CATHOLIC PRAYER

CATHOLIC PRAYER

Catholic prayers are a wonderful resource to help us to grow in love with God and with each other! How's your prayer life? Could it be better? Does life give you more stress than you can handle? Good news: You're not alone! There are over 2000 years of Catholic prayers to help save the day and enrich your life!

Perhaps you’d just like to know more prayers (for all sorts of needs and occasions) or learn more about them. This collection features those important to every Catholic, daily prayers such as the Our Father, the Rosary, and the Act of Contrition. There are also some lesser known ones here that are quite beautiful and inspiring, along with many prayers to and from the Saints.

We’ve also included Catholic prayers for various times in the liturgical year, such as Lent and Pentecost. In addition, you'll find thoughts in these pages to inspire you in your prayer life (and to help you deal with distractions!) written by Saints and other well known religious figures. For example, as St. Pio of Pietrelecina would say, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry”.

GOD IS CALLING! ARE YOU LISTENING?

Remember that God is never “too busy” to hear from you. Don’t be “too busy” for him! There are some daily Catholic prayers such as the Our Father and the Rosary that take only minutes to say, yet their benefits can last a lifetime!

Catholic prayers can do wonders for your soul. God gives us joy and strength though prayer. You can get a great sense of peace in good times and consolation in bad from them. Our Lord wants to give us the good things we ask for in accordance with His will. The more we pray the more we can grow in His grace.

GROW WITH GOD

Grace is a gift from God that enables us to live more fully in union with Him. It strengthens our desire to choose good over evil. It also helps us to manage difficulties in our lives better. When we feel humility, compassion, forgiveness we’re putting others’ needs before our own. These are signs of God’s graces working within us.

When we let Him work through us, we help Him to do the same for others. We can show His love for others in how we treat them and in how we pray for them.

LET GO WITH GOD

Still, God hasn’t promised any of us a “Rose Garden” in this life. Sometimes we feel more like we’re in the Garden of Gethsemane where Our Lord prayed in deep agony the night before His Passion. Remember though that when misfortunes or tragedies hit us, we can withstand them better with God’s help. And with day-to day problems, Catholic prayers can help turn mountains back into molehills.

Our Lord taught us to pray “lead us not into temptation,” so that we can resist temptations against His will when they hit us. Through prayer we are better able to resist the every day temptations such as envy, hatred, bearing grudges, greed, lust, and selfishness. These negative emotions don’t bring us any real joy or peace of mind.

For those people in your life who continually rub you the wrong way (and we all have them! Bosses, co-workers, family members, etc.), prayer can give you the grace to deal with them better.

Also, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Pray for those who persecute and slander you” (Matthew 5:44). God wants us to pray for others, however we may feel about them (or even if we don't personally know them). Such prayers remind us that one way or another, we are all in this journey towards holieness together. Your prayers can do a world of good for others, just as their prayers can help you!

KEEP GOING WITH GOD

The most important thing is to persevere in your prayer life on your journey with God. St. Hilary once said that “grace depends mostly on perseverance in prayer.”

There are times you might feel you just can’t concentrate, that there are too many distractions. Or perhaps you feel God’s not there. Pray anyway!! God allows us to experience these times of “dryness” for us to grow spiritually. Many great religious scholars and saints went though the same things.

Remember as Our Lord says in John’s Gospel (Chapter 14, verse 2) “In my Father’s house[in heaven] there are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you.” Our Catholic prayers can help you prepare to “move in” to your true home in heaven, “that blessed fatherland from which we are all exiles,” according to St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

So come and explore the rich heritage of our Catholic prayers. If at times you feel too intimidated or too distracted remember God is always there and ready to help. He’ll help you find the grace you need to deal with the pressures and problems of daily life and to grow in His love. A love this good is meant to be shared. These prayers are for all of us. They are our Catholic prayers.

 ASPIRATIONS

Do you feel too pressed for time to pray? These short prayers (also known as aspirations) can help! They're are easy to learn. A good many of them are easy to memorize as well! They can provide you with a great way to stay in touch with our Lord and our Blessed Mother, especially for those times you feel most at your wits end! 

At times like these when it seems like nothing is going right don’t lose hope! You can stay close to Jesus and Mary with these aspirations, many of which come from old prayer books. (These prayers are great in good times or bad!)

Be inspired by with these short prayers by our Lord’s words: “pray always” (Luke 21:36) and by St. Paul’s as well: “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:17)!

Here’s a good one to both our Lord and his Blessed Mother, for starters:  

Jesus, Mary, I love you. Save souls!

Here’s a good one to the Holy Spirit. This one is especially good when said with any prayer to the Holy Spirit, but is good all on its own, especially in those times you feel most in need of His counsel, comfort, and strength! 

O Holy Spirit, sweet Guest of my soul, abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in Thee.

This one is also very powerful:

Holy Spirit, command me to do Your will 

This next one comes especially recommended by Jesus Himself!
He once told Sister Mary of St. Peter, a French Carmelite nun in 1844
"Oh, if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying evening once'Admirable is the name of God' in the spirit of reparation for blasphemy!" 

We’ve grouped these other aspirations into the following categories: 

ASPIRATIONS (SHORT PRAYERS) TO OUR LORD
(It has been noted, incidentally, that a very good effective prayer is just to say the name of Jesus!)


Blessed be God!

Blessed be the name of the Lord! 

Divine Heart of Jesus, convert sinners, save the dying, deliver the holy souls in purgatory. 

Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, increase in us our Faith, Hope and Charity. 

Good Jesus, give me a deep love for Thee, that nothing may be too hard for me to bear from Thee. 

Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, set our hearts on fire with love of Thee. 

Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in Thee! 

Jesus I trust in You! 

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our heart like unto Thine. 

Jesus, my God, I love Thee above all things! 

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! 

May the most just, most high, and most adorable will of God be done in all things, praised and magnified forever. 

My God and my all. 

My Jesus, mercy! 

My Lord Jesus Christ, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant me such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for my sins, and love of prayer as will save and sanctify my soul. 

My Lord, grant that I may love Thee, and that the reward of my love may be to love Thee ever more and more. 

My sweetest Jesus, be not my Judge, but my Savior. 

O Good Jesus, shelter me from the evil one, shed Thy dew upon me to calm my soul, and dwell in me fully, that I may wholly love Thee. 

O Good Jesus, my God and my All, keep me ever near Thee, let nothing for a moment separate me from Thee. 

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forevermore. 

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! 

Savior of the world, have mercy on us. 

Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love! 

Sweet Heart of my Jesus, grant that I may ever love Thee more. 

We adore and praise Thee, most holy Lord Jesus Christ, because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world. 

ASPIRATIONS TO OUR LORD IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

Jesus, my God, here present in the Sacrament of Thy love, I adore Thee. 

O Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, have mercy on us. 

O Jesus, in the most holy Sacrament, have mercy on us. 

Praised and adored forever be the most holy Sacrament. 

We adore Thee, thou true Bread of angels. 

ASPIRATIONS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Mary, Virgin Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me. 

Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation! 

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. 

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us! 

Mary, our hope, have pity on us! 

Mary, most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. 

O Mary, virgin Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me. 

My Queen! my Mother! remember I am thine own. Keep me, guard me, as thy property and possession. 

O Mary, thou didst enter the world without stain; do thou obtain for me from God, that I may leave it without sin.

ASPIRATIONS TO THE HOLY FAMILY

Jesus, Mary, Joseph! 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us now and at the hour of our death. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give You my heart and my soul. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe out my soul in peace with You.

ASPIRATIONS BEFORE OR AFTER CONFESSION

O Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins which we have committed, nor according to our wickedness.

O Lord, do not remember our former wickedness, and be merciful and forgive our sins for the sake of Your holy Name.

O merciful Lord, You are never weary of speaking to my poor heart. Grant me grace that, if today I hear Your voice, my heart may not be hardened.

From all sin, deliver me, O Lord.

Lord, I fear Your justice; I implore Your mercy. Do not deliver me to everlasting pains, but grant that I may possess You in eternal joys.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

O God, be merciful to me a sinner.

My Jesus, mercy.

Sweetest Jesus, be not my Judge, but my Saviour.

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

My Mother, my hope.

Mother of mercy, pray for us.

Virgin Mother of God, when you stand before the face of the Lord, remember to speak favorable things in our behalf that He may turn away His just anger from us.

Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies.

Lord, I am my own enemy when I seek my peace apart from You.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us Your peace.

Sweetest Jesus, hide me in your Sacred Heart. Do not permit me ever to be separated from You.  Defend me from the evil foe.

Lord Jesus, through Your infant cries when You were born for me in the manger; through Your tears when You died for me on the Cross; through Your love as You live for me in the tabernacle, have mercy on me and save me.

Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from all my sins and from every evil. Make me ever keep Your commandments and never allow me to be separated from You.