Open my eyes
Open my eyes that I may see the deepest needs of men, women and children
Move my hands that they may feed the hungry;
Touch my heart that it may bring warmth to the despairing;
Teach me the generosity that welcomes strangers;
Let me share my possessions with people in need;
Give me the care that strengthens the sick;
Help me share in the quest to set prisoners free;
In sharing our anxieties and our love,
Our poverty and our prosperity;
We partake of your divine presence. Amen.
Prayer for homeless persons
O God you are a God of justice,
mercy and compassion support us
your servants of the poor,
as we endeavour to bring your love and compassion
to people who are homeless and in need of your love.
We pray that we will see you, our all-loving God in each homeless
person we encounter and in our service for those in need.
May we do all in our power to support each person reach
their potential, so they experience the fullness of life.
We ask this prayer through Jesus Christ Our Lord Amen
Prayer for workers in the centre
We ask you lord to journey with us this day in love.
We thank you for the many joys and blessings in our lives especially
our families and friends.
Help us to be kind and considerate to all we meet and may we be
helpful and kind to all who enter this Centre.
We pray for those in need of your love today. Amen
Prayer for peace
May there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be,
May you not forget the great possibilities born of faith,
especially the vocation of being a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and passion on the
love that has been given to you….
We ask this prayer in the name of Jesus.
Prayer before home visitation
Lord, where two or three are gathered in your name you are in our midst.
Walk with us now as we journey into home of x…..
Be our support as we are your hands feet and heart.
We ask this prayer in the name of Jesus.
Prayer of Blessed Frederic Ozanam on Divine Providence
Let us go in simplicity where merciful Providence leads us,
content to see the stone on which we should step without
wanting to discover all at once and completely the winding road.
(Dirvin, trans and ed.., letters P.93)
Prayer of Micah (6:8)
Loving God I pray this day that I will always do what you require of
me, to do justice and to walk humbly with you my all loving God.
In the footsteps of Jesus
Lord help me to imitate your way of loving and acting: you said that
you had come upon earth to serve not to be served.
Teach me to show great gentleness towards all,
To imitate your goodness in welcoming them.
Like you, I want to love tenderly to be respectful to all those I meet,
To be affable and gentle to those in the greatest need.
Lord, teach me to maintain always great esteem for my neighbour, y
our life on earth, your death and resurrection bear witness to
your love for all.
(Prayer of St. Louise de Marillac. Based on Spiritual Writings P.785)
Saint Paul’s prayer (1)
I pray that the God of Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened,
you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and
what is immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe,
according to the working of his great power.
(Ephesians 1:15-19)
Saint Paul’s prayer (2)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with
Power through the spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, rooted and established in love, may have the
power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and
high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that
surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of
all the fullness of God.
(Ephesians 3:19)
Psalm 63
O God, you are my God for you I long!
For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts,
like a dry weary land without water.
So I look to you In the sanctuary to see your power and glory.
For your love is better than life; my lips offer you worship!
I will bless you as long as I live; I will life up my hands,
calling on your name.
My soul shall savour the rich banquet of praise;
with joyous lips my mouth shall honour you!
When I think of you upon my bed,
through the night watches I will recall that you indeed are my help, and
in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you: your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek my life will come to ruin;
they shall go down to the depths of the earth!
They shall be handed over to the sword and become the prey of jackals!
But the King shall rejoice in God; all who swear by the Lord shall exult, for the
mouths of liars will be shut!
Psalm 139: 1-4, 23-24
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Peace Prayer
Lord make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred,
let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt,
faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled,
as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to
love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are
pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
St. Francis of Assisi
For deceased members of the Vincentian Family, De Profundis
Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord: Lord hear my voice.
O Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If you, O Lord, shall observe iniquities, Lord, who shall endure it?
For with you there is merciful forgiveness; and by reason of your law
I have waited for you, O Lord.
My soul has relied on his word; my soul has hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even unto night.
Let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plentiful
redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.
Response: Let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Act of Consecration of Conferences and Councils to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
(To be recited at the first meeting in June each year)
Lord Jesus, wishing all people to show love rather than indifference to each other, you have revealed your Sacred Heart as a symbol of your divine love.
We bow down before you, members of a world-wide family united
under the standard of St. Vincent de Paul in the apostolate of charity.
We dedicate and consecrate to your Divine Person and to your
Sacred Heart this our conference (council) with all its members,
auxiliaries and benefactors, those we visit or assist and all the works
we have undertaken for your glory.
We humbly ask you to receive this offering and to fill us with the love
you wish to see growing daily in the hearts of all people. With this
help we may learn to have a right attitude to this world, to love our
members, to help our neighbour by word and example and, despite
difficulties, to fix our hearts on the riches and happiness that will never end. Amen.
Blessing prayers
May the Lord bless us in our searching and our questions
They are the gateway to wisdom, enlightenment and peace,
the way to our hearts.
Response: May the blessing of enlightenment and peace be upon us.
May the Lord bless us in our gifts; these are God’s providence to the world.
To enrich it, to enable it, to bring it love.
Response: May we acknowledge and use the gifts God gives to us.
May the Lord bless us in the yearnings of our hearts. No matter how subtle,
They are energy urging us forward in our quest for God and others.
Response: May our heart’s yearnings teach us empathy.
May the Lord bless our vision. No matter the climb it is a mountain
peak calling us to experience God.
Response: Lord, may the blessing of vision be with us as we reach out with trust in you.
May the Lord bless us in our decisions. No matter the mistakes,
they are our “yes” in life, our assent to the field where God is found.
Response: May the blessing of discernment be upon us.
May the Lord bless us in our reflections and ideas. No matter the doubts. They are seeds seeking nourishment, sunshine, life-giving water.
Response: May we imitate Saint Vincent, Saint Louise, Blessed Frederic Ozanam and Blessed Rosalie Rendu.
All: May our all loving Lord bless us in all our journey through the joys, our work, our struggles and the heart of the day.
Amen.