My Three Favorite Prayers

Sweet and kind Kee at Little Hare has tagged me for a MEME that is going around the blogosphere. I really like this MEME because it's focus is prayer and in reading those prayers of others who have been tagged, I have found that it inspires me to pray in some new and different ways. Thanks, Kee! Here are the rules:

"Name your three favourite prayers, and explain why they're your favourites.
Then tag five bloggers - give them a link, and then go and tell them they have been tagged. Finally, tell the person who tagged you that you've completed the meme. The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here. I'm more interested in people's favourite devotional prayers."


1. Prayer to the Wounded Heart of Jesus

O my Most Loving and Gentle Jesus, I desire with all the affections of my heart, that all beings should praise Thee eternally for that Sacred Wound wherewith Thy Divine side was rent.

I deposit, enclose, conceal in that Wound and in that opening in Thy Heart, my heart and all my feelings, thoughts, desires, intentions and all the faculties of my soul. I entreat Thee, by the precious Blood and Water that flowed from Thy Most Loving Heart, to take entire possession of me, that Thou may guide me in all things.

Consume me in the burning fire of thy Holy Love, so that I may be so absorbed and transformed into Thee that I may no longer be but one with Thee. Amen.

I spent 20 minutes in prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus every day this past month of June and believe that it has changed my life! I feel a peace that I have never known and I am confident of God's love for me, knowing that He is holding me within His Sacred Heart. As I mentioned in a previous post, on the second day of my prayers, I received a sign of God's love when I found a piece of red sea glass that is shaped like a heart with a gash in the side. This is one of the prayers I prayed.

2. Prayer of St. John Vianney

I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally...My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.

This is so beautiful, I know it must please God to hear these words often.

3. St. Augustine's Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

I have this prayer attached to my computer at work to remind me that it is the Holy Spirit who makes my work holy. Sometimes when I am dealing with people who dress provocatively or use foul language or speak crassly to their children, I need to remember that God is within them. The Holy Spirit helps me to cope when I get down on the people that God has brought into my life through my job at the WIC Clinic.

Finally, I just have to add that a great deal of my prayer comes in little bursts throughout the day. I only need to see or hear something that triggers a prayer such as "Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you, save souls" or "Jesus, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" or "Look to Him, that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush with shame." This passage from Prayers of Hope by Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan says it so well...

"Lord, you have given me a model for prayer: the Our Father. It is brief, concise, and packed with meaning. Your life, Lord, is a sincere and simple prayer addressed to your Father. Your prayer was sometimes long, like your ardent and spontaneous prayer after the Last Supper.

But, often your words, those of your mother and apostles were brief, linking together the actions of daily life. I, who often feel weak and indifferent, love to recall those brief prayers before the Eucharist, at my desk, in the street, alone. The more I repeat them, the more they penetrate me. I am close to you, Lord.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Father, that they may be one.
I am the handmaid of the Lord.
They have no wine.
Behold your son, behold your Mother!
Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.
Lord, what do you want me to do?
Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.
Lord, have mercy on me, a poor sinner."

The life of Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was filled with pain and suffering. As a bishop in Vietnam, he was arrested and spent 13 years in prison, nine of those in solitary confinement. To overcome his intense suffering during this time, he chose to fill every minute of those years with love. He has written several books about his experience and they are deeply inspirational.

Everyone knows that the hardest part of participating in a MEME is to limit yourself to only five people to pass it on to. I would love to know everyone's favorite prayers, but hopefully, this will make itself far enough around that sooner or later, everyone will have a post of their three favorite prayers. I believe this MEME originated with Mac at Mulier Fortis. I pass this MEME on to:

Easter at Mostly Prayers
Fr. James Kubicki at Offer It Up
Michael at Reach Paradise
Do Not Be Anxious
my son, John, at Writings of a Boy Discerning God's Call

I look forward to learning about your favorite prayers!