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prayer Opening Collect of Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12 God of power and mercy, The following prayer was given at Guadalupe '87, a U.S. Constitutional Bicentennial Event, joined by celebration of New Mexico's 75th anniversary of statehood, by Fr. Meldon Hickey, OFM, Provincial of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the Order of Friars Minor: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth. Let us pray: O God, you instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the holy Spirit: grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas (+1274), as printed in the monthly publication, Magnificat, see www.magnificat.net. Aquinas is a Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church, and was an Italian Dominican priest. The prayer combines the cardinal and theological virtues. Avoiding the Devil’s Beguilements O God, all powerful and all-knowing, without beginning and without end, you who are the source, the sustainer and the rewarder of all virtues, grant that I may abide on the firm ground of faith, be sheltered by an impregnable shield of hope, and be adorned in the bridal garment of charity. Grant that I may through justice be subject to you, through prudence avoid the beguilements of the devil, through temperance exercise restraint, and through fortitude endure adversity with patience. Grant that whatever good things I have, I may share generously with those who have not and that whatever good things I do not have, I may request humbly from those who do. Grant that I may judge rightly the evil of the wrongs I have done and bear calmly the punishments I have brought upon myself, and that I may never envy my neighbor’s possessions and ever give thanks for your good things. Grant that I may always observe modesty in the way I dress, the way I walk, and the gestures I use, restrain my tongue from frivolous talk, prevent my feet from leading me astray, keep my eyes from wandering glances, shelter my ears from rumors, lower my gaze in humility, lift my mind to thoughts of heaven, contemn all that will pass away, and love you only. Grant that I may subdue my flesh and cleanse my conscience, honor the saints and praise you worthily, advance in goodness, and end a life of good works with a holy death. Plant deep in me, Lord, all the virtues, that I might be devout in divine matters, discerning in human affairs, and burdensome to no one in fulfilling my own bodily needs. Grant to me, Lord, fervent contrition, pure confession, and complete reparation. Order me inwardly through a good life, that I might do what is right and what will be meritorious for me and a good example for others. Grant that I may never crave to do things impulsively, nor disdain to do what is burdensome, lest I begin things before I should or abandon them before finishing. Amen.Copyright © 2008 The Guadalupe Institute, a New Mexico non-profit corporation, all rights reserved. |
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