Prayers for Various Occasions

A New Prayer written by the St. Peregrine ministers for the 2021 Feast of St Peregrine Laziosi, OSM

Brother Jesus, risen to new life, we joyfully celebrate Your Easter victory over sin and death, after You humbly shared with us the pain and joy, the fragility and wonder, of life lived in human flesh. You truly are our hope and promise, as we continue to face a global health crisis, and individual illness, whether our own or that of someone we love. As we also celebrate the feast of St Peregrine, patron of persons with cancer and other serious illness, we open our hearts to express three essential prayers: “Help! Thanks! Wow!”

Help! Lord of mercy, You have heard this word often. It may be our most frequent prayer, especially when we are sick, or when we care for and support someone who is ill. Confident in Your constant and compassionate love for us, we continue to petition for health and wholeness, and for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, for all people throughout the world.

Thanks! How can we ever forget, gracious Jesus, to express our gratitude for Your gifts of healing! Though we have not always received exactly what we desired, You have surprised us with deeper and longer-lasting kinds of healing: of a relationship, an attitude, a memory, or our struggle to trust and depend on You. We are thankful for progress toward ending this plague, and for the first-responders, healthcare professionals, essential workers, researchers and those who administer the vaccine, care-givers, family and friends who have been with us and cared for us during our times of greatest need.

Wow! And sometimes, Your Spirit has amazed us with incredible miracles, beyond our expectations, as you did with St Peregrine! You cure us, bring us out of isolation and loneliness and quarantine, and gift us with precisely what we ask for! And more! Wow! We praise You for Your faithful and powerful love, which delights and energizes us, and which transforms us, and our world, even a little at a time.

We pray all this through the intercession of St Peregrine Laziosi, as we celebrate his feast with the hope and joy of Easter, and with continued petition, thanks and praise! Amen.

Day 9 – Prayer for Peace

Phil 4:4-7
Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful. Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

O God of mercy, in your endless love you sent your Son, the Prince of Peace, to teach us the way of mercy, peace, and gentleness. We thank you for those daily moments of peace which are your gift to us – moments of your loving presence. We ask that you continue keep us in your peace in times when we are hard-pressed, anxious, and suffering. Put a new Spirit in us, we pray, that angry and chaotic ways vanish so that peace and harmony may reign among your people. With your peace in our hearts, may we always be ready to serve others with mercy.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. From being an angry youth, you received the grace of conversion: from being violent you became meek in spirit, bowing to seek God’s forgiveness. Call on the Lord for us all, we implore, to give us a conversion that is heartfelt and deep that we too may live in genuine peace and serve our brothers and sisters with a generous heart. Dear St. Peregrine, ask the Lord to pour over us the peace which is beyond all understanding.

May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

Day 8 – Prayer for Joy

Zeph 3: 17-19
The Lord your God is there with you, the warrior-Savior. He will rejoice over you with happy song, he will renew you by his love, he will dance with shouts of joy for you, as on a day of festival. I have taken away your misfortune, no longer need you bear the disgrace of it. I am taking action here and now against your oppressors. When that time comes I will rescue the lame, and gather the strays, and I will win them praise and renown when I restore their fortunes.

Great and merciful God, we thank you for the joy and peace that you bestow upon your people through your presence and your Word. Many times on our journey of faith, we run into difficulties and suffering that disturb us and rob us of joy. In those times, help us to remember that we have never experienced a night that wasn’t followed by the light of day. Be merciful and grant us the joy of your presence that sustains us through the dark times as we move into your own wonderful and healing light.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. In your own life, you knew suffering and confusion, followed eventually by serenity and joy as the Lord’s grace guided your steps. Your trust and faith was so strong that it sustained you through your illness to the great joy of your healing. Intercede for us we pray, that we may receive God’s joy and share it with others in good times and bad.

May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

Day 7 – Prayer for Love

1 Cor 13:4-8; 13
Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will fall silent; and if knowledge, it will be done away with. As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.

Lord Jesus, you are the source of life and love. Your love for us was so great that you underwent suffering and death that we might be saved. We thank you for your sacrifice and love. We thank you for all the special people in our lives. When our lives grow burdensome with illness or other cares, pour out your great love upon us – a love with the power to heal. Help us to remember that we are loved and cared for by others also. This is your gift to us and may we share that gift of love with others.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. The example and love of St. Philip turned you from a youth of anger and rebellion to a new life of love, humility, and service. When struck with illness, your great love of God allowed you to place your trust in him for healing and your prayer was heard. Following your example and praying for your intercession, may God’s healing love also convert us to new ways of living, thinking, and acting.

May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

Day 5 – Prayer for Patience in Suffering

Ps 37
Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in him, and he will act,
And make your uprightness shine like the light;
The justice of our cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord and wait in patience;
Do not fret… calm your anger, and forget your rage…
Those who hope in the Lord,
They shall inherit the land.

Lord Jesus, you are slow to anger and abounding in kindness. During your passion, you patiently bore insults, humiliation, and more pain than we can imagine. Please do not allow us to become burdened with more than we can bear. Teach us to be patient in affliction. With your loving presence at our side, reassure us. Show us that we can endure our personal crosses out of love for you and our fellow believers.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. You followed the peaceful and gentle Christ. Even when struck with illness, you showed patience and strength in your infirmity. Help us to bear our own trials in life with patience and a smile, confident in knowing that our suffering serves some greater purpose – a purpose perhaps known to God alone.

May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

Day Four – Prayer for Courage to Accept Suffering

2 Cor 5:1-2; 6-8
Brothers and sisters: We know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven. And in this earthly state we do indeed groan… So we are always courageous, although we know what while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight… Yet we are courageous.

Gentle Lord Jesus, you are the source of everything beautiful and good. It was you who taught us to pray “thy will be done.” It is easy to say “thy will be done,” but much harder to accept it – especially when it may involve pain and suffering. We often do not see anything good or beneficial in suffering, so we run from your will. Yet, you will only good for all your creation. Help us to practice acceptance so that one day we may come to see your guiding, healing hand, and know the Easter glory you promise.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. You followed the way of humility and sacrifice, denying your own will and taking up your cross each day. Struck with a cancerous wound, you accepted God’s will with an unchanging spirit, uniting your sufferings with those of the Redeemer. Pray for us, blessed Peregrine, that we too may learn to accept the will of God with courage and joy.

May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

Day Three – Prayer for Hope

Rm 5:2-5
Let us exult, too, in our sufferings, understanding that suffering develops perseverance, and perseverance develops a tested character, something that gives us hope, and a hope which will not let us down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

O Lord Jesus, you are the source of all healing and hope. We walk with uncertainty in the face of cancer or other illness. We feel weak, frightened, and helpless, and all seems dark. Reach into that darkness to take us by the hand. Fill us with the warmth and light of your presence. With you beside us to support us, we can face our trials with strength and hope. Thank you for your healing presence.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. In your own distress, you went to the cross and to Christ hanging there, dwelling in hopeful prayer throughout the dark night. You were gifted with healing and now live in the blessed light of God. We ask you to intercede for us that the Lord may grant us healing, hope, light, and a lifting of the ills that trouble us. May we also rejoice, as you did, in the daylight of restored health.

May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

Day Two – Prayer for Trust

Ps 62: 8-9
In God is my salvation and glory,
my rock of strength;
in God is my refuge.

Trust him at all times, O people.
Pour out your hearts before him,
for God is our refuge.

Lord Jesus, you are the source of all goodness and the Word of Faith for all. At the Last Supper, when the disciples were plunged into confusion and anxiety, you told them to trust in you, and that you were going to prepare a place for them. You also promised that not a hair of their heads would be harmed. In the midst of fear and uncertainty, show us how to strengthen our trust in your will. Rid us of our bitterness, doubts, resentments, and fears, that we may truly know and experience the wonderful things you promise those who place their trust in you.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. You showed patience and found strength in your infirmity, always trusting that the Lord, in his goodness and mercy, would hear and answer your prayers. Intercede for us, we pray, that we may also face our trials with courageous hearts, never doubting the goodness of the Lord, and trusting in his healing mercy.

May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

It should be consoling to every sick person to know that he or she does not suffer alone. Throughout the world, others are afflicted as well. All of us, by our crosses and trials, can assume an active role in the work of redemption. St. Peregrine, miraculously healed of a cancerous wound, assisted Christ in this noble apostolate of suffering through his own experience of illness and pain. There is significance in the fact that St. Peregrine was healed at the foot of the cross. The miracle might have occurred in a sick bed or a shrine. But it didn’t. St. Peregrine’s healing took place before the cross where all who are sick must eventually find themselves if they wish to participate in the redemptive action of Jesus Christ.

Today we begin our Novena to St. Peregrine, the patron saint of those suffering from cancer and other serious illness, leading up to his Feast Day on May 4th. Please join us in these nine days of prayer.

Day One – Prayer for Healing

Ps 107: 19-22
Then they cried to the Lord in their need,
and he rescued them from their distress.
He sent forth his word to heal them,
and saved their life from destruction.

Let them thank the Lord for his mercy,
his wonders for the children of men.
Let them offer a sacrifice of thanks,
and tell of his deeds with rejoicing.

We praise and thank you, Lord Jesus, for the many healing blessings that you have granted to us in the past. For all our caregivers, family, friends, and prayer partners, we thank you. You are the source of all healing. Stretch out your hand over us: touch our bodies with health and strength; touch our minds with confidence and hope; touch our spirits with faith and charity.

Our Father, who art in heaven…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you…
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…

Dear St. Peregrine, brother and friend, faithful Servant of Mary, kindly listen to our plea. You prayed before the cross and Jesus heard your prayer and today you live in the eternal light of heaven. Now pray with us that the Risen Lord will extend his all-powerful hand over us to heal us of all our ills. Hear our prayer that we may know the power of your intercession for all who are suffering. May God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose holiness shines forth in you, St. Peregrine, receive all honor and glory forever. Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for us.

A devotion for Good Friday Evening In honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her desolation after the death of her Divine Son

Invitation

By the sealed and rock-hewn grave,

Where her Son in death is sleeping

Stands the Mother, mournful weeping

And her heart in twain is torn.

Now bereft of Him, her dearest,

All her joy in Him is dying;

Come to Mary in her sighing,

Come, ye faithful souls, and mourn.

Act of Contrition

God of infinite mercy, behold me humbly prostrate at your feet, filled with confusion for my ingratitude against your divine majesty and goodness. I fully well know that my sins were the cause that my dear Jesus died. Pity me, Lord, who ask pardon with tears, as I firmly resolve to offend you no more. And you, Mary, my sorrowful Mother, entreat forgiveness for me, and permit me to keep you company in your sorrow for the loss of your dear Son; may I weep with you and never more pierce, by my sins, your loving heart and the Heart of your Son.

Invocation

Mother, my Mother desolate, I will not leave you alone to weep. I will join my tears to yours. With you I will grieve your sorrows and the death of my dear Redeemer.


Meditation I

Mary at the Holy Sepulcher

Let us meditate on the sufferings of Mary as she stands by the tomb.

Consider the desolation of Mary as she stands by the sepulcher wherein the lifeless body of her dear Son has just been laid. Let us look on that face of bitter anguish and desolation. A short time before, the sacred Body of Jesus disfigured and covered with wounds and bruises had rested in her arms! A cold stone is now between the Son and the Mother. See with what love her eyes are fixed on the tomb. Mary had shared with her Divine Son all the Sufferings of His Passion, but now she is alone in her grief, for Jesus is no more. What grief is like her grief! Let us ask ourselves who has caused all this sorrow. It is I, my Mother, it is my sins that crucified your Son. Had it not been for sin, Jesus would never have died.

Colloquy

O Mary, my dear Mother, with such grief do I see you weeping at the tomb of Jesus. The more I grieve that I cannot bring you any comfort, the more I stand reproved that I am the cause of your Sorrows. Blessed Mother, Mother of Mercy, have pity on me, accept the tears of a truly contrite heart, and offer them in union with those you shed at the Holy Sepulcher, to Jesus your Divine Son, that they may be accepted in expiation of past sin. Grant that I may never forget your sorrows, and never again by fresh sin crucify my loving Savior.

Prayer.

Seven Hail Mary’s, one Glory be, and the first verse of the Stabat Mater:

At the cross her station keeping,

Stood the mournful Mother weeping,

Close to Jesus to the last.

Most Sorrowful Virgin, pray for us.


Meditation II

Mary, in returning to her home, passes by Calvary

Let us follow Mary when she leaves the Holy Sepulcher.

St. John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, and the holy women are with her. She must pass one by one the hallowed stations of her Divine Son’s Passion. Let us meditate more especially on the sufferings of her sorrowful heart when she sees Calvary again, and the Cross on which Jesus a few hours before was crucified. She sees the ground beneath the Cross crimsoned with His

Precious Blood. She recalls the three hours of agony when she stood watching her dying Son, noting each bleeding gash of His lacerated Body, hearing the insults and blasphemies poured out against Him, seeing that chalice of humiliation, the gall and vinegar presented to His lips, listening to His last expiring words, His prayer for his enemies, and those words of bitter anguish and last farewell addressed to herself – “Behold thy son.” And Mary kneels at the foot of the Cross, and clasps again and again the hard wood, and kisses the stains of the Precious Blood which has brought salvation to her newly- adopted children.

Colloquy

O Mary, these words, “Behold thy son” have sunk deep into your heart and will never be forgotten by you. Have we ever realized that Christ dying for us bequeathed to us what He most prized on earth, His own beloved Mother to be ours? O Mother of Sorrows! As your life was one of continual grief, teach us like you to love the Cross; let us in our adversity share your fortitude, and if ever a day should come when we feel weighed down by trouble and grief, then let us kneel in spirit at its foot, and remembering the parting gift of our dying Lord, invoke your holy protection, and through the merits of those sufferings endured on Calvary, obtain peace of mind and resignation to the will of God. Teach us, O Blessed Mother, to love Jesus as you loved him, in suffering and humiliation, and obtain for us a true devotion to His Passion.

Prayer

Seven Hail Mary’s, one Glory be and the second verse of the Stabat Mater:

 Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,

 All his bitter anguish bearing,

 Now at length the sword had passed

Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.


Meditation III

Mary desolate in her home

Let us follow Mary when she returns to the city of Jerusalem. St John has taken her to his own home. Let us enter that house and remain awhile with our Mother in her solitude.

Let us taste that feeling of utter desolation that pierces afresh her sorrowing heart. Mary is weeping bitterly, for great indeed is her affliction and sorrow. There is none now to gladden her heart, for Jesus, her joy, her comfort, and her all, is gone from her. Jesus and Mary had been companions in joy and in sorrow, and no words can express their intimate union. She has shared His poverty, His humiliations, and the agony of His Passion. She clung to Him when all others had forsaken Him, and most willingly would she have laid her head in the grave of her

Divine Son. But Jesus has departed from her, and Mary is alone, alone in her sorrow. Every action of Mary’s life was fulfilled with a view to Jesus, was directed solely by the love of Him, and was done for His eyes alone. It was this banishment from His sight, the severing of that close union with Him, that bitter separation from her Son which flooded her immaculate heart with the uttermost desolation.

Colloquy

Mother most loving, as I think of you in your poor home without your Son, my heart aches. O most sorrowful Mary! If ever we should be overcome by that most cruel desolation of soul, and Jesus should leave us and hide Himself, so that we can nowhere find rest or consolation in prayer, let us then turn to you, O Mother of Mercy! And invoking you by the merits of the sorrows endured in your desolation, may our past faults be pardoned, and the light of your Son’s face shine again upon our souls. Grant us, O Mother, such a tender devotion to your sorrows, and above all to the Passion of Christ which caused them that we may be more purified from sin, and finally be admitted to reign with you and your Divine Son for all eternity.

Prayer. Seven Hail Mary’s, one Glory be and the third verse of the Stabat Mater:

O how sad and sore distressed

Was that Mother highly blessed

Of the sole begotten One.

O Mother most desolate, pray for us now, and at the hour of our death.

Amen.