Practical Prayers


Prayer to Our Lady of Divine Providence

God, our Father, we give You thanks as we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Divine Providence. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, She became the Mother of the Savior. As queen sitting at the right hand of Her Son, She aids the Church in Her needs and with maternal care provides for the personal needs of Her children who were entrusted to Her at the Cross by Jesus, our Lord. We implore You Father, through the prayers of our Lady, Mother of Divine Providence, to remove from us whatever is harmful, and to bestow on us only that which will be helpful. We ask You this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Farmer's Prayer


O Blessed Lady of the Fields,
who loved the land of your native Galilee,
who watched the tiller of the earth and the shepherd of the flock
go out and return from Nazareth,
who lived with and loved the rural folk of the village,
look down graciously upon the fields and pastures of this,
your adopted land.
Make our homes sanctuaries of Christ as was your home.
Make our fields fertile and abundant in the harvest.
Help us to understand more fully the dignity of our toil
and the merit it acquires when offered through you to your Divine Son,
Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.


Prayer Before Study
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Come, Holy Spirit, Divine Creator,
true source of light and fountain of wisdom!
Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect,
dissipate the darkness which covers me,
that of sin and of ignorance.
Grant me a penetrating mind to understand,
a retentive memory,
method and ease in learning,
the lucidity to comprehend,
and abundant grace in expressing myself.
Guide the beginning of my work,
direct its progress,
and bring it to successful completion.
This I ask through Jesus Christ,
true God and true man,
living and reigning with You
and the Father, forever and ever.
Amen.

Prayer for Lost Time
Saint Theresa of Avila 

O my God! Source of all mercy!
I acknowledge Your sovereign power.
While recalling the wasted years that are past,
I believe that You, Lord,
can in an instant turn this loss to gain.
Miserable as I am,
yet I firmly believe that You can do all things.
Please restore to me the time lost,
giving me Your grace,
both now and in the future,
that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen.