We are pleased to offer you access to liturgical and school year prayers that you can use at Parent Council meetings, school events or at home with your family.
Dear God and Creator,
We give you thanks as we begin this Thanksgiving weekend for all the blessings in our lives.
Today we are thankful for the many wonderful people in our lives, our family, our friends, and of course our co-workers at the Durham Catholic District School Board.
We thank you for our many material blessings, for food, for shelter, and for our work which provides our lives with meaning.
We thank you, God, for the example of your Son Jesus, who taught us to live well and for teaching us to love deeply.
For these gifts and for many more untold blessings, we give you thanks and we ask you to bless the meal that we are about to share.
We make this prayer in the name of Christ our King. Amen.
Today is All Souls Day. One of the harsh realities of life is that all life eventually comes to an end. Unfortunately, we have all experienced the passing away of a loved one or have known a friend who has suffered through this tragic event. In order to help us deal with our pain associated with the death of a loved one, the Catholic Church has set aside the month of November and particularly All Souls Day where we are encouraged to remember and pray for our loved ones who have died. We pray especially that our loved ones will spend eternity with God in heaven. Today, we pray for ourselves as well and we ask God to give us strength and comfort as we mourn the death of those we have loved.
So we pray, Merciful Father, hear our prayer and console us. As we renew our faith in Your Son, whom You raised from the dead, strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters will share in His resurrection, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Remembrance Day is our opportunity to remember and to pay homage to those who died to preserve our freedom. We remember soldiers falling beside their friends... we remember telegrams coming to the doors of neighbours, husbands never to return; sons and daughters whom were loved and lost. We remember these events with pain, but we remember - that their sacrifices will never be taken lightly nor forgotten.
Let Us Pray
Loving God, as we gather here today, may our hearts be full of memories of and gratitude for our countrymen and women who served under the armed forces in wars fought for the freedom we enjoy today. We come here today to remember and to express our gratitude for those who fell in battle and those who, while they may not have died, offered their bodies, hearts, and energies fighting for a better world. Bless all those who gave the best of themselves for our country and be with all those who continue to give of themselves to establish peace and protect the innocent in our world. We ask Lord that you would grace the world with your presence, and may the peace that only you can give be our constant hope. We make our prayers in the name of Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
Gracious God, as we come together to share a meal, we rejoice in the precious gift of faith that has brought us here this evening.
Fill us with a renewed strength of purpose, and help us genuinely reflect on the mission to which you have called us.
May the food you now provide for us sustain our bodies.
May your Spirit in our midst enliven our souls.
May the conversations we enjoy stir our hearts.
And may the ideas we share inspire our minds.
Now Lord, bless this food and this community, that we might recognize you in the faces of our companions, and in the breaking of bread.
We ask this in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Advent and Christmas
Below are prayers that can be used during the season of Advent.
Let us pray that our faith may be strengthened for the coming of the Lord.
Father in heaven, our hearts desire the warmth of your love, and our minds are searching for the light of your Word. Increase our longing for Christ our Saviour and give us the strength to grow in our faith so that the day of his coming may find us prepared and filled with joy. Amen.
Let us pray that we my experience fully the peace of Christ.
Father in heaven, the day draws near when the birth of your Son will make radiant the night of the waiting world. May his quiet coming fill us with true inner peace. Amen.
Let us pray that we may grow in love for each other as the Lord comes to us.
Father in heaven, may we, your family who look forward to the birthday of Christ, experience the joy of your love and celebrate his birth with a new sense of love for each other. All around us there are signs of Your presence, signs of grace. During this Advent season, may our eyes be open to the many ways you visit us. Amen.
Let us pray that the newborn Saviour will bring us his love which lasts forever.
Lord, our minds and hearts are filled with hope. We long to hear the voice which tells us of the coming of the Christ Child. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy and give us the strength to grow in love. Amen.
Holy Father,
God of our yesterdays, our today, and our tomorrows.
We praise You for Your unequalled greatness.
Thank You for the year behind us and for the year ahead.
Help us in this new year, Father, to worry less and laugh more.
To teach others to laugh by laughing with them.
To teach others to care by caring for them.
Knowing, when Jesus came to the stable in Bethlehem, He came for us.
So that Love could be with us, and we could know You.
That we could share Love with others.
Help us to stop and listen to Your word, so that we may know You better and better.
We rejoice in the world You loved into being.
Thank You for another new year and for new chances every day.
We pray for peace, for light, and for hope, that we might spread them to others.
Forgive us for falling short this past year.
We leave the irreparable past in your hands, and step out into the unknown new year knowing
You will go with us.
We accept Your gift of a new year and we rejoice in what's ahead, depending on You to help us do exactly what You want.
Amen.
Lent and Easter
Below are prayers for use during Lent and Easter.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, the all-holy one, who gives us life and all things. As we go about our lives, the press of our duties and activities often leads us to forget your presence and your love. We fail to live out the responsibilities that you have entrusted to those who were baptized into your Son. In this holy season of Lent, help us to turn our minds and hearts back to you. Lead us into sincere repentance and renew our lives with your grace. Help us to remember that we are your children in whom you are well pleased. As we live through this Ash Wednesday, may the crosses of ashes that mark our foreheads be a reminder to us and to those we meet that we belong to your Son. May our almsgiving and prayer and fasting this day be sustained throughout these 40 days of Lent. Bring us refreshed and renewed to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection at Easter. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
Amen.
Lent is more than a time of fasting, it can also be a joyous season of feasting.
Lent is a time to fast from certain things, And feast on others.
- Fast from Judging Others - Instead Feast on the Christ Dwelling in them.
- Fast from Emphasis on Difference - Feast on the Unity of Life
- Fast from Sadness - Feast on Appreciation
- Fast from Thoughts of Illness - Feast on the Healing Power of God
- Fast from Words that Pollute - Feast on Words that Purify
- Fast from Hostility - Feast on Peace
- Fast from Bitterness - Feast on Forgiveness
- Fast from Self-Concern - Feast on Compassion for Others
- Fast from Personal Anxiety - Feast on Trust
- Fast from Discouragement - Feast on Hope
- Fast from Acts that Tear Down - Feast on Acts which Build Up
- Fast from Thoughts that Weaken - Feast on Promises that Inspire
The Power of One
One song can spark a moment
One flower can wake the dream
One tree can start a forest
One bird can herald spring
One smile begins a friendship
One handclasp lifts a soul
One star can guide a ship at sea
One word can frame the goal
One vote can change a nation
One sunbeam lights a room
One candle wipes out darkness
One laugh will conquer gloom
One step must start each journey
One word must start a prayer
One hope will raise our spirits
One touch can show you care
One voice can speak with wisdom
One heart can know what is true
One Life can make a difference
The Lord is our pace setter - we shall not rush.
You make us stop for quiet intervals.
You provide us with images of stillness that restore serenity. He leads us in ways of efficiency through calmness of mind, And Your guidance is peace.
Even though we have many things to accomplish each day, we will not fret, For the presence of the Lord is here.
Your timelessness, will keep us in balance.
You prepare refreshment and renewal in the midst of our activities,
By anointing our minds with oils of tranquility.
Our cups of joyous energy overflows.
Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of our hours,
For we shall walk in the peace of the Lord and dwell in Your house forever.
Lord, we thank you that you have created us in your own image and have made us your sons and daughters and have taught us what you would have us believe and do. Help us by your Holy Spirit, for the sake of Jesus Christ, to keep your Word in pure hearts that we may be strengthened in faith, perfected in holiness, and made aware of our true identity as your children. May this Lenten period be a homecoming for us and may we take our rightful place at your table as your daughters and sons. Amen.
God of mercy and reconciliation, in this Lenten season, help us to take up our cross day by day. When we are asked to go the extra mile, to be generous with our time and presence, or when we harbour old wounds and are called to offer or to receive forgiveness, grant us strength to carry our cross. Through these crosses we can grow closer to you. Help us to lean on you and to learn from you. May we not give in to self-pity or self-doubt. Rather, let us trust in your presence which strengthens us. Encourage us on our rough days. Remind us of your resurrection. Help us to keep our vision focused on life and growth. Amen.
Merciful God, you so loved the world that you sent Jesus to save us. By his life and death on the cross, he revealed the depth of your love for us. Have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to the joy of his resurrection. But always help us remember Lord that the measure that you have forgiven us is the measure by which we are to forgive others. Help us to be your forgiveness in the world. This we ask through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Amen.