Prayers for Gratitude

Most gracious God, by whose knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew; We yield thee unfeigned thanks and praise for the return of seed-time and harvest, for the increase of the ground and the gathering in of the fruits thereof, and for all the other blessings of thy merciful providence bestowed upon this nation and people. And, we beseech thee, give us a just sense of these great mercies; such as may appear in our lives by an humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all glory and honour, world without end. Amen.

O Almighty God, we give thee humble thanks for that thou hast been graciously pleased to preserve, through the great pain and peril of child-birth, this woman, thy servant, who desireth now to offer her praises and thanksgivings unto thee. Grant, we beseech thee, most merciful Father, that she, through thy help, may faithfully live according to thy will in this life, and also may be partaker of everlasting glory in the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, who art the giver of life, of health, and of safety; We bless thy Name that thou hast been pleased to deliver from his bodily sickness this thy servant, who now desireth to return thanks unto thee, in the presence of all thy people. Gracious art thou, O Lord, and full of compassion to the children of men. May his heart be duly impressed with a sense of thy merciful goodness, and may he devote the residue of his days to an humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Most gracious Lord, whose mercy is over all thy works; We praise thy holy Name that thou hast been pleased to conduct in safety, through the perils of his way, this thy servant, who now desireth to return his thanks unto thee in thy holy Church. May he be duly sensible of thy merciful providence towards him, and ever express his thankfulness by a holy trust in thee, and obedience to thy laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, in whom we live and move and have our being; We, thy needy creatures, render thee our humble praises, for thy preservation of us from the beginning of our lives to this day, and especially for having delivered us from the dangers of the past night. For these thy mercies, we bless and magnify thy glorious Name; humbly beseeching thee to accept this our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; for his sake who lay down in the grave, and rose again for us, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

To our prayers, O Lord, we join our unfeigned thanks for all thy mercies; for our being, our reason, and all other endowments and faculties of soul and body; for our health, friends, food, and raiment, and all the other comforts and conveniences of life. Above all, we adore thy mercy in sending thy only Son into the world, to redeem us from sin and eternal death, and in giving us the knowledge and sense of our duty towards thee. We bless thee for thy patience with us, notwithstanding our many and great provocations; for all the directions, assistances, and comforts of thy Holy Spirit; for thy continual care and watchful providence over us through the whole course of our lives; and particularly for the mercies and benefits of the past day; beseeching thee to continue these thy blessings to us, and to give us grace to show our thankfulness in a sincere obedience to his laws, through whose merits and intercession we received them all, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

O God, who art the life of mortal men, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labour, and the repose of the dead; We thank thee for the timely blessings of the day, and humbly supplicate thy merciful protection all this night. Bring us, we beseech thee, in safety to the morning hours; through him who died for us and rose again, thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

O Heavenly Father, who hast filled the world with beauty; Open, we beseech thee, our eyes to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works; that rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may learn to serve thee with gladness; for the sake of him by whom all things were made, thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we may show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

Our dear heavenly Father, we thank thee for all that thou hast done for us in the year just finished. We thank thee for the successes we have had. And we thank thee, too, for the failures that we have overcome. May we take into this New Year many lessons from past successes and past failures. We have learned that true success comes only when we do thy will. Help us to fill all our acts this New Year with the motive of service. We pray thee to help us to be a blessing to all we meet. And above all we pray that this New Year may be devoted to serving thee in our lives. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Almighty God, ruler of all nations, we enter into thy gates with thanksgiving and into thy courts with praise. We know that the Lord he is God, and that he hath made us and not we ourselves. Thou art our Creator, our Preserver and our bountiful Benefactor. We would call upon our souls and all that is within us to bless and magnify thy holy name. We see thy hand in all our nation's history. For all our manifold blessings, national as well as personal, we thank thee and praise thy glorious name. But in the midst of our thanksgiving we would remember our sins. May thy great goodness lead us to repentance. Forgive our national sins and shortcomings. Save us from forgetfulness of thee. Save us from the lust of power and of pride. So may we become a great nation in righteousness and great in thy service. All of which we ask in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

We thank thee, our Father, for the wonderful world in which we live; for the glory of the heavens, for the beauty of earth; for the bright morning following the star-crowned night; for the song of birds, the hum of bees, the fragrance of flowers, and the laughter of children, for the industry of men and women, for all thy gifts of love. So fill us with thy presence, so lead us by thy Spirit this day, that in our homes we may be patient, in our occupations sweet, in our social relations brotherly, in all things Christlike. We ask in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the Christmas season with all its gifts and gladness. We thank thee for the love in so many hearts that finds expression in gifts and good-will; for home-gatherings and reunion of separated ones; for home joys and social festivities; and for all the gladness that brightens the weary world in this Christmas time. May we know that all these blessings are showered upon us by the hand of the Babe of Bethlehem. May not the abundance of material gifts smother the spiritual significance of the day and the gifts cause us to forget the real Giver. Move us with generous impulses to share our good things with others, and may the Spirit of Christ touch our lives with a new spirit of love and joy that will bless and make beautiful all our days. And this we ask in his name. Amen.

Act of Adoration.

O God of power and majesty! the grandeur of the heavens is as nothing in Thy sight; the earth Thou hast poised in Thy hand; the ocean is before Thee as a drop of water; all nature trembles in Thy presence! How then shall I extol Thee, immortal King of ages! What homage can I render Thee, except to be silent and honor Thee in the most profound annihilation of my soul? I acknowledge Thy supreme greatness, compared with which all power is weakness; all prosperity, wretchedness; and the most brilliant light, nothing but the thickest darkness. Eternal Power! infinite Perfection! adorable Holiness! My soul longs to annihilate itself before Thee. I adore Thee, O my God, and render Thee homage with all the faculties of my being; with all my heart by loving Thee; with all my soul by praising Thee; with all my mind by submitting it to faith. It is my sweetest delight to know that I possess within me, as in a living tabernacle, the Holy of holies; and that in the holy Eucharist I honor Thee in a manner worthy of Thy immortal majesty.

Act of Love.

O beloved Jesus, where shall I find words to express my gratitude and love? O inestimable pledge of God's love for man! O inexhaustible fountain of divine graces! O boundless mercy! O divine charity! Hail, O merciful Jesus! O may my soul be sensible of Thy adorable presence, and may I see how sovereignly sweet Thou art in the sacrament of Thy love. Yes, O God of goodness! I love Thee with my whole heart, my whole soul, and above all things. O divine Jesus, do Thou confirm these holy resolutions in my heart, and grant that I may always be able affectionately to exclaim with Thy holy apostle: Thou knowest, Lord, that I love Thee.