life, enlighten me in my ignorance, advise me in my doubts, strengthen me in my weakness, help me in all my needs, protect me in temptation and console me in afflictions.

Graciously hear me, O Holy Spirit, and pour Your light into my heart, my soul, and my mind.

Assist me to live a holy life and to grow in goodness and grace. Amen.

Prayer To The Holy Trinity

Glory be to the Father, Who by His almighty power and love created me, making me in the image and likeness of God.

Glory be to the Son, Who by His Precious Blood delivered me from hell, and opened for me the gates of heaven.

Glory be to the Holy Spirit, Who has sanctified me in the sacrament of Baptism, and continues to sanctify me by the graces I receive daily from His bounty.

Glory be to the Three adorable Persons of the Holy Trinity, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer To St. Martha

"Thank you, Saint Martha, for favors granted."

The following prayer is to be said for nine consecutive Tuesdays.

Saint Martha, I resort to your protection and faith. Comfort me in all my difficulties and, through the great favor you enjoy in the house of my Savior, intercede for me, and my family. (Say three Hail Mary’s.)

I beseech thee to have infinite pity in regard to the favor I ask of thee, Saint Martha, (mention request) and that I may be able to overcome all difficulties.
Amen.

This prayer has never been known to fail. You will receive your intention on or before the ninth Tuesday, no matter how impossible it might seem.
Publication must be promised." 

Prayer To St. Jude

O glorious Apostle, St. Jude Thaddeus, true relative of Jesus and Mary, I salute thee through the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through this heart I praise and thank God for all the graces He has bestowed upon thee. Humbly prostrate before thee, I implore thee through this heart to look down upon me with compassion. Oh, despise not my poor prayer. Let not my trust be confounded. To thee God has granted the privilege of aiding mankind in the most desperate cases. Oh, come to my aid that I may praise the mercies of God. All my life I will be grateful to thee and will be thy faithful client until I can thee in Heaven. Amen.  

Prayer to Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Oh Holy Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose great love of Christ led you to serve the poorest of the poor, and whose missionary zeal inspired you to embrace the peoples of the world, I come to you in humble supplication. Obtain for me the grace to see Christ in all human beings, embracing them in the spirit of generosity and ministering to them in the name of Jesus. Obtain for me also, the favor of: (mention request)

Oh Heavenly Father, I beseech thee to obtain for Mother Teresa the official declaration of sainthood through canonization. I ask this in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.

A Prayer For Our Parish

O God, You have made us the church of Your dear Son. Make our parish a family of one heart and mind in love toward You. Grant that our common life and work may be an example to all about us. Guide our pastor and his assistants in their work.

Acknowledge the intercessions of (name of the parish patron) our patron; and keep us secure in Your love. Amen.

Prayer For Missionaries

Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, through Your life of poverty, Your intense sufferings, the labors of Your public life and bloody death, You earned the salvation of souls. The same path is trodden now by our missionaries who work for the salvation of souls. Fill them with courage, a devoted spirit of sacrifice and an unshakable confidence in Your promise to be with them to the end of time. Give success to their labors, answer their prayers and bless their burdens so that Your kingdom may extend to the ends of the earth. Amen.

A Prayer for Priests

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of your Sacred Heart, where none may touch them. Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch your Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with your Precious Blood. Keep pure and unworldly their hearts sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood. Let your holy love surround them from the world's contagion. Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here and their everlasting crown hereafter. Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us; obtain for us numerous and holy priests.

Prayer for Troubled Priests

Eternal Father, creator of all things, we reverence Your continued grace and presence in the priesthood of You only begotten Son, now shared by Him with men. In the weakness which You know, some of those called to participate in the priesthood of the eternal high priest have fallen from the heights to which they were summoned. Do not, we beg You, cast them forever from Your sight. Be mindful, rather, of their hearts as they were touched by Your grace in the beginnings of their priesthood. Restore to them by a flood of Your grace that generosity which they knew in life's morning. Amen. 

Prayer For Brothers

O Almighty and eternal God, look lovingly upon Mary as she stood beneath the cross of her Son. For the love of this sorrowing mother and her Son have pity on Your other sons, the Brothers consecrated to Jesus. In youth's glad hour they turned from every earthly possession, every passing joy and every vain ambition, that they might dedicate themselves by the sacred bonds of poverty, chastity, and obedience in holiness of life.

O Jesus, I confidently plead with You for all Your Brothers, for they are faithful, ardent religious. Be present in the classroom with the Brothers who labor for the youth You love so well; bend over the hospital cot with the Brothers who nurse bodies to win souls; be present in the kitchen and in the laundry and in the workshop with these Brothers who form the strong right arm of the great religious bodies that are the glory of Your church; be present in the mission field with Your Brothers, who have You alone as their motive and their solace. Amen.

Prayer For Sisters

O Almighty and eternal God, look upon the mother of Your Son and for love of her, and through her, have pity on Your consecrated Sisters. They are bound to You by their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Yet in spite of their good will and generosity, they are human, weak and frail. Take, therefore, their womanhood; purify it, ennoble it, transform it by Your grace, give them Your courage to rise above all pettiness. Give them Your tenderness to melt all selfish coldness; pierce them with Your honesty so that they may know themselves and come to know You. Give them O God, fidelity and sincerity. Keep them always in Your holy presence. Stir up in them the grace of their holy vocation.

O Jesus, I pray to You for Your courageous, faithful and fervent Sisters. But above all I commend to You the Sisters dearest to me, the Sisters who taught me in school, the Sisters who encouraged and guided me, who comforted me in sickness, the Sisters whose beautiful example has edified and inspired me, all the Sisters to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly Sister (mention name here). O Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart. And bless them abundantly for time and for eternity. Amen.

Prayer of Resignation

My Lord God, even now resignedly and willingly, I accept at your hands will all its anxieties, pains and sufferings whatever kind of death it may please you to be mine. Amen. 

An Exorcism

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in “our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places” (Eph., 6,12). Come to the assistance of men whom God has created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Holy Church venerates thee as her guardian and protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into heaven. Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church. Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us; take hold of “the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan”, bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit ...“that he may no longer seduce the nations” (Apoc. 20, 2-3). 

Rite of Exorcism

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints. (and powerful in the holy authority of our ministry)*, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil.(*non-religious omit)

God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God. 

P. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies. 
R. The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David, hath conquered. 
P. May Thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us. 
R. As great as our hope in Thee.

(The crosses + below indicate a blessing to be given if a priest recites the Exorcism; if a lay person recites it, they indicate the Sign of the Cross to be made silently by that person).

We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects. In the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, + may you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb.+ 

Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God's elect and sift them as wheat.+ The Most High God commands you,+ He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal. “God who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2,4). God the Father commands you. + God the Son commands you.+ God the Holy Ghost commands you.+ Christ, God's Word made flesh, commands you;+ He who to save our race outdone through your envy, “humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death” (Phil.2,8); He who has built His Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Her, because He will dwell with Her “all days even to the end of the world” (Matt. 28,20).

The sacred Sign of the Cross commands you,+ as does also the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith.+ The glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, commands you;+ she who by her humility and from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception crushed your proud head. The faith of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of the other Apostles commands you.+ The blood of the Martyrs and the pious intercession of all the Saints command you.+ 

Thus, cursed dragon, and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God,+ by the true God,+ by the holy God,+ by the God “who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but have life everlasting” (St.John 3, 16); stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation; stop harming the Church and hindering her liberty. Be gone Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man's salvation. Give place to Christ in Whom you have found none of your works; give place to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church acquired by Christ at the price of His Blood. Stoop beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke the Holy Name of Jesus, this Name which causes hell to tremble, this Name to which the Virtues, Powers and Dominations of heaven are humbly submissive, this Name which the Cherubim and Seraphim praise unceasingly repeating: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the God of Hosts. 

P. O Lord, hear my prayer. 
R. And let my cry come unto Thee. 
P. May the Lord be with thee. 
R. And with thy spirit. 

Let us pray. 

God of heaven, God of earth, God of Angels, God of Archangels, God of Patriarchs, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of Martyrs, God of Confessors, God of Virgins, God who has power to give life after death and rest after work: because there is no other God than Thee and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, of Whose reign there shall be no end, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy glorious Majesty and we beseech Thee to deliver us by Thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits, from their snares, their lies and their furious wickedness. Deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. 

P.  From the snares of the devil, 
R.  Deliver us, O Lord. 

P.  That Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty: 
R.  We beseech Thee to hear us. 

P.  That Thou may crush down all enemies of Thy Church: 
R.  We beseech Thee to hear us. 

(Sprinkle Holy water in the places you may be). 

Prayer To Defeat The Works Of Satan

Oh Divine Eternal Father, united with your Divine Son, and the Holy Spirit and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg you to destroy the power of your worst enemies: The malign spirits. Throw them into the deepest caverns of hell; and keep them there forever, take possession of your kingdom; since it has been created by yourself; and very justly it belongs to you. 

Heavenly Father, grant us the reigning right of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. With every beat of my heart and with every breath, I repeat this prayer, for pure Love to you. Amen.

Providence Prayer (by Sister Denise Wilkinson, SP) 

My life, with all of its ups and downs, I gently place into your hands, Provident God. My loved ones, those here and those living in the fullness of your life, I gently place into your hands, Provident God.

My daily work and all who come into my life through it. I gently place into your hands, Provident God.

Our Church and all of the people of God, I gently place into your hands, Provident God.

Our planet and our universe, revelations of your love, I gently place into your hands, Provident God.

In your hands, may we learn to be expressions of your Providence, today and always. Amen. 

God of Providence 

God of Providence, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Into fruitfulness, lead us, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit.

God of Jesus Christ, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Into your new creation lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit.

God who called our Foundress, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Into love and care, to the poor and abandoned lead us, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit.

God who calls us in the darkness, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Into listening, lead us, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit.

God who promises newness, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; To the places of new growth lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit. 

God our breath and our wellspring, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Give us living water, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit.

God of humankind, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Into harmony, lead us, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit.

God who dwells within us, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Fire us for the journey, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit.

God of Providence, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Be our light and our vision, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit. Amen. 

Prayer to the Providence of God (St. Claude La Colombiere, SJ) 

Loving and tender Providence of my God, into your hands I commend my spirit; to you I abandon my hopes and fears, my desires and repugnancies, my temporal and eternal prospects.

To you I commit the wants of my perishable body; to you I commit the more precious interests of my immortal soul for whose lot I have nothing to fear as long as I do not leave your care.

Though my faults are many, my misery great, my spiritual poverty extreme, my hope in you surpasses all. It is superior to my weakness, greater than my difficulties, stronger than death.

Though temptations should assail me, I will hope in you; though I break my resolutions, I will look to you confidently for grace to keep them at last. 

Though you should ask me to die, even then I will trust in you, for you are my father, my God, the support of my salvation. 

You are my kind, compassionate and indulgent parent, and I am your devoted child,
who casts myself into your arms and begs your blessing. I put my trust in you, and so trusting, shall not be confounded. Amen.  

Prayer of One about to be Married

O gracious Father, who dost bless us by Thy bounty, pardon us by Thy mercy, support and guide us by Thy grace, and govern us by Thy providence: I give Thee humble and hearty thanks for all the mercies which I have received at Thy hands in time past.

And now, since Thou hast called me to the holy estate of marriage, be pleased to be with me in my entering into it and passing through it, that it may not be a state of temptation or sorrow to me by occasion of my sins or infirmities, but of holiness and comfort, of love and dutifulness, as Thou has intended it to be to all that love and fear Thy holy name. Amen.