Poem Category: Special Prayers

What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?…. For I am convinced that neither death nor life… will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus Our Lord.

Romans 8: 35, 38, 39

After the Civil War, citizens of the North and the South felt a need to honor those fallen in the war. On various days people from different communities would place flowers at the graves of those they wished to honor. The day came to be known as Decoration Day. By 1868, the northern states were keeping the day on May 30.

In 1882, the day was renamed Memorial Day and extended to honor the fallen in other wars. Since 1950, Congress has designated Memorial Day as a day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer for permanent peace. In 1971, President Nixon declared it a national holiday and designated the commemoration for the last Monday in May.

Besides honoring those Americans from the armed forces, it is also a day for personal remembrance of all loved ones. Flowers on graves, church services, visits to the cemetery are all ways to mark the day with dignity and solemnity. In this spirit it is only fitting to make this day one of prayer in our Catholic faith with its long tradition of remembering the faithful departed.

Father, hear our prayer. You are the source of forgiveness and salvation. By the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, may our friends, and relatives who have gone from this world come to share eternal happiness with all your saints. We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine.

May God reward you for the many ways you love— for choosing wisely, for accepting openly, for giving freely, and for teaching, encouraging, and reprimanding patiently. May Mary make your memories joyful as you keep them in your heart, and may she gain for you every blessing from Jesus, her Son.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine.

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I beg of you, my God, let me know you and love you so that I may be happy in you. And though I cannot do this fully in this life, yet let me improve from day to day till I may do so to the full. Let me know you more and more in this life, that I may know you perfectly in heaven.

Let me know you more and more here, so that I may love you perfectly there, so that my joy may be great in itself here, and complete in heaven with you. O Truthful God, let me receive the happiness of heaven which you promise so that my joy may be full. In the meantime, let my mind think of it, let my tongue talk of it, let my heart long for it, let my mouth speak of it, let my soul hunger after it, let my flesh thirst after it, let my whole being desire it, until such time as I may enter through death into the joy of my Lord, there to continue forever, world without end.

Amen.

Breathe in me O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.

Amen.

Lord Jesus, Our Savior, let us come to you.
Our hearts are cold; Lord, warm them with your selfless love.
Our hearts are sinful; cleanse them with your precious blood.
Our hearts are weak; strengthen them with our joyous Spirit.
Our hearts are empty; fill them with your divine presence.
Lord Jesus, our hearts are yours; possess them always and only for yourself.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine.

Spirit of God, fill our hearts with a desire to seek truth and rejoice in beauty.

Help us to know what is pleasing to you and to understand what is right and good in your sight.

Give us the spirit of learning that we may please you by our thoughts and love you in your creation.

Give all teachers your constant encouragement and guide them in their good work.

Spirit of God, make us effective witnesses of your truth to all whose lives we touch. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions for those returning to school.

Dear Father,

You have given the saints in heaven eternal happiness and they now live in the fullness of your glory. Because of their holy love for you, they also care about me and my family, my friends, my church, and my neighbors. Thank you for the gift of their friendship and the witness of their holy lives. I ask our patron saints and every saint who has become especially dear to me to intercede for us. I ask them to help us journey safely on the narrow path that leads to heaven. O Lord, give us their protection. Grant us their assistance in overcoming temptation and gaining the fullness of life with you.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions for all souls to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad.

Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace, strengthen them in their trials and temptations, give them the courage to face the perils which beset them, and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine.

The Lord has risen, alleluia!

May the Spirit of the risen Lord be with you always. May your heart rejoice in the miracle of his love.

And may Our Blessed Mother obtain for you the joy of everlasting life, through her Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine during the Easter Season.

God Our Father, in your wisdom and love you made all things. Bless these men, that they may be strengthened as Christian fathers. Let the example of their faith and love shine forth. Grant that we, their sons and daughters, may honor them always with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine on Father’s Day and throughout the month of June.

Gracious God, today begins a period of inner reflection and examination. The days stretch before me and invite me inward to that silent, holy space that holds your Spirit. This special time beckons me to see my life through Christ’s eyes and the truth and reality of your love incarnate. Give me the grace to enter the space of these days with anticipation of our meeting. And, when I open my soul to your presence, let your loving kindness flow over me and seep into the pockets of my heart. I ask this for the sake of your love.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions for Lent to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine.

Lord Jesus, send your Holy Spirit upon me this Lent that I might faithfully keep watch with you. As I pray to Our Father in a spirit of repentance and thanksgiving, help me to turn to my brothers and sisters in love and service. May this sacred season be a time of mercy, a time for me to forgive others as I have been forgiven by you. Bring all of us who worship you as our redeemer closer together as we prepare to celebrate your dying and rising.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine throughout the Lenten season.

May God reward you for the many ways you love— for choosing wisely, for accepting openly, for giving freely, and for teaching, encouraging, and reprimanding patiently.

May Mary make your memories joyful as you keep them in your heart, and may she gain for you every blessing from Jesus, her Son.

Amen.

Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine on Mother’s Day and throughout the month of May.

Grant, O Lord, to those homes from which have come our country’s defenders, the peace which you alone can give.

Make those at home strong to meet their trials, to overcome the pain of loss, to meet bravely whatever you have in store for them. Make them proud that they are giving their own to fight for what they think is right.

Grant that all the graces they stand in need of may be theirs, that they may serve as best within them lies. Make them see your good and gracious purpose working in all the trials which you will send them.

Grant that whatever sacrifices you have in store for mothers and fathers, wives and sweethearts, sons and daughters, may be as well and bravely borne as your own Immaculate Mother bore her loss at the foot of the cross.

Amen.

* Send your prayerful intentions to be remembered at Our Lady’s Shrine.