Hope

Hope is reaching out for God
And knowing He is there;
Hope is searching for release,
And finding it through prayer...

Hope is happiness and joy,
And rainbows in the sky
Hope is feeling God is near
When you begin to cry...

Hope is looking for a dream
That someday will come true;
Hope is waiting on the Lord,
When your days are sad and blue...

Hope is wishing for a star
That will bring you peace and light;
Hope is striving for God's love
To uphold you day and night!

-- Hope C. Oberhelman

Source: Salesian Missions

San Antonio Catholic Churches

San Antonio, Texas has many beautiful Catholic churches. During our latest visit the city, I took some pictures to share with family, friends and readers.

St. Jude Prayer for Advent

Lord Jesus,

Your power is infinite, your glory, everlasting.

Quietly you come as a tiny baby.

Ready my heart for the miracle of your birth.

Bring light to this dark world waiting silentely for your warmth in the coldness of the night.

Waiting is itself your gift, animating my heart with anticipation.

Bless me with needed patience and faithful discipline to prayerfully prepare to welcome and greet you.

St Jude, eternal hope, let your holiness flow into me.

May Christmas joy and burning love take root in me and grow until they bloom on Christmas Day to carry joy to the world and inspire hope to renew the face of the earth.

Amen.

Soruce: The National Shrine of St. Jude

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Oh, God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungery;

When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;

When I have a warm home, help me to remember the homeless;

When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer;

And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency and bestir my compassion.

Make me concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted.

-- Samuel F. Pugh

Source: Salesian Missions

Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima

O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the most Holy Rosary,

You were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message.

We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary.

By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled therein may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.

Amen.

Prayer to St. Odilia

O God, Who in Your Kindness gave St. Odilia, Virgin and Martyr, as the Protectress of the Order of the Holy Cross and the Patroness of the eyes and those afflicted, grant us, we humbly beseech You, Your protection through her intercession from the darkness of ignorance and sin, and grant us healing from blindness of the eyes and from other bodily infirmities.

We pray through Him, Who is the Light and Life of the World, Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord.

Amen.

Source: Crosier Fathers and Brothers

The Prayer Before The Crucifix

Most High, Glorious God,

enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry out Your holy and true command.

-- St. Francis of Assisi

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O ever Immaculate Virgin,

Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Comfortress of the Afflicted,
You know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. Deign to cast upon me a look of mercy.

By appearing in the grotto of Lourdes, You were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary from where you dispense your favors and where many sufferers have obtained
the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal.

I come therefore with unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain, O loving Mother, my requests I will endeavor to imitate your virtues,
That I may one day share your glory and bless you in eternity.

Amen.

Source: Trinity Missions

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy
of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation.
Amen


Source: Trinity Missions

A Prayer to The Family

Lord,

thank you for this special day when we bow our heads in thanksgiving and consider our many blessings.

We thank You for our health, homes and the beauty all around us.

We thank You for answering our prayers and for knowing what we need even before we ask.

Most of all, we thank You for surrounding us with the gifts of family and friends for their laughter, trust and love.

Please, bless those who can't be with us yet remain close to our hearts and continue to bless and protest us.

Source: St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church

Driver's Prayer

Sacred Heart of Jesus,

grant me a steady hand and watchful eye, that none be hurt as I pass by.

You gave life. I pray no act of mine take away or mar that gift divine.

Protect those, Lord, who travel with me from highway dangers and all anxiety.

Teach me to use my car for others' needs and never miss the beauty of Your world through excessive speed.

I pledge to drive with loving concerns to my every destination offering each travel hour to You in a spirit of reparation.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, my auto companion, have mercy on me.

Amen.

Source: Sacred Heart Auto League

A Prayer to Our Lady for Healing

Mary Immaculate,

You have given yourself to us as our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. You have asked us to pray with confidence, and we will receive great graces. We know your compassion, because you saw your Son suffer and die for us. In your union with his suffering you became the mother of us all.

Mary, my mother, teach me to understand my suffering as you do and to endure it in union with the suffering of Jesus. In your motherly love, calm my fears and increase my trust in God's loving care.

According to God's plan, obtain for me the healing I need. Intercede with your Son that I may have the strength I need to work for God's glory and the salvation of the world.

Amen.

Mary, health of the sick, pray for me.

-- Source: Association of the Miraculous Medal

A Healing Prayer to St. Jude

Most holy Apostle St. Jude, friend of Jesus,

I place myself in your care at this difficult time.

Pray for me; help me know that I need not face my troubles alone.

Please, join me in my need, asking God to send me consolation in my sorrow, courage in my fear, and healing in the midst of my suffering.

Ask our loving God to fill me with the grace to accept whatever may lie ahead for me and my loved ones and to strengthen my faith in God's healing power.

Thank you St. Jude for the promise of hope you hold out to all who believe and inspire me to give this gift of hope to others as it has been given to me.

Amen.

Source: National Shrine of St. Jude Claretian Missionaries

A Prayer to The Little Flower

St. Therese, Child of God,

like you we are sometimes willful and make bad decisions.

We refuse to budge, even against the movement of grace. Yet, we wake up and feel the urge to do the right thing -- to allow our inner child of grace and wonder to chase dreams and pursue God.

Teach us to run through the raindrops of life to that safe and sacred place in God's heart.

As only a child can understand, empower us to pursue that call to holiness -- to understand that God is always running to embrace and meet us.

Please, don't let the tear drops of our lives dampen our enthusiasm for God, lessen the longing of our hearts, not blind us to Jesus racing toward us with open arms.

Amen.

-- Source: Society of the Little Flower

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

Blessed, most pure Virgin,
You chose to manifest yourself shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes.
Obtain for me, O loving Mother this special request...
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, pray for me.
Obtain from your Divine Son my special request if it be God's will.
Amen

Prayer to St. Jude for Eternal Life

You are my solace, St. Jude, in the face of loss and sorrow.

I pray that you will guide my heart away from the darkness of fear and into the light of Christ.

May the hope that St. Jude keeps alive in my heart be a source of comfort to all those who grieve.

For in that hope, we know God's tender mercy, and we trust God's promise of eternal life.

My soul longs for the fullness of life, which will be revealed to me when I am at God's right hand in heaven.

Stay by my side, St. Jude, so that my soul will always know the power of your healing love.

Amen.

-- Source: National Shrine of St. Jude Claretian Missionaries.

Prayer to Jesus and St. Jude

Dear Lord Jesus,

You know of pain and of suffering, of death and of losing someone you love.

Comfort those who are dying and welcome those who have passed away.

Rest a gentle hand on those whose loved ones have died.

Grant them peace.

Remind them that their friend, St. Jude. hears all prayers.

Share with them the hope of everlasting life.

Amen.

-- Source: National Shrine of St. Jude Claretian Missionaries.

Family Prayer to Our Lady

Holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God, you were conceived without sin.

I chose you this day as the model for my household and the intercessor for my family.

Through your Immaculate Conception, preserve us from every disaster, from violence, and from misfortune.

O holy Virgin, bless and protect us all, strengthen us in trial, and save us from all evil.

Amen.


-- Source: Association of the Mariculous Medal

Prayer For The Family

Heavenly Father, most good and gracious God,

sustain our family in your love,

Make it a place where holiness and love abound.

Help us learn to be like Jesus in all our actions.

Aid our family to imitate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Help us to learn from the good example of others and to give good example to everyone.

Assist us in learning to bear our pain and suffering as Jesus did.

Aid us in overcoming difficulties and carrying our crosses.

Help our family life to lead only to Jesus, the source of true happiness.

Please give wholesome habits to our family.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

-- Source: Association of the Mariculous Medal

Prayer to St. Peregrine

St. Peregrine

St. Peregrine,

You answered your calling with a ready spirit, and gave up the comforts of a life of ease to dedicate yourself to Jesus and His Holy Mother.

You labored for the salvation of souls. In union with Jesus, you endured painful sufferings with such patience that you were healed of an incurable cancer in your leg by a touch of His divine hand.

Help me to answer every call of God and to fulfill His will in all the events of life. Place in my heart a consuming desire for the salvation of all.

Deliver me from the infirmities that afflict my body, and help me to willingly accept the sufferings that are sent to me so that, imitating our crucified Savior and his sorrowful Mother, I may one day be united with them in heave.

Amen