Prayer, Prayer, and Prayer: Lent Begins

"Pray for the wicked, pray for the lukewarm, pray even for fervent souls, but pray especially for the Supreme Pontiff, for all the Spiritual and temporal needs of Holy Church, our most tender Mother. A special prayer for all those who are working for the salvation of souls and for God’s glory" (St. Padre Pio).

Lent starts tomorrow! Let us attempt to pray each day in reparation for our sins and for sinners around the world. Lent must include daily prayer for the Holy Father, the poor, the souls in purgatory, and others that are in need. Lent is about shifting the spotlight from ourselves to others in the name and love of Christ.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, we are now in the holy season of Lent. We begin to realize anew that these are the days of salvation, these are the acceptable days. We know that we are all sinners. We know that in many things we have all offended Your infinite majesty. We know that sin destroys Your life in us as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land, leaving an arid, dusty desert. Help us now, Lord, in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin. Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace. Make us realize ever more our need of penance and of mortification.

Help us to see, in our ordinary difficulties and duties, in the trials and temptations of every day, the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities. Every day we are so often reminded in field and wood, in sky and stream, of Your own boundless generosity to us. Help us to realize that You are never outdone in generosity, and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded, full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and flowing over. Then we shall see, in our own souls, how the desert can blossom, and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich, useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning. Amen.

Prayer Source:

THE RURAL LIFE PRAYERBOOK

Imprimi Potest
Leo J. Burns, S.J.
Provincial
Wisconsin Province
Milwaukee, Wis., 17 October 1955

Imprimatur
Fr. Eduardus Caelestinus, O.P.
Episcopus Desmoinen
Des Moines, Iowa, 13 February, 1956

Written and Compiled by
Alban J. Dachauer, S.J.
In cooperation with
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference
Drawings by Tom Chouteau

Published by
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference
4625 Beaver Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50310-2199

Copyright, 1956
National Catholic Rural Life Conference

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain