Prayers and Reflections for the Season of Lent. Vicariate Apostolic of Kuwait. All Rights Reserved.
JESUS IS THE SAME
YESTERDAY * TODAY * FOREVER
(Hebrews 13:8)
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God wants to hear from you. It's why He invented prayer.
SHORT PRAYERS FOR LENT
PRAYER FOR ASH WEDNESDAY
Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the discipline of Lent,
make this season holy by our self-denial. May the light of Your truth bestow sight
to the darkness of our sinful eyes and our repentance bring us the
blessing of Your forgiveness and the gift of new life. Grant this through our
Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
ACT OF HOPE : [SPECIAL FOR LENT]
O my God, knowing Your almighty power, and Your infinite goodness and mercy,
I hope in You that, by the merits of the Passion and Death of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, You will grant me eternal life, which You have promised to
all such as shall do the works of a good Christian; and these I resolve to
do, with the help of Your Grace. Amen.
ACT OF CHARITY : [SPECIAL FOR LENT]
O my God, I love You above all things with my whole heart and soul because
You are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself
for the love of You. I forgive all who have injured me and ask pardon
of all whom I have injured. Amen.
ACT OF FAITH : [SPECIAL FOR LENT]
Almighty Father, You have called me to walk by the light of Christ, Your Son,
and to trust in His wisdom. During Lent, I submit my self to Him completely and
strive to believe in Him with all my heart. With my renewed commitment to
Jesus, I endeavour to continue His work here on earth in helping to build Your Kingdom
so that all may benefit from the message of salvation. Amen.
ACT OF CONTRITION : [SPECIAL FOR LENT]
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong
and failing to do good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above
all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more,
and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and
died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
ACT OF LOVE : [SPECIAL FOR LENT]
Loving God, we enter the season of Lent in the spirit of joy
giving ourselves to spiritual strife, cleansing our soul and body,
controlling our passions, as we limit our food, living on the virtues
of the Holy Spirit; May we persevere in our longing for Christ
so as to be worthy to behold His most solemn Passion and the most holy Passover,
rejoicing the while with spiritual joy. Amen.
CHAPLET OF THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY
Pray one Hail Mary while meditating on each of the
Seven Sorrows of Mary, which are:
- The prophecy of Simeon.
- The flight into Egypt.
- The loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
- Mary meeting Jesus carrying His Cross.
- The Crucifixion.
- Mary receiving the Body of Jesus from the Cross.
- The Body of Jesus being placed in the tomb.
Then pray three Hail Marys in remembrance of the tears Mary shed
because of the suffering of Her Divine Son.
Concluding prayers:
Pray for us, O Most Sorrowful Virgin, that we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our
death, the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother,
whose Holy Soul was pierced during Your Passion by a sword of grief.
Grant us this favor, O Savior of the world, Who lives and reigns with
the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Most holy and afflicted Virgin, Queen of Martyrs, you stood beneath the cross,
witnessing the agony of your dying Son. Look with a mother's tenderness
and pity on me, who kneel before you. I venerate your sorrows and I place
my requests with filial confidence in the sanctuary of your wounded heart.
Presenet them, I beseech you, on my behalf to Jesus Christ, through the
merits of His own most sacred passion and death, together with your
sufferings at the foot of the cross. Through the united efficacy of
both, obtain the granting of my petition. To whom shall I have
recourse in my wants and miseries if not to you, Mother of Mercy?
You who have drunk so deeply of the chalice of your Son, only you can
have compassion on me in my sorrow.
Holy Mother, your soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the
sight of the passion of your divine Son. Intercede for me and obtain
for me from our Lord {mention your petition}, if it be for His honor
and glory, and for my good. Amen.
PRAYER BEFORE A CRUCIFIX
Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in Your
sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul I pray and beseech
You that You would impress upon my heart, lively sentiments of Faith,
Hope and Charity, true repentance for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment,
while with deep affection and grief of soul I ponder within myself and mentally
contemplate Your five most precious wounds, having before my eyes that
which David spoke in prophecy of You, O good Jesus: they have pierced
my hands and feet, they have numbered all my bones.
THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF JESUS
- Father, Forgive Them For They Know Not What They Do.
- Woman, Behold Thy Son!... Behold Thy Mother!
- Verily, I Say Unto Thee, Today Thou Shalt Be With Me In Paradise.
- Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachtani.
- I Thirst.
- It Is Finished.
- Father, Into Thy Hands I Commend My Spirit.
PRAYER OF THE SEVEN LAST WORDS
O divine Jesus, incarnate Son of God, for our salvation You consented to
be born in a stable, to spend Your whole life amidst poverty, trials, and misery,
and to die by suffering on the Cross. At the hour of my death,
please tell Your Father, Father, forgive them. Tell Your Mother, Behold your
child. Tell my soul, This day you shall be with me in paradise.
My God, my God, do not forsake me in that final hour. I thirst, yes, my soul thirsts,
for You who are the fountain of living waters. My life will surely pass away like a shadow;
and in a short while everything would be accomplished. Therefore, my adored Saviour,
from this moment to that final hour, and for all eternity, I commend my spirit into Your hands.
Lord Jesus, receive my heart and my soul. Amen.
PRAYER IN HONOR OF CHRIST'S PASSION
I give you glory, O Christ, because You, the Only-begotten, the Lord of all,
underwent the death of the Cross to free my sinful soul from the bonds of sin.
What shall I give to You, O Lord, in return for all this kindness?
Glory to You, O Lord, for Your love, for Your mercy, for Your patience.
Glory to You, for forgiving us all our sins, for coming to save our souls, for Your incarnation in the Virgin's womb.
Glory to You, for Your bonds, for receiving the cut of the lash, for accepting mockery.
Glory to You, for Your crucifixion, for Your burial, for Your resurrection.
Glory to You, for Your resurrection, for being preached to men, for being taken up to heaven.
Glory to You who sit at the Father's right hand and will return in glory.
Glory to You for willing that the sinner be saved through Your great mercy and compassion.
Amen.
INVOCATION TO THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a
fount of mercy for us, I trust in You. (Diary of St. Faustina, 84)
THE HOLY CROSS PRAYER [HISTORY]
THE CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY [NOVENA]
FEAST DAY: First Sunday after Easter
The Chaplet of Mercy is recited using ordinary rosary beads of five decades.
OPTIONAL OPENING PRAYER : You expired, Jesus, but the
source of life gushed forth for souls,
and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life,
unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself
out upon us. O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of
Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!
BEGIN the Chaplet with the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Apostles' Creed.
LARGE BEADS : Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and
Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement
for our sins and those of the whole world.
SMALL BEADS : For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us
and on the whole world.
AFTER EACH DECADE : Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have
mercy on us, and on the whole world.
OPTIONAL CLOSING PRAYER : Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and
the treasury of compassion --
inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us,
that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent,
but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which
is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
Prayers used with permission.
E.BOOK of COMMON PRAYERS
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexpry.htm
Picture of the Cross:
Courtesy: www.freefoto.com