Prayer Request
The Midwest Augustinians largely depend on the prayers of our supporters. Through the power of prayer, we can empower the strength of our Church and our Augustinian community. Please continue to pray for the brothers and the ministries of our Province, our Order, and our Church. Please also feel free to join us by offering these prayers:
Prayer Intention Cards
You can also enroll your family, friends, and other loved ones by visiting our Prayer Enrollment Card selection. We offer cards for life’s special events and challenges (e.g., birthdays, illnesses, and bereavement), as well as Novena celebrations for Mother’s Day, All Souls Day, and Christmas. Click Prayer Intention Cards to learn more.
Prayer Request
We also welcome you to offer your own prayer intentions to be added to the Province prayer list. All prayer intentions are remembered in daily Mass at local communities and especially offered at the monthly Novena to St. Rita of Cascia held at St. Rita of Cascia High School Shrine Chapel, the Seat of the Province.
You can offer your intentions by filling out the form on this page. All submissions are treated with discretion and in confidence. To attend the next Novena, please see our schedule for upcoming events.
Prayer Request Form
Directory of Prayers
Prayer for Healing
God of endless love,
ever caring, ever strong,
always present, always just:
You gave your only Son
to save us by the blood of his cross.
Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace,
join to your own suffering
the pain of all who have been hurt
in body, mind, and spirit
by those who betrayed the trust placed in them.
Hear our cries as we agonize
over the harm done to our brothers and sisters.
Breathe wisdom into our prayers,
soothe restless hearts with hope,
steady shaken spirits with faith:
Show us the way to justice and wholeness,
enlightened by truth and enfolded in your mercy
Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts,
heal your people's wounds
and transform our brokenness.
Grant us courage and wisdom, humility and grace
so that we may act with justice
and find peace in you.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
A Prayer for Healing – Victims of Abuse, Copyright © 2004, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Prayer for Augustinian Vocations
Let us pray to the Lord of the harvest who calls men and women to loving service:
All glory and praise are yours, God of truth, light of our hearts,
for you guide your people in the ways of holiness.
Help those who follow in the footsteps of Augustine
to seek you through mutual love and worship
and to be servants of your Church as examples that others may follow.
Enlighten men and women to seek the beauty of common life in the spirit of Saint Augustine,
and strengthen them in your service.
Amen.
Prayer for Vocational Discernment
God of my life,
I give you thanks and praise that I have life,
and that my life is filled with touches of your love.
You have given me a heart that wants to be happy,
and You have placed in me a desire to make a difference.
Quiet the fears and distractions of my heart long enough
for me to listen to the movement of Your Spirit,
to hear your gentle invitation.
Reveal to me the choices that will make me happy.
Help me to discover my identity.
Let me understand how best to use the gifts
You have so lovingly lavished upon me
in preparation for our journey together.
And give me the courage to choose You
as You have chosen me.
Lord, let me know myself and let me know You.
In this is my happiness.
Prayer for the Elimination of Racism
To the Creator of all races and peoples, who loves each of us for our uniqueness, we offer our prayers of petition:
For an end to discrimination in all its forms, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
That each person may be respected and valued as a child of God, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
That the Church may be a witness and a universal sign of unity among all peoples, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
That each of us may acknowledge our part in mistakes and sins of the past pertaining to discrimination and racism, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
For a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation among peoples who share a history of mutual mistrust, hatred or aggression, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
That the victims of racial prejudice may forgive those who persecute them, and that their persecutors may have a change of heart, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer
That the Church will continue to strive to make every element of human life correspond to the true dignity of the human person, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer
For those who have struggled in the past and continue to do so today for civil rights, economic justice and the elimination of discrimination based on race, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
For the conversion of the hearts and minds of those who allow another's race to influence their relationships and limit their openness, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
That we may work to influence the attitudes of others by expressly rejecting racial stereotypes, slurs and jokes and be affirming of the cultural contributions of every racial group in our world, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
That we may make a personal commitment to abolish social structures which inhibit economic, educational and social advancement of the poor, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
That we may work for decent working conditions, adequate income, housing, education and health care for all people, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.
Almighty God, source of our life, we acknowledge you as Creator of all people of every race, language and way of life. Help us to see each other as you see us: your sons and daughters loved into being and sustained by your parental care. Keep watch over our hearts so that the evil of racism will find no home with us. Direct our spirits to work for justice and peace so that all barriers to your grace which oppress our brothers and sisters will be removed. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Permission is granted to download, duplicate and distribute these Prayers for the Elimination of Racism for use as an aid to prayer. Please credit the Augustinian Secretariate for Justice and Peace and www.midwestaugustinians.org/pray. Include the words “Used with permission” if printedor otherwise publsihed.
Desire to Praise You
We are thirsting to praise You.
You are great, Lord,
and worthy of being praised!
Great is your power,
and no one can measure your intelligence!
And humanity, so small in your creation,
humanity wants to praise you.
The weight of death overwhelms us
and the stain of sin weighs us down.
You drive us down when we stand up in pride,
yet, for all that, we desire to praise you.
In our enthusiasm for you,
your praise becomes our joy.
For you have made us for yourself
and our hearts are restless
until they rest in you.
Confessions I, 1, 1
Who Are You, My God?
My God,
You are the Greatest! You alone are Good.
You are all-powerful,
full of mercy, very just,
very hidden, very present,
very beautiful, very strong.
Who are you? Immutable, unconquerable,
never changing, you change everything.
Ever new, ever old,
always acting,
always at rest.
You have everything and you lack nothing.
You sustain, you fulfill, and you protect.
You create, you nourish,
You perfect.
You need nothing
yet you search for us.
I have spoken of you, my God, my life,
my gracious holy One, and what have I said?
Nothing.
However, how unhappy are they
who speak well about every subject,
but lie to themselves about you!
May these inexhaustible talkers be silenced!
Confessions 1, 4, 4
Lord, I Want to See You
Tell me that you are on my side.
Lord my God, in your mercy
say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
Speak to me, I want to listen to you.
Open the ears of my heart.
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
I need this message.
I want to grasp you.
No, do not hide your face;
Whether I die or not
matters little.
I want to see you.
Confessions 1, 5, 5-6
You Are My Creator
You have given me life.
You have given me a body,
this human body.
You have given me reason.
You have formed every part of me.
You have made everything beautiful and attractive.
And you keep my heart beating
in harmony with all my other powers.
For all that, I praise you.
I sing your name, O Most High!
You are God all-powerful and good,
even if you never made anything!
For no one could do what you have done.
O unity through whom everything exists,
O perfect form
giving form to all things
and ordering all by your law!
Confessions I, 7, 12
Protect Your Gifts!
I give you thanks,
my honor,
my confidence.
I give you thanks for your gifts,
but I ask you to protect them.
For as long as you protect me
and what you have given me,
they will develop and be perfected.
And I, shall be with you.
For if I am in your presence,
it is you who have arranged it.
Confessions 1, 20, 31
God Searches for Us
Pay attention to this:
Christ our LIfe came among us.
He bore our death.
He was slain in the prime of life.
His thundering voice calls us to come back to Him,
to return at once to this secret place,
the Virgin’s breast,
from which He comes to us,
espousing our human nature.
Then, from there, “as a spouse leaping
outside a nuptial chamber,
he has bounded like a giant running his course.”
He runs toward us.
And his words, his actions, his death, his life,
his coming to earth, his ascension--
all became an invitation
for us to return to him.
Finally, he departed far from sight,
but only so that we might turn to him within our hearts
where he can find us again.
Yes, he departs again.
He does not remain long with us.
And perhaps he is still with us. Perhaps he has not left us.
For it is to save sinners
that he has come into the world.
Son of man,
How long will your heart by heavy?
What? Even after the descent from Life,
you still refuse to rise up and live?
Confessions 4, 12, 19
You Carry Us
Lord, our God.
In the shelter of your wings we find hope.
Protect us, sustain us.
Yes, you do carry us
from when we were little
until we grow old.
You carry us
and you are our security.
In you we are strong.
By ourselves,
we are sure of nothing.
Our happiness
is to be
in your presence.
We turn ourselves away
from you,
and we are lost.
Return to us,
before we are lost forever,
for you are our only good.
Confessions 4, 17, 31
Doubt Is No Longer Possible
O eternal Truth, true Love, beloved Eternity,
it is you who are my God.
To you I sigh day and night.
I know that you exist.
In my weakness I saw that you lifted me up
until I could see you no more.
With your streams of light, you have shocked
the weakness of my sight.
I trembled with love and awe.
I realized that I was far from you,
far from you in a foreign land.
It was as though I heard your voice
telling me from on high,
“I am the bread of the strong.
Feed on me and you shall grow.”
I said, “Does truth not exist
since it occupies neither finite nor infinite space?”
And you answered me: “But yes! I am the One who is.”
I heard you as one listening with the heart.
Doubt was no longer possible.
Confessions 7, 10, 16
Free for You
Lord,
who am I today?
You, O Lord, you see the depths of my death,
and you see my heart in an abyss of sin.
Nothing is as I would wish it to be,
and you wish that I would desire you.
Where has my freedom been wasted?
In an instant
it is there, recalled,
and this is what makes me submit
to your sweet yoke.
Suddenly, they are nothing--all those things
that so tenaciously grip my heart.
Things that I’m so afraid to lose.
The things I had lost now become delicious to me;
I hunt them and joy invades me.
It is you who cast them behind me, far from me,
you, the true sweetness who are so strong.
And you enter, sweeter than all pleasure,
brighter than light,
deeper than any secret.
Thus my soul is freed of all cares,
and like a little child, I chatter with you,
my light, my wealth, my salvation.
Confessions 9, 1, 1
Late Have I Loved You...
But you have touched me,
late though I loved you.
O Beauty so ancient and so new,
late have I loved you!
And you were here all the while,
within and around me.
I searched for you elsewhere!
And pitifully I seized upon
the harmony of things
that you have made.
You were with me
and I was not with you;
the things I prized kept me far from you--
those things that would not exist
were it not for you!
You have called you have cried out,
you have broken through my deafness.
You have shone in splendor.
You have opened my eyes.
Inhaling your fragrance, I am drawn to you.
Having tasted you, I hunger and thirst for you still.
You have touched me and I burn with desire
for your peace.
Confessions X, 27, 38
I Love You, My God
Lord, I love you, I am sure of it!
You have opened my heart with your word and I have loved you!
Everything in the heavens and on the earth
tells me to love you.
But what is it that I love when I love you, my God?
It is not a beautiful body,
nor the instant delight of a flash of lightning.
It is not the sweet harmonies of music,
nor the pleasant fragrance of flower and perfume,
nor manna nor honey,
nor the loving embrace of arms outstretched and welcoming.
No, it is none of these!
What is it that I love when I love you, my God?
Here is what I love when I love you, my God:
I love what is to my inmost being like light, like a voice,
like perfume, food or an embrace.
For my soul shines with a light that space cannot know,
resonates with a sound that time cannot absorb,
exhales a perfume that the wind cannot spread,
savors a dish that the voracious eater cannot taste,
enjoys an embrace so satisfying that it will never withdraw.
Confessions 10, 6, 8-9
I Am Again a Burden to Myself
When I shall cling to you with all my heart,
there will be no sadness or effort.
My life will be complete living in you.
But now I am again a burden to myself
because I am no longer full of you.
You have emptied the one you had filled.
Joy mingled with tears
and sadness full of joy
struggle within me.
Where is the victory? I know not.
Wicked sadness or joyous good.
Which shall I conquer? I know not.
Lord, have pity on me
and gaze upon my wounds.
You are doctor and I am ill.
You are merciful and I am in misery.
You are doctor and I am ill.
You are merciful and I am in misery.
Confessions 10, 28, 39
Here I Am Again
O Truth, the Light of my heart,
speak to me.
I am in darkness
for I have run toward earthly things.
But even so,
I deeply loved you.
I heard your voice behind me
calling me back.
And now, I am here
burning with thirst for your refreshment.
May nothing draw me away.
May I drink here at the source of my life.
By myself I die.
With you I live again.
Speak to me, instruct me.
When I knock,
reveal to me the hidden meaning of your words.
Confessions 11, 2 y 12, 10, 10
My Love Has Brought Me
Lord, send your Spirit,
the One we call the “Gift of God.”
In this Gift, we find rest.
In this rest, you gladden us.
Love raises us to this response.
My heaviness is my love.
It carries me where it wants.
Your gift sets us on fire
and lifts us up.
It sets us aflame and we arise.
We climb above the mountains.
In our hearts
your flame, your good flame,
burns and lifts us up.
We climb toward the peace of Jerusalem.
Thus have I found my joy
among those who say,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Confessions 13, 9, 10