A short prayer to Mary, asking for the grace to catch a glimpse of her Son, even while we are still on our Earthly journey that “we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”
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Why Do Catholics Pray To Mary?
In the winter of 2010, this statue of the Virgin Mary was found, broken in half, lying next to a dumpster, because she was being thrown away. The man who found this holy statue rescued her and took her home. Dirty, chipped and broken in half, Our Blessed Mother was put together again. The man who repaired her requested that she be painted and have her broken hands mended. He wanted to make her new again and perfect. But the man who found her simply said, “No, she is broken, just like me. We all are broken…
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Prayer for Lent
There are traditionally 40 days in Lent; these are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigor during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbors).
Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him.
In addition, some believers add a regular spiritual discipline, to bring them closer to God, such as reading a Lenten daily devotional.
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Prayer of St. Francis
The anonymous text that is usually called the Prayer of Saint Francis (or Peace Prayer, or Simple Prayer for Peace, or Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace) is a widely known Christian prayer for peace. Often associated with the Italian Saint Francis of Assisi (c. 1182 – 1226), but entirely absent from his writings, the prayer in its present form has not been traced back further than 1912. Its first known occurrence was in French, in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell), published by a Catholic Church organization in Paris named La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The League of the Holy Mass). The author’s name was not given, although it may have been the founder of La Ligue, Father Esther Bouquerel. The prayer was heavily publicized during both World War I and World War II. It has been frequently set to music by notable songwriters and quoted by prominent leaders, and its broadly inclusive language has found appeal with diverse faiths encouraging service to others.
