O Most Holy Virgin,
who stands before the throne
of the Most Holy Trinity,
and to whom it is granted at all times
to pray for us to your most beloved Son,
pray for me in all my necessities;
help me, combat for me, give thanks for me,
and obtain for me pardon of all my sins;
help me especially at my last hour,
encourage me,
make the sign of the cross for me,
sprinkle me with holy water,
and fight for me against the enemy.
Make in my name a profession of faith;
favor me with a testimony of my salvation,
and never let me despair of the mercy of God.
January 3, 2018
January 2, 2018
O Divine Savior!
I thank You for having perpetuated Your humble,
obedient, self-sacrificing
and recollected silence of Nazareth in the tabernacle.
How Your example puts me to shame!
Forgive me for my bold, self-seeking,
and superficial talkativeness.
Teach me to understand the words:
In silence and in hope shall your strength be.
January 1, 2018
Heavenly Father, You blessed the Virgin Mary
with the fullness of grace.
She is my model of faith, hope and love.
I give this new year to her intercession
and ask for her holy prayers.
Place my needs into the protection
of her motherly love.
With her help, I want my faith to grow.
Give me an increase in the virtue of hope
when troubles temp me to despair.
Guide me in understanding Your infinite love.
And join my heart, dear Lord, to the
Holy Mother’s Immaculate Heart,
so that I may improve in loving everyone
unconditionally, in imitation of my Savior, Jesus.
Amen.
December 31, 2017
O Angel of God, my blessed protector,
to whose care I have been committed by my Creator
from the moment of my birth,
unite with me in thanking the Almighty
for having given me a friend,
and instructor,
an advocate,
and a guardian in You.
Accept, O most charitable guide,
my fervent thanksgiving for all You have done for me;
particularly for the charity
with which You undertake to accompany me through life;
for the joy with which You were filled
when I was purified in the waters of Baptism;
and for Your anxious solicitude
in watching over the treasure of my innocence.
December 30, 2017
O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
Truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness.
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest
Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech.
For I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it on its walls;
and iniquity and trouble are within it.
Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
December 29, 2017
O heavenly angel,
lead me safely through this world of sin and misery;
watch over me at the hour of my death;
perform for my soul the last charitable office of you mission,
by strengthening, encouraging, and supporting me
in the agonies of dissolution, and then,
as the angel Raphael conducted Tobias safely to his father,
return with me to Him who sent you,
that we may mutually bless Him,
and publish His wonderful works for a happy eternity.
Amen.
December 28, 2017
We long for You, Oh Spirit of Light,
we long to know God,
we want to be one with Him,
our Divine God.
We want to be one with the Father,
know Him as a Person most intimately.
We want to know the beloved One,
the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
and live and dwell in Him at all times,
every moment of our lives.
We want to be one with You,
Oh Spirit of Light,
that You move in our every breath.
Amen.
December 27, 2017
Blessed are You, loving Father,
for all your gifts to us.
Blessed are You for giving us family and friends
to be with us in times of joy and sorrow,
to help us in days of need,
and to rejoice with us in moments of celebration.
Father,
we praise You for Your Son Jesus,
who knew the happiness of family and friends,
and in the love of Your Holy Spirit.
Blessed are you for ever and ever.
Amen.
December 26, 2017
Happy those whose offense is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy those to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
I kept it secret and my frame was wasted.
I groaned all day long,
for night and day your hand was heavy upon me.
Indeed my strength was dried up
as by the summer's heat.
But now I have acknowledged my sins;
my guilt I did not hide, I said:
"I will confess my offense to the Lord."
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.
So let faithful men and women pray to you
in the time of need.
The floods of water may reach high
but they shall stand secure.
You are my hiding place, O Lord;
you save me from distress.
Rejoice, rejoice and exult in the lord.
O come, ring out your joy.
all you upright of heart.
December 25, 2017
Almighty God and Father of light,
a child is born for us
and a son is given to us.
Your eternal Word leaped down from heaven
in the silent watches of the night,
and now your Church is filled with wonder
at the nearness of her God.
Open our hearts to receive his life
and increase our vision with the rising of dawn,
that our lives may be filled with his glory and his peace,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
December 24, 2017
God of endless ages,
Father of all goodness,
we keep vigil for the dawn of salvation
and the birth of your Son.
With gratitude we recall his humanity,
the life he shared with the sons of men.
May the power of his divinity help us answer his call
to forgiveness and life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
December 23, 2017
Lord our God,
the heavens are the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars you made;
the earth and the sea,
and every living creature came into being by your word.
And all of us, too.
May this tree bring cheer to this house
though Jesus Christ your good and holy Son,
who brings life and beauty to us and to our world.
Lighting this tree, we hope in his promise.
Amen.
December 22, 2017
Lord Jesus Christ,
grant me the grace of inner Peace.
As You commanded the storm winds at sea to be calm,
command the storms in my life to be calmed.
Give me the patience I need
to cope with the burdens of my life.
Grant me the strength to better deal with any problems,
and the understanding to be more tolerant
and kind to others.
Teach me to seek after Your will
which alone brings peace of mind
and peace of heart.
Amen.
December 21, 2017
Pour forth, we beg You, O Lord,
Your Grace into our hearts;
that as we have known the incarnation of Christ,
your Son by the message of an angel,
so by His passion and cross
we may be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.
Through the same Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
December 20, 2017
O Lord, You do not fail those who love you.
You do not change or vary Your ways.
Teach us Your own constancy in love.
Your humility, selflessness and generosity.
Look in pity on our small and tarnished loving,
protect, foster and strengthen it,
that it may be less unworthy to be offered to You
and to Your children.
O Light of the world, teach us how to love.
Amen.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.