Prayers for Your Local Parish

to the Church is One Foundation

Heavenly Father, You have chosen the parish as the vehicle by which You encounter us in our daily lives. The parish is the assembly in which your Word is proclaimed, your Eucharist is celebrated, your people are united in a local community and subdivided into smaller groups so that they may become the agent of change for the betterment of the whole Church.
Make our parishioners aware of the many opportunities and responsibilities that are theirs as witnesses of You to our age. Keep us open to our need of your love and fellowship. Let both religious and laity work together to serve You in others. Amen.

Prayer for the Parish Council

Lord Jesus Christ, inspired by the words of your Second Vatican Council, we have elected some men and women of our parish to the parish council.
These have the task to represent us with the parish team and to work
for the good of the entire community.
Help them to carry out their role with courage and wisdom, with joy and dedication, with patience and mutual respect, and with the conviction that all they do is done primarily for You and the honor of the Blessed Trinity. Amen.

Prayer for a Pastoral or Spiritual Meeting

O Jesus, we have come together in Your Name to work for the good of this parish. Stay with us with your invisible presence and pour out the gifts of your Spirit on us. Make us work in a spirit of trust and love, as well as a spirit of prudence and understanding, so that we may experience an abundance of light, compassion, and peace. Let harmony reign ever among us, and let us keep our eyes ever fixed upon You, O Lord. Enable us to implement your known will for us,
no matter what difficulty it may entail. Amen.

God, Our Father, your Second Vatican Council has told us that the Church of Christ is truly present in all legitimate local congregations which, united with their pastors, are themselves called churches in the New Testament.
Let all such local churches manifest your universal Church---one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. Grant that their members may grow through the Gospel
and the Eucharist in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Make them genuine instrument of Christ's power in the world. Amen.

Heavenly Father, look graciously on the Church in our country and keep it
faithful to your divine message. Make it communicate that message in ways
that will be understood by our people in terms of their culture and customs.
Inspire our religious leaders with wisdom and courage in this important task.
At the same time, enable all members of this Church to answer your call to spread their faith among their fellow citizens. Help us all to keep our Church ever full of your grace and your teachings, and alive to the needs of all who are in need---both materially and spiritually---in imitation of your divine Son and under the impulse of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer for the Diocese

Heavenly Father, in calling us to follow Christ your Son, You have made us members of this Diocese, which is a local Church. Teach us to serve You faithfully in its boundaries and to make it manifest the universal Church for us.
Help both religious and laity who form part of it to work together in true Christian unity. May your Word be truly proclaimed and heard here, and may your Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, be faithfully administered and devoutly received. Grant that our diocese may provide a fervent example of the power of your Word and the might of your salvation for your honor and glory and our salvation. Amen.

Prayer for the Bishop

Lord Jesus Christ, You sent your apostles to proclaim the Good News with
Peter at their head, and You strengthened them with the Holy Spirit.
Remind us that our bishops are appointed by that same Spirit
and are the successors of the Apostles as pastors of souls.
Together with the Pope and under his authority, they have been sent
throughout the world to continue your work.
Help our Bishop to teach all members of his diocese, to sanctify them in the truth, and to give them your nourishment. Make us obey his teachings and love him as the Church obeys and loves You.
May we remain united with him, grow in faith and love, and
attain eternal life with You. Amen.

Prayer for All Church Leaders

Lord Jesus Christ, watch over those who are leaders in your Church.
Keep them faithful to their vocation and to the proclamation of your message. Teach them to recognize and interpret the signs of the times.
Strengthen them with the gifts of the Spirit, and help them to serve their subjects, especially the poor and lowly.
Give them a vivid sense of your presence in the world
and a knowledge of how to show it to others. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, blest Sanctifier, mercifully assist your Catholic Church.
By your heavenly power strengthen and establish her against the assaults of her enemies. By your love and grace, renew the spirit of your servants whom You have annointed. Grant that they may in You glorify the Father and His Only Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Heavenly Father, grant that your Church may always find in the risen Jesus, Who conquered death and sin, the strength to overcome patiently and lovingly all afflictions and hardships. May she thus show forth in the world the mystery of the Lord in a faithful though shadowed way, until at last it will be revealed in total splendor. Amen.

God Our Father, You willed that the Church should continue your Son's work in the world. Help her to imitate Jesus in laboring for the total salvation of the poor and the lowly. May she follow Christ, Who took the form of a Servant, and not seek after earthly glory but be the true instrument of salvation for the whole world. Amen.

To the Holy Angels

All you legions and choirs of Angels, please make haste to come to the aid and defense of our One Holy Roman Catholic Church. Led by St. Michael, may She be protected from destruction within by all modernistic attempts that try to diminish the true presence of God and take away His proper and due respect! In particular, come to the aid of my parish (name your parish) that it may remain or be remade to be a place of reverence and a stronghold from which the One True Triune God may continue to lead and strengthen us. Amen.

LITANY FOR THE CHURCH IN OUR TIME

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, Divine Founder of the Church, hear us.
Christ, Who warned of false prophets, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us.
St. Michael, Defender in the Day of Battle, pray for us.
St. Peter, the Rock upon which Christ built His Church, pray for us.
St. Paul, Protector of the Faithful Remnant, pray for us.
St. Francis of Assisi, Re-Builder of the Church, pray for us.
St. Anthony, Hammer of heretics, pray for us.
St. Pius V, Champion of the Tridentine Mass, pray for us.
St. Pius X, Foe of Modernism, pray for us.

All you Holy Angels and Archangels, pray that we may resist the the snares of the devil.
St. Catherine of Siena, pray that Christ's Vicar may oppose the spirit of the world.
St. John Fisher, pray that bishops may have the courage to combat heresy and irreverence.
St. Francis Xavier, pray that zeal for souls may be re-enkindled in the clergy.
St. Charles Borromeo, pray that seminaries may be protected from false teachings.
St. Vincent de Paul, pray that seminarians may return to a life of prayer and meditation.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus pray that religious may re-discover their vocation of love and sacrifice.
St. Thomas More, pray that the laity may not succumb to the Great Apostasy.
St. Francis de Sales, pray that the Catholic Press may again become a vehicle of Truth.
St. John Bosco, pray that our children may be protected from immoral and heretical instruction. St. Pascal, pray that profound reverence for the Most Blessed Sacrament may be restored.
St. Dominic, pray that we may ever treasure the Holy Rosary.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, That we may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ.

LET US PRAY: Jesus our God, in these dark hours when Your Mystical Body is undergoing its own Crucifixion, and when it would almost seem to be abandoned by God the Father, have mercy, we beg of You, on Your suffering Church. Send down upon us the Divine Consoler, to enlighten our minds and strengthen our wills.

You, O Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, Who can neither deceive, nor be deceived, have promised to be with Your Church until the end of time. Give us a mighty faith that we may not falter, help us to do Your Holy Will always, especially during these hours of grief and uncertainty. May Your Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate and Sorrowful heart of Your Holy Mother, be our sure refuge in time and in eternity, Amen.

Please also remember to pray for our priests and religious, for vocations,
for lay ministries, and the
Holy Father.

Recommended Reading

Called to Be Stewards Stewardship: A Parish Handbook Catholic Stewardship: Sharing God's Gifts A Plan for Stewardship Education and Development Through the Year The Parish Management Handbook Confusion in the Pews

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01/09/2006

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