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Today’s prayer is from Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern day Annaba, Algeria) and is viewed as one of the most important church fathers in Western Christianity.

O Lord,
the house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare your servant from strange sins.

Today’s prayer is from Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), a Spanish priest and theologian who founded the Jesuits. Jesuits served the Pope as missionaries.

Teach us, good Lord,

to serve you as you deserve,

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labor and not to ask for any reward,

save that of knowing that we do your will. Amen.

Today’s Litany of Humility was written by Rafael Merry del Val (1914-1930), a Cardinal and secretary of the papal conclave of 1903.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Today’s prayer is originally by John Calvin 1509-1564) and adapted by Timothy Keller (born 1950).  John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor, reformer of the Protestant Reformation, and principal figure in developing the theology known as Calvinism. Timothy Keller is a theologian, author, Christian apologist  and  minister of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

My God, Father, and Savior, since you have been pleased to give me the grace to come through the night to the present day, now grant that I may employ it entirely in your service, so that all my works may be to the glory of your name and the edification of my neighbors. As you have been pleased to make your sun shine upon the earth to give us bodily light, grant the light of your Spirit to illumine my understanding and my heart. And because it means nothing to begin well if one does not persevere, I ask that you would continue to increase your grace in me until you have led me into full communion with your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the true Sun of our souls, shining day and night, eternally and without end. Hear me, merciful Father, by our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Today’s prayer is from Thomas A Kempis (1380-1471), who was the author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the most popular and best known Christian books on devotion.  

Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know,

to love what I ought to love,

to praise what delights Thee most,

to value what is precious in Thy sight,

to hate what is offensive to Thee.

Do not suffer me to judge according to the sight of my eyes,

nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men;

but to discern with a true judgement between things visible and spiritual,

and above all things always to inquire what is the good pleasure of Thy will.

Today’s prayer is from Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430) was an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern day Annaba, Algeria) and is viewed as one of the most important church fathers in Western Christianity.

Lord, I commit my failures

as well as my successes

into your hands,

and I bring for your healing

the people and the situations,

the wrongs and the hurts of the past.

Give me courage, strength and generosity

to let go and move on,

leaving the past behind me,

and living the present to the full.

Lead me always to be positive

as I entrust the past to your mercy,

the present to your love,

and the future to your providence.

Today’s prayer is from Giles of Assissi (1190-1262), one of the original companions of Francis of Assissi.

Blessed is he who loves and does not therefore desire to be loved;

Blessed is he who fears and does not therefore desire to be feared;

Blessed is he who serves and does not therefore desire to be served;

Blessed is he who behaves well toward others and does not desire that others behave well toward him; and because these are great things, the foolish do not rise to them.

Today’s prayer is from Joseph Tetlow, SJ (born in 1930), who is the director of Montserrat Jesuit Retreat House in Lake Dallas, Texas, where he gives retreats, conducts workshops and writes.  This prayer is a contemporary paraphrase of the Anima Christi, a medieval prayer to Jesus. The sequence of sentences in Anima Christi relate to the Eucharist (body and blood of Christ), baptism (water) and the Passion of Jesus.

I choose to breathe the breath of Christ
that makes all life holy.

I choose to live the flesh of Christ
that outlasts sin’s corrosion and decay.

I choose the blood of Christ
along my veins and in my heart
that dizzies me with joy.

I choose the living waters flowing from his side
to wash and clean my own self and the world itself.

I choose the awful agony of Christ
to charge my senseless sorrows with meaning
and to make my pain pregnant with power.

I choose you, good Jesus, you know.

I choose you, good Lord;
count me among the victories
that you have won in bitter woundedness.

Never number me among those alien to you.

Make me safe from all that seeks to destroy me.

Summon me to come to you.

Stand me solid among angels and saints
chanting yes to all you have done,
exulting in all you mean to do forever and ever.

Then for this time, Father of all,
keep me, from the core of my self,
choosing Christ in the world.  Amen.

Today’s prayer is from Desmond Tutu  (born 1931), a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who actively  opposed apartheid in the 1980s. This prayer is from his book “An African Prayerbook”.

Goodness is stronger than evil;
Love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness;
Life is stronger than death;
Victory is ours through Him who loves us.

Today’s prayer is from Bede the Venerable (AD 673-735), who was an English monk in the Kindom of Northumbria of the Angles. He was an author and scholar.

O Christ, our Morning Star,

Splendor of Light Eternal,

shining with the glory of the rainbow,

come and waken us

from the greyness of our apathy,

and renew in us your gift of hope. Amen.