A prayer for Families
O Dear Jesus, I humbly implore You to grant Your special graces to our family. May our home be the shrine of peace, purity, love, labor and faith. I beg You, dear Jesus, to protect and Bless all of us, absent and present, living and deceased. O Mary, Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, pray to Jesus for our family, for all the families of the world, to guard the cradle of the newborn, the schools of the young and their vocations; Blessed Saint Joseph, holy guardian of Jesus and Mary, assist us by your prayers in all our necessities of life. Ask of Jesus that special grace which he granted to you, to watch over our home at the pillow of the sick and dying, so that with Mary and with you, heaven may find our family unbroken in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Amen.
Consecration Prayer for families to the Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Most holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
united in perfect love,
as you look upon us with mercy and caring,
we consecrate our hearts,
our lives, our family to you.
We know the beautiful example
of your home in Nazareth was meant to be
a model for each of our families.
We hope to have,
with your help,
the unity and strong,
enduring love you gave to one another.
May our home be filled with joy.
May sincere affection, patience,
tolerance ad mutual respect be freely given to all.
May our prayers be filled with the needs of others,
not just ourselves and
may we always be close to your sacraments.
Bless those who are present,
as well as those who are absent,
both the living and the dead;
may peace be among us
and when we are tested,
grant us the Christian acceptance of God's will.
Keep our family close to your Hearts;
may your special protection be with us always.
Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
hear our prayer.
Amen.
By Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Extract from
1994 - YEAR OF THE FAMILY
LETTER TO FAMILIES
FROM POPE JOHN PAUL II
FROM POPE JOHN PAUL II
GRATISSIMAM SANE
Prayer
4. In this Letter I wish to speak not to families "in the abstract" but to every particular family in every part of the world, wherever it is located and whatever the diversity and complexity of its culture and history. The love with which God "loved the world" (Jn.3:16), the love with which Christ loved each and every one "to the end" (Jn 13:1), makes it possible to adress this message to each family, as a living "cell" of the great and universal "family" of mankind. The Father, Creator of the Universe, and the Word Incarnate, the Redeemer of humanity, are the source of this universal openness to all people as brothers and sisters, and they impel us to embrace them in the prayer which begins with the tender words: "Our Father".
Prayer makes the Son of God present among us: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them" (Mt 18:20). This letter to Families wishes in the first place to be a prayer to Christ to remain in every human family; an invitation to him, in and through the small family of parents and children, to dwell in the great family of nations, so that together with him all of us can truly say: "Our Father"! Prayer must become the dominant element of the Year of the Family in the Church: prayer by the family, prayer for the family, and prayer with the family.
It is significant that precisely in and through prayer, man comes to discover in a very simple and yet profound way his own unique subjectivity: in prayer the human "I" more easily perceives the depth of what it means to be a person. This is also true of the family, which is not only the basic "cell" of society, but also possesses a particular subjectivity of its own. This subjectivity finds its first and fundamental confirmation, and is strengthened, precisely when the members of the family meet in the common invocation: "Our Father".
Prayer increases the strength and spiritual unity of the family, helping the family to partake of God's own "strength". In the solemn nuptial blessing during the Rite of Marriage, the celebrant calls upon them the grace of the Holy Spirit so that by your love poured into their hearts they will remain faithful in the mariage covenant". This "visitation" of the Holy Spirit gives rise to the inner strength of families, as well as the power capable of uniting them in love and truth.