Lord, all things are possible with You.
As we wait for the joyous coming
of Your Son, help me to know my inner truth
of love and goodness and manifest this totally
in my relations with others.
With Your help and guidance, make me
worthy to embrace the coming of Your Son.
December 23, 2019
December 22, 2019
Lord, You are Emmanuel, “God with us.”
Open the eyes and ears of my heart
that I may see Your presence in every person I meet,
and hear Your voice in the cry of the poor.
December 21, 2019
Everliving God, who strengthened
Your apostle Thomas with firm and certain
faith in Your Son’s resurrection:
Grant us so perfectly and without doubt
to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God,
that our faith may never be found
wanting in Your sight; through Him
who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen
December 20, 2019
Every generous act of giving
and every perfect gift are from above.
They come down from You, dear Father of Light.
You give birth to us by Your Word,
so that we might be born of a new creation.
Bless now these presents that we give and receive in joy
at the birth of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bless us and bless the whole world with thankfulness and peace,
for You are the giver of all good gifts.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
December 19, 2019
Lord, during this Advent season,
I give thanks and praise to You for the gift of life.
Teach me to be grateful for all that I experience –
the joys, challenges and grief.
Help me to throw off the bonds of selfishness and greed
and embrace the true meaning of the season.
December 18, 2019
O God, help me to be a better person.
Make me prudent in my undertakings,
courageous in dangers, patient in afflictions,
and humble in prosperity.
Grand that I may be attentive at my prayers,
temperate at my meals,
diligent in my work,
and constant in my good resolutions.
Let my conscience be righteous and pure,
my exterior modest, my conversation edifying,
and my life according to rule.
December 17, 2019
O God,You brought Your Son, Jesus
into this world to teach us
the power of love and sacrifice.
Bless our tree
as a symbol of our celebration of Jesus' birth
and our gratitude for His sacrifice.
May the joy this tree brings
and the gifts we place under it
remind us of the many gifts You have given us.
We ask Your blessings upon our loved ones,
this day and always.
December 16, 2019
O Mary, I wish I could see how
you used to behave toward father and mother,
especially toward St. Anne;
and then how you behaved toward the priests of the temple;
and then toward St. Joseph;
and toward St. Elizabeth,
and St. John the Baptist;
and afterwards toward the Apostles,
especially toward St. John.
I should see how sweet
and lovely you were to every one of them;
but still your heart was with Jesus only.
And they would all feel and understand this,
however kind you were to them.
Amen.
December 15, 2019
Lord, You are the source
of my strength, peace and joy.
Send Your Spirit to renew
my trust and hope in You
and give me peace in my life.
December 14, 2019
O blessed Jesus,
give me stillness of soul in You.
Let Your mighty calmness reign in me.
Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace.
Let Your divinity shine on my intellect
by giving it divine knowledge, and on my will
by imparting to it the divine love
and on my memory with the divine possession of glory.
December 13, 2019
O God, our Creator and Redeemer,
Mercifully hear our prayers as we venerate Your servant, St. Lucy,
for the light of faith You bestowed upon her,
and to preserve this same light in our souls,
that we may be able to avoid evil,
to do good and to abhor nothing
so much as the blindness
and the darkness of evil and of sin.
Relying on Your goodness, O God,
we humbly ask You,
by the intercession of Your servant,
St. Lucy that You give perfect vision to our eyes,
that they may serve for Your greater honor and glory,
and for the salvation of our souls in this world,
that we may come to the enjoyment
of the unfailing light of the Lamb of God in paradise.
St. Lucy, virgin and martyr,
hear our prayer and obtain our petitions.
December 12, 2019
O Virgin of Guadalupe,
Mother of the Americas,
grant to our homes the grace of loving
and respecting life with the same love
with which you conceived in your womb
the life of the Son of God.
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love,
protect our families so that
they may always be united
and bless the upbringing of our children.
We beg You to grant us a great love
of all the holy Sacraments,
which are, as it were,
the signs that Your Son left us on earth.
Thus, Most Holy Mother,
with the peace of God in our consciences,
with our hearts free from evil and hatred,
we will be able to bring to all others
true joy and peace.
Amen.
December 11, 2019
Dear God, all over the world now,
the children of Holy Mother Church are singing:
"Send down dew from above, you heavens,
and let the skies pour down upon us
the rain we long for, Him, the Just One.
May He, the Savior,
spring from the closed womb of the earth!"
We know, Lord, and we have seen,
what drought does to the land.
We know, too, and have seen,
the ravages of frost and cold.
We have walked in barren fields and up dry hills,
through dead, silent woods and lifeless valleys,
and along thirsty beds of once flowing streams.
We have seen, clearly enacted for us upon the land,
what our life would be without You.
We can understand, now,
how we should long for Your coming.
Come, dear Lord and Savior,
and do not delay!
Rise up in Your power and come!
Let the rain of Your grace water the parched soil of our souls.
Let the warmth of Your love thaw the coldness of our indifference.
Let the life of Your Body and Blood
vitalize our deadened energies,
and stir us up to fruitful labor in Your vineyard.
December 10, 2019
Come, Emmanuel, God's presence among us, our King, our Judge:
save us, Lord our God!
Come, King of all nations,
source of Your Church's unity and faith:
save all mankind, Your own creation!
Come, Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, Sun of Justice:
shine on those lost in the darkness of death!
Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay;
give new courage to Your people who trust in Your love.
By Your coming, raise us to the joy of Your Kingdom,
where You live and reign with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.
Amen.
December 9, 2019
We praise You, Lord,
in this daughter of Israel, who sang the songs of David,
who knew the deeds of Judith,
and held in her heart the burning words of Isaiah.
We pray as Mary did:
may your name be holy,
may the hungry be filled and the rich know hunger,
may the proud be scattered and the oppressed raised up,
may your love be ever with your people.
We make our prayer always through Mary's child,
for from her arose the sun of justice,
Jesus, who is Lord for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.