Pope St John Paul II

Victims of War

To You, creator of nature and humanity, of truth and beauty, I pray:

• Hear my voice, for it is the voice of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations;

• Hear my voice, for it is the voice of all children who suffer and who will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war;

• Hear my voice, when I beg you to instil into the hearts of all human beings the vision of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of fellowship;

• Hear my voice, for I speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace;

• Hear my voice, and grant insight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to need with the sharing of self, to war with peace.

O God, hear my voice, and grant to the world your everlasting peace.

God for Guidance

With all my heart I seek You;
let me not stray from Your commands…
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of Your law.
I am a wayfarer of earth;
hide not Your commands from me…
Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
and I will meditate on Your wondrous deeds…
Your compassion is great, O Lord…

O God, You are our Creator.
You are good and Your mercy knows no bounds.
To You arises the praise of every creature.
O God, You have given us an inner law by which we must live.
To do Your will is our task.
To follow Your ways is to know peace of heart.
To You we offer our homage.
Guide us on all the paths we travel upon this earth.
Free us from all the evil tendencies which lead our hearts away from Your will.
Never allow us to stray from You.
O God, judge of all humankind, help us to be included among Your chosen ones on the last day.
O God, Author of peace and justice, give us true joy and authentic love, and a lasting solidarity among peoples.
Give us Your everlasting gifts. Amen!

Reverence for Life

How precious is Your love, O God!…
For with You is the fountain of life,
and in Your light we see light.

Faith

Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.

May your faith be strong; may it not hesitate, not waver, before the doubts, the uncertainties which philosophical systems or fashionable movements would like to suggest to you.

May it not descend to compromise with certain concepts, which would like to present Christianity as a mere ideology of historical character, and therefore be placed at the same level as so many others, now outdated.

God’s Call To The Priesthood

Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the Lord?

Let us pray that the most holy mysteries of the risen Christ and of the Spirit, the Paraclete, may enlighten many generous people, ready to serve the Church with greater readiness.

Let us pray for the pastors and their collaborators, that they may find the right words in putting before the faithful the message of the priestly and consecrated life.

Let us pray that in all parts of the Church the faithful may believe with renewed fervour in the Gospel ideal of the priest completely dedicated to the building up of the Kingdom of God: and let us pray that they support such vocations with generosity.

Let us pray for the young people, to whom the Lord extends His invitation to follow Him more closely, that they may not be drawn away by the things of this world, but may open their hearts to the loving voice that is calling them.

Let us pray that they may feel capable of dedicating themselves for their whole lives, “with undivided heart,” to Christ, the Church, and souls.

Let us pray that they may believe that grace gives them the strength to make this gift, and that they may see the beauty and greatness of priestly, religious, and missionary life.

Let us pray for families, that they may succeed in creating a Christian environment favourable to the important religious choices of their children. And at the same time with all our hearts let us thank the Lord that in these recent years, in many parts of the world, many young and not so young people are responding in growing numbers to the divine call.

Let us pray that all priests and religious may be an example and an encouragement to those who have been called, by their availability and humble readiness,…to accept the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to transmit to others the fruits of love and peace, to give them that certainty of faith from which derive the profound understanding of meaning of human existence and the capacity to introduce moral order into the life of individuals and of the human setting.

May your faith be joyful, because it is based on awareness of possessing a divine gift. When you pray and dialogue with God and when you converse with me, [may you] manifest the you of this enviable possession.

A Blessing

May the God of mercy, the God of love, the God of peace bless each of you and all the members of your families!

Canonisation Prayer

O, St. John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing! Bless the church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading it along the paths of the world in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Bless the young, who were your great passion. Help them dream again, help them look up high again to find the light that illuminates the paths of life here on earth.

May you bless families, bless each family! You warned of Satan’s assault against this precious and indispensable divine spark that God lit on earth. St. John Paul, with your prayer, may you protect the family and every life that blossoms from the family.

Pray for the whole world, which is still marked by tensions, wars and injustice. You tackled war by invoking dialogue and planting the seeds of love: pray for us so that we may be tireless sowers of peace.

O St. John Paul, from heaven’s window, where we see you next to Mary, send God’s blessing down upon us all. Amen.