Prayers

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Angel of God, my guardian dear to whom God's love commits me here ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light,
and where there is sadness joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled,
as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! Our Life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley, of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus; O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

O Holy Spirit of God, take me as your disciple; guide me, illuminate me, sanctify me. Bind my hands that they may do no evil; cover my eyes that they may see it no more; sanctify my heart that evil may not dwell within me. Be my God; be my guide. Wherever you lead me, I will go: whatever you forbid me, I will renounce; and whatever you command me, in your strength, I will do. Lead me, then, unto the fullness of your truth. Amen.

I will bless the Lord always; God's praise shall be on my lips. My soul will give glory to the Lord; the poor and lonely will hear me and be glad. Glorify the Lord with me, let us together praise his name. Amen.

Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet to go your way. I give you my tongue to speak your words. I give you my mind that you may think in me. I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you my heart that you may love in me your Father and all humankind. I give you my whole self that you may grow in me, so that it is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me. Amen.

Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind, Whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.
Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others.
Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy - Myself.
Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.
May you always walk in Beauty.

As I stumble through this life, help me to create more laughter than tears, dispense more cheer than gloom, spread more cheer than despair. Never let me become so indifferent, that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child, or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged. Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people, make them happy, and forget momentarily, all the unpleasantness in their lives. And in my final moment, may I hear You whisper: "When you made My people smile, you made Me smile."

Taken from the author's Companion to Narnia (San Francisco, Harper Collins, 1994)

I believe in his Son Aslan who sang into being all the worlds and all that they contain: Talking Beasts and humans, dumb animals and shining spirits. And I believe that Aslan was a true beast, the king of beasts, a Lion; that for Edmund, a traitor because of his desire for Turkish Delight, he gave himself into the power of the White Witch, who satisfied the requirements of the Deep Magic by killing him most horribly. At the dawn following that darkest, coldest night, he was restored to full life by the Deeper Magic, cracking the Stone Table and, from that moment, setting death to work backwards. He exulted in his new life and went off to rescue all those who had been turned into stone by the Witch’s want and to deliver the whole land from everlasting winter. He will be behind all the stories of our lives; and, when it is time, he will appear again in our world to wind it up, calling all of his creatures whose hearts’ desire it is to live “farther in and farther up” in his country which contains all real countries.

I believe that upon us all falls the breath of Aslan and that ours are the sweet waters of the Last Sea which enable us to look steadily at the sun. I believe that all who have thrilled or will thrill at the sound of Aslan’s name are now our fellow voyagers and our fellow kings and queens; that all of us can be for ever free of our dragonish thoughts and actions; and that one day we will pass through the door of death into “Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read; which goes on for ever; in which every chapter is better than the one before."

A Prayer for the Angels of Death
by Jenni

I was sitting in my Mom's car, riding back from our annual trip to the Kansas City Ren Festival, when lines of what would become this poem-prayer started just popping into my head fully formed! It was odd, to say the least, and I hurriedly copied the words flying around my mind into a notebook. I was sure there had to be some meaning to them.
The next day CNN reported that Charles Rocket who had played Adam, Touched by an Angel's original angel of death, had passed away. I hurriedly started putting together a tribute page for the TBAA fan group I run. I knew then where this prayer was supposed to go and finished it. For my fellow fans I called it "A Prayer for Adam and Andrew" but here I've changed it to the title above. I don't know if angels of death really exist in the way TBAA depicted them. I like to think so. Really, though, this prayer is for all (angels or otherwise) whose job it is to see their fellow children of God through life's darkest times and into Heaven's light.

God in Heaven, God with us,
Thank you for sending us angels in our times of need.
Guiding and protecting us, Your word they always heed.
Among them are those with us at our final hour.
It is for them now we call upon Your power:

Let them smile at each triumphant welcome Home.
Let them rejoice over each soul they bring to those golden streets.
Don't let their hearts suffer because of what their eyes have seen, their ears heard.
Don't let them forget heavenly love in the face of human hate.
And when they're among us at our darkest times help them to remember that each kind word, each comforting touch that they bestow, and each heartbroken tear they shed is noticed by their Creator who loves them so.

Amen.

Favorite Bible Passages

Back to Jenni's Place

The Clown's Prayer	Glory Be
Great Spirit Prayer	Hail, Holy Queen
Hail Mary	The Memorare
The Narnian Creed	The Our Father
Prayer for Guidance	A Prayer for the Angels of Death
Prayer of Dedication	Prayer of Praise
Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi	Prayer to the Guardian Angel
To Jesus Our Healer