Ancient Prayers For Hard Times

With the exception of my daily Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary, my prayer usually takes the form of conversations with God. Sometimes it's based on a meditation, often originating in a passage of Sacred Scripture. Sometimes it's more contemplative in nature, more praise oriented, and focused on a single aspect of God's glorious triune divinity. But I'm really not a very adept contemplative, so my undisciplined mind often wanders off into other more self-absorbed territory. And sometimes my prayer really is just a simple conversation during which I bare my soul to God, and try to define and articulate my thanksgiving for all God has done for us, or what I think are the needs only God can fulfill. I'd like to say that these conversations center on the needs of others, but that wouldn't be completely true. I may start out addressing others, but again I usually end up telling God all about me. Once I recognize this happening, I've learned to shut up and just listen for God's response. So often that response arrives perhaps hours or days later, and does so through others I encounter. God is like that. He likes to use others, often the most unlikely others, to teach me. It's a very humbling experience.

Yes, I'm still learning to pray, still a rookie, but, heck, I'm just 74 years old, so I still have plenty of time to get a handle on this prayer thing. Until that happens I often rely on my memory of some of the ancient prayers I learned decades ago. I have found these prayers to be especially useful when life has become particularly stressful, when the right words are hard to find, when I think I need to discern God's will but don't have a clue where He's leading me. Anyway, that being said, I thought I'd share some of these wonderful prayers and encourage you to pray them when times are hard and words are even harder to come by. And if you take the time to memorize them, these comforting prayers will always be there for you.

Prayer to St. Michael. I've already addressed this wonderful prayer in an earlier post -- Prayer to St. Michael. In this prayer we ask God's heavenly angelic warrior to protect us from Satan and his demonic pals. I won't address it here again except to say that it's a prayer the Church (and that's all of us) should be praying daily. Once again, here's that powerful prayer:

St. Michael the Archangel, 

defend us in battle. 

Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. 

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 

and do thou, 

O Prince of the heavenly hosts, 

by the power of God, 

thrust into hell Satan, 

and all the evil spirits, 

who prowl about the world 

seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Anima Christi (Soul of Christ). This prayer, originally written in Latin and dating from the fourteenth century and possibly earlier, has often been credited to St. Ignatius Loyola who included it at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises. Although Ignatius certainly made the prayer more popular, we know for certain that it predated the saint by over 100 years. Who wrote it, however, is unimportant. In fact, the anonimity of its author seems in keeping with the deep humility of the prayer itself. As we pray, if we meditate on its words, we enter into a deeper communion with Jesus and an awareness of all that He promises us. I have found it to be a source of great comfort and peace, and always pray it immediately after receiving our Lord's Body and Blood in Holy Communion. Come to a greater understanding of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, and pray these words of praise daily.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.

Body of Christ, save me.

Blood of Christ, inebriate me.

Water from the side of Christ, wash me.

Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

O Good Jesus, hear me.

Within Thy wounds hide me.

Suffer me not to be separated from thee.

From the malignant enemy defend me.

In the hour of my death call me.

And bid me come unto Thee,

That with all Thy saints,

I may praise thee

Forever and ever.

Amen.

Memorare (Remember). How often did we as children turn to our mothers when we needed help, or comfort, or healing? As adults it's sometimes hard (and humbling) to remember that we remain children. It's true, you know, for we are always children of the Father thanks to our Baptism. And as children of the Father, we are also children of Mary, our Blesed Mother, a relationship highlighted by those words of Jesus from the Cross:

26

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home [Jn 19:26-27]

26Yes, indeed, as disciples of our Lord, we too have been given a Mother who will be happy to enter our spiritual home and love us as her own children, if only we will ask her. As daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and spouse of the Holy Spirit, Mary has unparalleled intercessory access to the Holy Trinity. The Memorare, then, is a prayer of confident intercession through which we approach our most approachable Mother, asking her intercede for us. It's the prayer to which I inevitably turn when the need seems so great that I want some serious help. Who better to turn to than Mary, the Mother of our Lord?

The Memorare has been around for a long time. Again like many of the old prayers, it was composed originally in Latin and is attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvoix in the 12th century. The prayer was popularized centuries later by the priest, Claude Bernard, who called on Mary's intercession as he ministered to the impoverished and imprisoned in 17th century France.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, 

that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection,

implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence, 

I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; 

to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. 

O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, 

but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Morning Offering. In various versions the Morning Offering has been around for hundreds of year, at least as far back as the 13th century. I'm fairly certain I first encountered the current version back in 1954 when my fifth grade teacher, Sister Leo Christine, O.P., had our class recite it together at the start of every school day. I'd like to say that I've recited it every morning since, but that wouldn't be true. I can say that, at least in recent years, it has become an active part of my daily prayer life.

And what a wonderful prayer it is -- one that reminds us to dedicate all that we do, all the "joys and sufferings" of the day, to the will of God. It's the perfect prayer to set the tone for the day, to help us keep focused on our vocation as disciples of Jesus Christ. Pray it now and pray it again every morning as soon as you awaken. Believe me when I say that it will make a real difference in your life. 

O Jesus,

through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer You my prayers, works,

joys and sufferings

of this day for all the intentions

of Your Sacred Heart,

in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

throughout the world,

in reparation for my sins,

for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,

and in particular

for the intentions of the Holy Father.

Amen.

There are others, and I'm sure many of those who might read but these words have their own favorite prayers, but these are prayers I've prayed almost daily for years. As I stated above, they have helped me call on God's mercy and goodness when the world seemed to be crashing around me and my own words seemed so very inadequate.