It Is Only Right That I Adore You

Lord,
should not the first thing
to arise in my heart after awe
be adoration?

It is only right that I adore you,
in the place of all those
who fail to do so.
And my adoration should be
unceasing!

An Act of Adoration, Every Moment of My Life

Lord,
teach me to adore you
perfectly and totally,
the kind of adoration
that your Son will inspire in me.

In his humanity,
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of
one who adores.

Help me to understand this
and to live in a way
that each moment of my life
is an act of adoration.

Teach Me How to Adore Him

Mary and Joseph,
you who were the first to adore the Incarnate Word,
whether in Bethlehem when he came
into this world,
or in Nazareth
during his hidden life,
teach me how to adore him,
in humility, in obedience,
in love, in prayer, in work,
in the fraternal life.
Show me how to make my life
another Nazareth,
where I will find Jesus;
where, like you, I will learn to benefit
from his dwelling
at my side.

May I Rest Only in You

You who are good without limits,
incomparably beautiful,
source of unending joy!
To you I wish to direct
all of my energies,
freed from every earthly good.

Give me wings to fly toward you,
above the empty lies of this earth.
May I rest in you alone.

To You through Jesus Christ

O God,

may I know you
through Jesus Christ.

May I serve you
through the grace of Jesus Christ.

May I love you eternally
in the love of Jesus Christ,

for only through him can I make my
way to you.

May I Be Attached to You above All Things

O God,
infinite good and my only good,
help me be attached to you
above all things,
loving you with all the love
of which my soul is capable,
aware that you are all-perfect.

May You Be Present to Me

You are always close to me,
O God!
And when I especially desire to
speak to your infinite mercy,
I always find you close at hand,
so that I never distance myself from you
and always find you close by,
as a friend close to his friend.

My Purpose in Life is to Love You

My purpose in life, O God,
is to love you,
to love you wholeheartedly
to love you with a love
that your grace will continually
increase in me.

Who can say just how far
the power of love might go,
if it is you at work stretching
my heart?

Transforming Me Unceasingly

Lord,
lead me on a path of
unceasing transformation

through faith in your word,

through longing for that home
where you will appear to me
in your glory,

through a love that will unite me
to you in such a way that nothing
can separate us.

Believe, Hope, Love

O God,
why did I not seek
to know you better in your light,
to long for you,
to entrust myself to you,
who are above every other good,
to love you, who are my all!

Ah! To believe in you, to hope in
you, to love you,
that will be my life from now on!

Faith, Hope and Sacrifice

Lord,
may I believe in you
and may I hope in you
so that with faith and hope
to enlighten and strengthen me,
I may be capable of every sacrifice.

Filial Fear

Lord,
fear of you
is the beginning of wisdom,
but I do not want to fear you
as a criminal fears his judge
and possible punishment.

I want to fear you
like a son who, filled with blessings,
fears his father,
in the sense that, above all else,
he fears displeasing him.

This is the filial fear
that faith, shaped by charity,
will give me.
This is the fear that most of all
I ask of you.

I Want to Imitate You

I want to imitate you, Lord,
and in your footsteps,
I want to follow you as you humble
yourself in the Eucharist.
I want to carry in my own heart and
around me
the fire
that you have hidden there.

Lord, my God,
where else could I find perfection?
You have brought it down
from heaven to earth
and have put it in my reach.
May I imitate it and
not be too unworthy of you.

Come, Live in Me

Lord Jesus, come!

Come, live in me,
become incarnate in me,
as you become incarnate
for everyone through the Eucharist,
as you become incarnate
through the preaching of your word,
as you become incarnate
in your Church,
by the grace that is given
to all of its members.

Come, Lord!

You Will Dwell within Me

Lord, I want to imitate
your mother in the way she
submitted herself to all of your
designs:
"Speak, Lord, your servant is
listening".

Speak, my God,
let me know your will for me.

You will dwell within me by faith;
I will make space there
so that I can grow with you.
Through your example and your
strength,
I will grow with you in all virtues
until in you I have become the
perfect man.

May I Become You

"It is no longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me."
(Galatians 2:20)

Jesus, I pray that as your humanity is
united to mine,
I may become a new man by
receiving your sacred body in
communion.
May I thus become you, as much as
that is possible, through my love and
through your own.

May You Become Incarnate In Me

Jesus,
through you faith is born and comes
to perfection.
Give me the faith I need
to believe that you dwell within me.

May you become incarnate in me
in the same way,
or in a similar way,
as the miracle of your incarnation
in the womb of Mary.

I Want to Be Like You

Lord Jesus,
poor like you,
obedient like you,
chaste like you, may I be like you in all things.

You know what is
my most ardent desire:
how much I long to be like you!

Lord, Light of My Faith

Lord,
seeing truth grow dark in the hearts
of so many,
I pray that you may save me from
such a fate.

Do not allow the night
descending on so many minds
to diminish the light of my faith.

The doubts are great
for so many.
May I always believe, O Lord,
and, attached to the teachings of
your Church,
may my faith continue to grow
unceasingly until I see the full light of
your glory in my heavenly homeland.

Lord, May I Understand

Lord,
help me to understood divine
realities.
Give me knowledge
of the things of life
so that, with the light of faith,
I may understand,
as much as is permitted,
what I must believe,
and do what you ask of me.

Lord, Open My Eyes

Lord, I pray:
"Open my eyes in such a way
that they are never weighed
down by death" (Psalm 12:4).

May my sight be true,
and when I know what my duty is,
may I have the courage
to carry it out.

Lord, Give Us Our Daily Bread

Lord,
give us today
our daily bread,
which says it all:
the bread of this earth,
the bread of heaven,
the bread of truth.

No One Goes to the Father, but through You

May I always see you,
Lord, as the goal of all my actions!

Then nothing else will matter,
whether I am rich or poor,
honored or scorned,
healthy or ill,
young or old.

What will matter to me
will be to seek you alone,
and since I know that no one goes to
the Father but through you,
I will also know
that you have already
shown the way
that you want your disciples
to follow.

Turn Back to Life

O Divine Teacher,
if ever I fall asleep
in the death of sin,
stop my funeral,
if I may speak in such a way.
and command my soul,
separated from you,
to quickly draw close to you
and to turn back to the life
for which it was created.

I am the Resurrection and the Life

Savior,
who brought Lazarus back to life,
raise my soul
to eternal life.
addressing to me
these divine words:
Ego sum resurrectio et vita:
"I am the resurrection and the life"

Disciples of the Truth

Lord,
may we be sincere disciples
of the truth
entrusted to your Church;

may we be disciples
who are never satisfied
simply to listen to you,
but always eager to obey you.

Truth joined to holiness
will make us worthy of you.

An Ever More Ardent Love

O Lord,
I pray that my love,
ever more ordent,

draw me closer to you
until my very last breath.

May it unite me to you
for all eternity.

I Want to Love You Alone

O my Savior,
grant me, I beg you,
an immense love
for you.

O font of life,
fill my soul;
Savior of the world,
may your blood flow in my veins.

I want to love you alone,
to live for you alone,
to give myself entirely to you,
regardless of the task
or of the part of your field
where you ask me to work,
regardless of how
you want to use me.

Obedient Love

O Mary,
by a great effort of obedient love,
you accept us;

with maternal tenderness,
you adopt us.

from this day forward
may my heart accept as brothers all
those that Jesus desires,

and may my obedience in
overcoming all that repels me
take as a model
your obedience to Jesus,
who adopted those
who put him to death.

Prepare Us for the Struggles of Your Son

O Mary,
be our Queen.
Watch over us.

Arm us yourself for the struggles of
your Son,
and give us victory,
not for ourselves,
but for the cause of God.

May I Have Your Courage and Your Generosity

O Mary,
in all of my trials
may I have your courage
and your generosity.

Mary, My Model

0 Mary,
you will be my model
and my teacher.

I will study your perfections,
and in that way
learn to imitate less imperfectly
the perfections of Jesus.

In this way,
my soul will be formed
and merit one day
to share in your victories,
because I will have more generously
tried to walk in your footsteps.

I Want to be Your Son

Mary,
Heal me if I am ill,
bring me back to life if I am dead;

but most of all
pour over me your maternal love,
for I want to be your son.

Teach Me to Love Your Church

My God,
teach me to love your Church

because of Jesus, your Son,
who founded it;

because of the relationship
it allows me to have with you,

because of its miraculous destiny
here on earth,

because of the eternal destiny
it promises me in heaven.

My Love for the Church above All Else

My God,
help me to place all of my affections,
even the most worthy,
well below my love
for your Church.

Ah, I need to search
in the deepest recesses of my soul
what rules there,
your Church or my own interests
and the interests
of those close to me.

Woe to me
if your Church
does not hold first place.

Fidelity to the Church

Lord,
deign to look upon your Church
with mercy,
attacked more than ever,
with enemies seeking to rip it
from its foundations,
by separating it from the faith
of Saint Peter
and of his successors.

Do not allow us
to distance ourselves
from this center of unity
or attempt to face the storm
in any other ship
but Peter's,
or found our salvation
on any other rock but the one
on which you built your Church.

"To whom shall we go, Lord?"
(John 6:68)

Give Me Strength to Preach Your Name

My Divine Master,
today when so many
have no knowledge of you,
or deny you,
or take your name in vain,
give me the strength
to confess you at all times,
and wherever it pleases you.

May Your Kingdom Come

My God,
"may your Kingdom come."

Unceasingly and without rest,
I need to destroy in myself
and around me
everything that is opposed
to the kingship of Jesus Christ.

I must do everything
in my power to restore
this kingship.

My King and My God

Jesus, I proclaim you King.
From this time forward,
I devote myself to your cause,
to the struggle of extending
your kingdom.

Dear little Child,
in this strange palace,
in this stable,
I acknowledge you as my king, as if you were
in the most magnificent palace,
for after all as God
you are always in heaven.

May Your Kingdom Never Come to an End

Ah, Lord, may this empire
never come to an end.
May it be eternal
and, what's more, may I
contribute to extending it
to the farthest reaches.
Armed with your power,
may I work to extend your victories,
And as much as I am able,
I will everywhere raise the cry:
Adveniat regnum tuum!
May your Kingdom come!
You wished, however, that
your grace not accomplish all,
but instead sought
the support of my will.

May I be a Man of Prayer

Lord,
help me to be a man of prayer,
a man for the mission.

And in my work,
may I sanctify myself

and bring about
the coming of your kingdom
and the salvation of all.

May I Carry On Your Work

Lord Jesus,
on earth you sought people out
one by one;
you waited for Nicodemus
during the night,
and for the Samaritan woman
at the edge of Jacob's well.
You entered the homes
of those who called you
and asked your disciples
to seek out the lost.
Teach me how to pray
for souls that are ill
in order to heal them,
for souls that are dead,
that they may be raised up.
Make my prayer like your own
so that I may continue your work
with the means that you provide!

Give Me the Gift of Apostolic Prayer

Lord,
show me how to pray
like apostolic men.

And by this prayer,
if I am not yet sufficiently apostolic,
may I become so
more and more each day.

Love the Poor

Lord,
give me a heart big enough
to welcome all the poor,
and enough love
to stir up the flame of love in them.

Show me how to offer myself up
with you for their sake.
May they know they are loved,
so that in turn they may love you.

For Young People

(a prayer inspired by Luke 7:11-16)

My Lord,
among young people,
enable me to awaken
in your name
so many who are no longer alive;

and may people,
in admiring your wonderful works,
give themselves more fully
to your service.

Love for Little Children

My God, inspire in me
out of love for your own divine
childhood
o great love for little children.
Seeing in them baptized Christians,
may I work hard
with the means I have,
to make them more like you,
O divine Child,
who from the cradle
were already my Savior.

Give Me the Grace to Follow My Calling

O my God, give me the light
to see what is lacking in me;
give me the strength to acquire
the virtues that I do not have.

Give me the grace
to follow my vocation,
so that as a true son of the Church
and of the Blessed Virgin
I may imitate not too unworthily
the virtues of Jesus, my Master.

Enlighten My Eyes

Lord,
make my intentions
as pure as possible
and grant me
an even greater energy
to put them into practice.

Let me see
everything I must do
and give me the courage
to do it.

What you ask may not be easy,
but what difference does it make
as long as I come to my true goal,
which is nothing other than you.

To Do the Work Assigned

Give me, O God,
in the state
in which you have placed me,
the grace to be convinced
that nothing matters
but one thing alone.

Give me the grace to want
no other tool except
the one you have placed in my hands
to do my work,

convinced as I should be
that the instrument
you have given to me
is the best to do the work
that you have commanded.

May I Follow You!

"May he carry his cross and follow
me." (Matthew 16:24 and 8:22)

O divine Model!
The Christian, the priest, the
religious
should resemble you,
each to a different degree,
but that is what must be done.

Lord, this will be my life's work,
as long as you open my heart
to hear this word
that so few understand,
but that is so full of love:
"Follow me!"

My Crucifix

Do you have a crucifix,
and what is your attitude toward it?

Do not allow it often
to leave your sight;
organize yourself in such a way that
you have access to it at all times.

Place it on your desk while you are
writing,

and on your knees while you are
working, so that you can look at it
from time to time and kiss it;

clasp it in your hands as you drop off
to sleep.
Of course, nothing is more precious
than frequent communion or
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,
but

• we cannot always have the Lord present in his substance in our heart;
• we cannot be constantly at his feet;
• but we can always carry his image with us or on us,
• and this image speaks eloquently.

It Speaks Eloquently

If, when you get up in the morning,
you kiss your crucifix lovingly,
and you promise to carry your own
cross throughout the day,
following in the footsteps of
our crucified Savior;
if during your meditation
you hold the cross in your hands
and resolve to offer yourself up
on this altar of Christ's sacrifice;

if to awaken your fervor,
you touch your crucifix from time to
time;

if you grasp it more firmly
at times of suffering, of sorrow,
of struggle and temptation;

if, when you are about to perform
some good deed,
you adore the Lord on the cross
reminding yourself that it is Jesus
Christ that you will help in the poor;

if, when you are about to perform
some act of mortification, you kiss
the divine wounds that are fountains
of life for the Church and sources of
our own purification;

if at night you find yourself at his feet
to render an account of your day,

• of your pride, so different from his humiliations,
• of your vanity, so different from his self-effacement,
• of your weakness so different from his great suffering,
• of your laziness in the presence of the sweat shed by this divine body;
• of your self-centeredness in the face of his infinite love;
• of your impatience, of your moods, of your lack of charity in the face of his unfailing gentleness.

Ah, how difficult it is for me to doubt
that your crucifix will become
your friend and confidant.

Our Transformation in Jesus Christ Crucified

Our Lord
will love you,
will teach you,
will strengthen you by means of his
crucified likeness.
And in this quiet way,
by this unceasing exchange,
you will sense that your entire being
has been radically transformed.

It will no longer only be the wood
and the metal that will portray the
Savior's features; they will become
more vividly imprinted on your soul.

You will experience
the direct action
of the one who for your sake
was nailed to the Cross.

Your most earnest longing will be
to be transformed into him,
as Saint Paul writes:
For me, life means Christ!

Your life will take on a new
dimension. You will discover in
Christian wisdom new horizons, and
you will allow yourself to fall in love.

Every form of life,
every degree of knowledge,
every form of happiness
will be summed up in these words:
Jesus Christ crucified.

As One Falls Asleep

Let me say in all simplicity
that my happiest moment is at night
when I am about to fall asleep.

It entails no great effort to turn my
mind to this good Master,
whose likeness I hold in my hands.
I tell him I love him.
I ask him to forgive me my foolish
mistakes.
fill of a sudden I feel overwhelmed
by the forgiveness that falls from the
height of the Cross.
I think of how my sins hove wounded
him, of how much time I have lost, of
the many graces I have received.
I thank him for his blessings.
I make impassioned promises to him.
I feel ashamed to be resting in such a
comfortable bed,
when I think that he died,
lashed to a cross.
I try to love him,
to make up for lost time.
I adore God the Father
by presenting to Him His Son.
I call upon the Holy Spirit,
whom he sent to us.
I pray for the Church,
which was born on Calvary.
I am ashamed
to be such an indifferent Christian.

Then I take courage
at the thought of God's infinite love
and power,
and if sleep has not yet come,
time passes quickly when I am in such
company.

These are just a few thoughts
that I hope will help you deepen
an intimate relationship with your
crucifix.

They will help to make Jesus more
present to your mind and heart.
What more might you desire?

Ask the Blessed Virgin to teach you
how to press your lips to the sacred
wounds of her Son,
there finding the courage and the
zeal that should distinguish those
souls who are given entirely to God.

May the cross be your great good,
your hope,
your life and your reward.