Spirituality
Prayers & Blessings for Special Occasions
- Blessing for a Departing Pastor
- Blessing Prayer for a Parish Priest
- Prayer of Catherine of Sienna
- Prayer of Teresa of Avila
- Prayer of Thomas Merton
- Prayer of Love
- Meal Prayer for a Gathering
- Welcome & Blessing for Returning Catholics
- Blessing for a Columbarium
- Blessing AED Units & Other Medical Equipment
1. Prayer for a Departing Pastor
Prayed by pastor and assembly together
O God, you have bound us together for a time as priest and people to work for the advancement of your kingdom in this parish community: We give you humble and sincere thanks for the ministry which we have shared in these years now past.
Silence
We thank you for your patience with us despite our short sightedness and slowness of heart. We thank you for your forgiveness and mercy in the face of our failures.
Silence
Especially we thank you for your never-failing presence with us through these years, and for the deeper knowledge and love of you and of each other which we have attained.
Silence
We thank you for those who have been joined to this part of Christ’s family through baptism. We thank you for opening our hearts and minds again and again to your Word, and for feeding us abundantly with the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of your Son.
Silence
Now, we pray, be with those who leave and with us who stay; and grant that all of us, by drawing ever nearer to you, may always he close to each other in the communion of your saints. All this we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
The departing priest then gives the Final Blessing.
Diocese of Richmond, Office of Worship
2. Blessing Prayer for the Parish Priest
You may know that today, we celebrate “Priesthood Sunday”.
I invite you all to please stand.
Father _____,
you usually are asked to bless our religious articles,
our marriages, our homes, our autos,
our babies, our sick and our dying.
Today we invite you to receive our grateful blessing.
Let us each extend both our hands
in a gesture of blessing toward our priest:
- May God hold you forever in the palm of his hand. Amen
- May you know strength and contentment in your priestly ministry. Amen
- May you always know our love, prayer, support, and gratitude. Amen
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
3. A Prayer of Catherine of Siena (1347 -1380, Italy)
You, O Eternal Trinity, are a deep sea into which,
the more I enter,
the more I find,
and the more I find,
the more I seek.
O abyss,
O Eternal Godhead,
O sea profound,
What more could you give me than yourself?
God's grace, unsought and unearned, blows through my life,
4. Prayer attributed to Teresa of Avilaand all I need to do is raise my sails to catch the full wind.
Christ has no body now but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ’s compassion must look out on the world.
Yours are the feet with which
He is to go about doing good.
Yours are the hands with which
He is to bless us now.
5. Prayer of Thomas Merton from "Thoughts in Solitude"
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
6. Prayer of Love, Author Unknown
I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away,
but for you to give it up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No.
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No.
Patience is a byproduct of tribulations;
it isn’t granted, it is learned.
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No.
I give you blessings; happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares
and brings you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No.
You must grow on your own,
but I will prune you to make you fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No.
I will give you life that you may enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me.
God said ... Ahhhh, finally, you have the idea!
7. Meal Prayer for a Gathering
Let us pray:
Compassionate God,
we lift up our hearts in gratitude
for your gift of work, shelter, food, and friendship.
We are thankful for all who are present here
as well as for all those who have labored in love
to bring food to this table
come now and bless these gifts of food
which you have given to us,
and which we share with one another.
May we be mindful of those today
who are without food or shelter. (Pause)
May your Glory surround this meal,
and all who partake of it.
We offer this prayer in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
8. Welcome & Blessing for Returning Catholics (within Mass)
Members of our parish program for returning Catholics are with us this afternoon as they complete their journey to full membership in our community. With several active Catholics, they shared their faith stories over a period of weeks and were made welcome back into the Church. The process of welcoming returning Catholics helps us to remember our responsibility to be examples to everyone around us, of our own commitment to our God and to one another.
Blessing of the Returning CatholicsCall forward N.________, along with those who journeyed with them these past few months. Ask them to stand in front of the assembly.
Lord God,
you created us in love
and redeemed us in mercy
through the death and resurrection of your Son.
Enlighten these men and women by your grace,
that clearly seeing their failings,
they may place all their trust in your mercy,
and joyfully join us once again
as active members of the Catholic community.
Hands outstretched. (Assembly invited to extend hands as well)
Lord Jesus,
whose love reaches out in mercy
to embrace and heal the contrite heart,
lead ____ and _____ along the way of holiness.
Pour out upon them the power of your Spirit,
that they may be fearless witnesses to your Gospel
and one with us in the communion of love,
for you are Lord, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Diocese of Richmond, Office of Worship
9. Prayer of Blessing for a Columbarium
God of endless ages,
through disobedience to your law
we fell from grace
and death entered the world;
but through the obedience and resurrection of your Son
you revealed to us a new life.
You granted Abraham, our father in faith,
a burial place in the promised land;
you prompted Joseph of Arimathea
to offer his own tomb for the burial of the Lord.
In a spirit of hope
we earnestly ask you
to look upon this columbarium and bless it +,
so that, while we commit to their resting places
the earthly remains of our brothers and sisters,
their souls may be taken up into paradise.
May this become a sacred shrine,
a place of pilgrimage to remind us of what we already know:
that nothing dies;
that life is transformed into new life;
and that all the holy dead
shall rise in the splendor of your glory
to live with you for ever and ever.
Amen.
Diocese of Richmond, Office of Worship
10. Blessing of AED Units & Other Medical Equipment
Lord God,
all-wonderful Creator of life,
source and origin of us all,
we humbly praise you
for you enlighten and inspire
those who by probing the powers implanted in creation
develop the work of your hands in wonderful ways.
Grant that all those who will use this technology to save lives
may recognize that you are wonderful in your works
and gladly cooperate with you
in the building up of creation.
If an emergency arises, may you strengthen them by your grace,
so that in serving those in need with tender charity,
they may serve Christ himself.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
And may the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit,
come upon you and remain with you for ever.
Amen.
