Prayer

Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle

ImageKristin's Crosses
[public domain]

The Conversion of St. Paul, 16th Century

Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help
for the Conversion of Sinners

Mother of Perpetual Help,
you know so well the value of an immortal soul.
For every soul has been redeemed by the
Precious Blood of your Divine Son.
Hear my prayer as I plead for the conversion
of a sinner,
one who is quickly heading for eternal ruin.
I know that you are the refuge of sinners.
I know also that God has given you
the power to bring about the conversion
of even the most hardened sinner.
Until now, nothing has been successful in changing
this person’s sinful way of life.
Obtain from your Son the grace of conversion.
Merciful Mother,
you have brought about the conversion
of many sinners through the prayers of
their relatives and friends.
Listen to my prayer
and bring about a true conversion
for this unhappy soul.
Mother of Perpetual Help,
show that you really are the Refuge of Sinners.
Amen.

March for Life

ImageKristin's Crosses

March for Life 2020 Theme:
Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman.

“A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer.”

Pope Saint John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, no. 100

Prayer for the Unborn
By Pope Benedict XVI

Lord Jesus,

You who faithfully visit and fulfill with your Presence the Church and the history of men; You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood render us participants in divine Life and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life; We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life, truly present and alive among us, we beg you.

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life, make us capable of seeing in the fruit of the maternal womb the miraculous work of the Creator, open our hearts to generously welcoming every child that comes into life.

Bless all families, sanctify the union of spouses, render fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies with the light of your Spirit, so that peoples and nations may recognize and respect the sacred nature of life, of every human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors, so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person, and no one endures suppression or injustice.

Give creative charity to administrators and economists, so they may realize and promote sufficient conditions so that young families can serenely embrace the birth of new children.

Console the married couples who suffer because they are unable to have children and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children, so they may experience the warmth of your Charity, the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer, in whose womb you took on our human nature, we wait to receive from You, our Only True Good and Savior, the strength to love and serve life, in anticipation of living forever in You, in communion with the Blessed Trinity.

Amen.

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

ImageKristin's Crosses

[public domain]

Prayer for the Unborn Child

Almighty God, our Father,
you who have given us life
and intended us to have it forever,
grant us your blessings.
Enlighten our minds to an awareness
and to a renewed conviction
that all human life is sacred
because it is created
in your image and likeness.
Help us to teach by word
and the example of our lives
that life occupies the first place,
that human life is precious
because it is the gift of God
whose love is infinite.
Give us the strength to defend human life
against every influence
or action that threatens or weakens it,
as well as the strength
to make every life more human
in all its aspects.

Give us the grace…

When the sacredness of life
before birth is attacked,
to stand up and proclaim
that no one ever has the authority
to destroy unborn life.

When a child is described as a burden
or is looked upon only as a means
to satisfy an emotional need,
to stand up
and insist that every child is a unique
and unrepeatable gift of God,
a gift of God
with a right to a loving
and united family.

When the institution of marriage
is abandoned to human selfishness
or reduced to a temporary conditional arrangement
that can easily be terminated,
to stand up and affirm
the indissolubility of the marriage bond.

When the value of the family is threatened
because of social and economic pressure,
to stand up and reaffirm
that the family is necessary
not only for the private good of every person,
but also for the common good of every society,
nation and state.

When freedom is used to dominate the weak,
to squander natural resources and energy,
to deny basic necessities to people,
to stand up and affirm
the demands of justice and social love.

Almighty Father,
give us courage to proclaim the supreme dignity
of all human life and to demand
that society itself give its protection.
We ask this in your name,
through the redemptive act
of your Son and in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

(Adapted from St. Pope John Paul II’s homily of October 7, 1979)