J A N U A R Y
New Year's Prayer for Church and State
{Composed by Archbishop Carroll}
ALMIGHTY and eternal God, You have, through Jesus Christ, revealed Your glory to all nations. We pray You to preserve the works of Your mercy, that Your Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Your name.
We pray You, who alone are good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life our Chief Bishop, Pope---------------, the vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of His Church; our own Archbishop and Bishop; all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise among us the functions of the holy ministry and conduct Your people into the ways of salvation.
We pray You, O God of might, wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, to assist with Your holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Your people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion, by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy, and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge, and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.
We pray for his Excellency, the Governor Of this state, for the members of the Assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Your powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.
We recommend likewise to Your unbounded mercy all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Your most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. Amen.
A Holy Name Prayer
(Feast of the Holy Name, January 2)
LORD JESUS, we humbly pray You to give us all a great reverence and respect for Your most holy name. Forgive us for ever having used the name of Jesus in vain, or without due respect.
Help us remember how reverently and lovingly Your Mother Mary used the name of Jesus, and how humbly Saint Joseph called You and spoke to You by name.
Your name, dear Jesus, is above every other name in heaven or on earth, because You are the Jesus, the Savior of all men. You have saved us, and You have told us to ask God anything in Your name, and it would be granted.
We ask You, humbly and confidently, to bless us and our work, and give us the rich treasures of Your divine grace, without which we cannot even so much as pronounce the name of Jesus. Amen.
A Prayer for the Whole Family
(Feast of the Holy Family First Sunday after Epiphany)
DEAR Lord, bless our family. Be so kind as to give us the unity, peace, and mutual love that You found in Your own family in the little town of Nazareth.
Saint Joseph, bless the head of our family. Obtain for him the strength, the wisdom, and the prudence he needs to support and direct those under his care.
Mother Mary, bless the mother of our family. Help her to be pure and kind, gentle and self-sacrificing. For the more she resembles you, the better will our family be.
Lord Jesus, bless the children of our family. Help them to be obedient and devoted to their parents. Make them more and more like You. Let them grow, as You did, in wisdom and age and grace before God and man.
Holy Family of Nazareth, make our family and home more and more like Yours, until we are all one family, happy and at peace in our true home with You. Amen.
Dedication of the Rural Family to the Divine Majesty
ALMIGHTY and merciful Father, whom Your only-begotten Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, has named the Husbandman, or Farmer, graciously accept our praise and adoration. All things were made by You and all that we have is Yours.
Our lives and our talents, our home and furnishings, the soil and its fruits, the animals and their abode, sunshine and rain, fruit and harvest are all from You. By their use we are to come more securely to You. For all Your gifts, O God, we offer You our thanks.
You have made us branches of Your Son, the true Vine, members of Your kingdom, and sheep of Him who is our Good Shepherd. In gratitude and love we promise to remain ever close to the divine Heart of Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
We humbly beseech You to look with favor upon this Your family and to sanctify its members. Bless also our home, our flocks and herds, our fields and labors. Keep from us all attacks of Satan and preserve us from all evil, through Your beloved Son in the charity of the Holy Spirit.
With filial affection and reverence we humbly dedicate ourselves to the Blessed Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Keep us ever in Your love, faithful and true unto death.
We place this our dedication in the pure hands of the Immaculate Mother of God, the patroness of our beloved country. May the Most Holy Virgin Mary carry this offering of ourselves and all that is ours to the throne of Your divine majesty. Grant us through her intercession, we beseech You, the grace to pass through things temporal that we may not lose those which are eternal. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Prayer for Church Unity
(Church Unity Octave, January 18 to 25)
ALMIGHTY and eternal God, You have promised that there will someday be but one fold and one Shepherd. Hasten that day, we pray You, in Your most merciful kindness and generosity. Pour the light of Your grace into the minds of our non-Catholic friends so that they may see the truth, and fully realize that the truth is one and undivided. Give them also the strength of will needed to follow in the direction of the light You give them.
Let us, their neighbors and friends, not be a hindrance to their conversion by our bad example. Rather let Your goodness be made clear to them by the virtue of our lives. Then may they finally all be brought to You, the Light that enlightens every man who comes into the world. Amen.