A Treasury of Common Prayers
The Sign of the Cross
In the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy
kingdom come, thy
will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven.
Give us this day our
daily bread, and forgive us
our
trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with
thee;
blessed art thou among
women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of
God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.
The Glory Be
Glory be to the Father
and to the
Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
The Act
of Faith
O my God, I
firmly believe that thou are one God in three
divine persons, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. I
believe that
thy divine Son became man and
died for our
sins and
that
He will come again
to judge the living and the
dead. I believe
these and all the truths
that
the Catholic Church teaches because You have revealed them Who can neither deceive nor be deceived.
The Act of Hope
O my God, relying
upon
thy infinite
goodness
and
promises, I hope to obtain
the pardon of my sins,
the
help of thy grace, and life everlasting,
through the merits of Jesus Christ,
my Lord and Redeemer.
The Act
of Love
O my God, I
love Thee above all things with my whole
heart and soul because Thou
art all good and deserving
of all my
love. I
love my neighbor as myself for the love of
Thee. I forgive all who
have injured me and ask
pardon of all
whom I have injured.
The Act
of Contrition
O my God, I
am heartily
sorry for having offended Thee
and I detest all my sins because
I dread the loss of
heaven and
the pains of hell, but most of all
because they
offend Thee, O my God, Who
art all good and deserving
of all my love. I firmly
resolve with the help of thy
grace to confess my sins,
to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen
Grace before and after meals
Bless us, O Lord, and these thy
gifts, which we are about to receive from
thy bounty, through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest
in peace. Amen.
We give Thee thanks, Almighty
God, for these and
all the gifts we have received from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and
in Jesus Christ his only Son, our
Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born
of the
Virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate,
was
crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the
dead; on the third day He rose
again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of
God, the Father
Almighty;
from thence He will
come
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe
in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic
Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of
sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Amen.
The Angelus
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary
Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
Be it done unto me
according to thy word.
Hail
Many And the Word
was made flesh;
And dwelt amongst us.
Hail Mary
Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech
Thee,
O Lord, thy grace into our hearts, that we, to
whom the Incarnation
of Christ thy Son was made
known by the message
of an angel, may, by
his passion and cross, be brought to the glory
of his resurrection, through the
same Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Regina Coeli
This prayer
replaces the Angelus from Easter through the
Saturday before Pentecost.
Queen of heaven,
rejoice, Alleluia.
Because the Lord is truly
risen, Alleluia.
For He whom thou
didst merit to bear, Alleluia.
Has risen as
He said, Alleluia. Pray for us to God, Alleluia.
Rejoice and
be
glad, O Virgin Mary,
Alleluia.
Let us pray:
O God, Who by
the
resurrection of thy Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ,
has been pleased to fill the world
with joy, grant, we beseech Thee, that by
the intercession
of the Virgin Mary, his
mother,
we may receive the joys of eternal life. Through the
same
Christ our Lord. Amen.
My Daily Prayer
This prayer was
composed by Msgr. R. J. Markham and was popular
in the mid-20th century in Greater
Cincinnati. It combines elements
of several other prayers
and is reprinted from a
prayer card
published in that era. Msgr. Markham wrote the following on the other side of the prayer card:
“My Daily Prayer” comes to you as
one of God’s children. God is your
kind, merciful, and loving
Father. He is
the
most understanding
and
the most forgiving
of all fathers. He really
cares for you.
He loves you; and he
wants you to know Him, love Him, and serve Him in this
world
and
be
perfectly happy,
for all eternity, in the world to come. This is your
longing desire—the salvation of
your soul—after all,
the
only thing that
counts. “My Daily Prayer” will be
for you a wonderful help in
attaining this all-important end. Say it earnestly
and fervently.
Make it a real prayer. Let every
word come from your heart.
Say it every day. May God bless your efforts!
I believe in One God. I believe that God
rewards the good and punishes the wicked.
I believe that in
God
there are three Divine Persons—
God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit.
I believe that God the Son became man without ceasing to be God. I
believe that He is my Lord and
my
Savior Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the
human race,
Who died on the cross for the salvation of all
men, Who died also for me.
I believe, on God’s authority, everything that He has
taught and revealed.
O my God, give me
strong faith. O my God, help me
to believe with lively faith.
O my God, relying on thy
almighty
power
and infinite mercy and promises, I sincerely
hope to be
saved. Help me to do
all that is necessary for my
salvation.
I have committed many sins
in my life, but now I turn away from
them and hate
them.
I
am sorry, truly sorry for
all of them, because
I have offended Thee, my
God, Who art all-good, all-perfect, all-holy, all-
merciful—my kind and
loving Father.
I love Thee, O my God, with all
my heart. Forgive me, I implore Thee, for having
offended Thee.
I promise, O God,
that
with thy help I will never
offend Thee again.
My God, have mercy
on me. Amen.
Morning Prayers
Morning Prayers
To My Guardian
Angel
Angel of God,
my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me
here, ever this day be
at my side to light and
guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
The Morning Offering
O Jesus,
through the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, I offer
You all
my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings
of this day, in union
with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for
the
intentions of all my associates,
and in
particular for the intentions of the
Holy Father this month.
Direct our Actions
Direct, we beg
You, O Lord, our actions
by your holy
inspirations,
and carry them on by your
gracious
assistance, that every
prayer and work
of ours may begin
always with You,
and through You be happily ended.
Amen.
Evening Prayers
Prayer of St. Augustine
Watch, O Lord, with
those who wake, or
watch, or weep tonight, and give
your angels and saints
charge over
those who sleep.
Tend your sick
ones, O Lord Jesus Christ, Rest your weary ones,
Bless your dying ones,
Soothe your suffering
ones, Pity your afflicted ones,
Shield your joyous ones,
And all for your love’s sake. Amen
At Bedtime
Now I lay me down to
sleep;
I pray the Lord my
soul to keep. If I should die before I
wake,
I pray the Lord
my soul to take.
Examination of Conscience
“Teacher, which
is the great commandment
in the law?” And He said to
him, “You shall love
the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all
your mind. This is the great and
first commandment.
And a second is like
to it. You shall love your
neighbor
as yourself. On these two commandments
depend all the law and the
prophets”
(Mt 22:36-40).
I know I have some
particular weaknesses
that are included in the seven capital
sins, those tendencies that
incline me to particular sins—pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and laziness.
Have I done anything today to work against my
particular weaknesses?
Have I given
in to any particular temptation today? Have
I practiced reasonable
control over my eyes to avoid unnecessary temptations?
Have I dressed modestly so
as to reduce temptations to others?
Have I
been honest in my speech?
Did
I put in a good day’s work?
How well have I fulfilled my responsibilities
to my
family? To my
parents? To
my spouse? To my children?
To my
brothers and sisters?
Have I
sinned against my
neighbor in any way?
What efforts did
I make today to
do more than avoid sin?
Did I help anybody today? Did I encourage
my neighbor? Did I
share a kind
word with anyone?
Did
I pray for anyone?
Have I done
anything to let God
really be God in my
life today? In time of trial,
have I trusted
Him? Have I prayed?
Have I done anything to
show God
that I love Him? Have
I thanked God today for the
gifts He has given me
including the gift
of faith, the gift
of redemption, the gift of life,
the gift of family, the gift
of good health, and
whatever other gifts God has entrusted to my care?
Have I made any
effort to read Sacred Scripture? Have I done any
other reading or listening to
aid
my growth in the Faith?
For a more complete examination of conscience, see the
Preparation
for Confession.
Act of Contrition
O my God, I
am heartily
sorry for having offended Thee
and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of
heaven and
the pains of hell, but most of all
because they offend Thee, O my God, Who
art all good and deserving
of all my love. I firmly
resolve with the help of thy
grace to confess my sins,
to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.