We fly to your protection, most holy Mother of God; please listen to our petitions and needs, and deliver us from all dangers, ever glorious and blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary, our model and mother, by your obedience and patience you have taught us how to be true children of God. Please help us by your powerful assistance to overcome all our weaknesses, and to fulfill perfectly our tasks in life.
By your compassionate aid may we ever stand in spirit with you beneath the cross of Christ so that we may also rejoice with you in your divine Son’s triumphant victory over sin and death.
In your maternal kindness help us to be faithful to prayers in the company of God’s Church as you were one with the Apostles in the upper room as you waited for the promised Spirit of Pentecost.
With your gracious assistance may we be near you in the glory of Christ’s kingdom come to sing with you and all the faithful the eternal praise of God. Amen.
V. O Mary, conceived without sin,
R. Pray for us who have recourse to you.
You are all fair, O Virgin Mary,
You never knew the stain of sin;
You are the glory of Jerusalem,
You, the joy of Israel,
You, the great honor of our people,
You, the advocate of sinners.
O Mary, Virgin most prudent,
O Mary, Mother most merciful,
Pray for us,
Intercede for us with our Lord,
Jesus Christ.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that’s great! It’s a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We’re not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give.
If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving.
Thank you.
Help Now >
Table of contents
More Marian (Mary) Prayers
www.catholic.org
“Turn us toward yourself, O God of Hosts, show us your face and we shall be saved” (Augustine).
Prayers and mother musings drove me from my bed, producing all-too-familiar sleep patterns. When I became a mother, I discovered that motherhood was a calling to a life of prayer. From the instant I knew a child had been conceived, and sometimes even before, I began to pray. Prayers for my children occupy my mind throughout every single day. I believe mothers send up more requests and pleadings for their children than any other human does during their lifetimes.
These musings occupy my mind for several reasons. My husband’s mother is now gone from us. He is orphaned. Are her heavenly prayers now joining the intercession of Jesus and the Holy Spirit before the Father? I don’t know the mysteries of heaven, but I am mindful of her loss. My prayers must multiply now, picking up her task to intercede for him.
And then, there are our rambunctious offspring.
With six children, there’s plenty to pray about. They are world-changers who blast off to nether regions to help the poor, study health care systems in Asia, and strike romantic poses under the Eiffel Tower. They work their way through college, learn to fly airplanes, earn advanced degrees, change careers, plant churches, and seek to cure cancer. They are bold and courageous.
“Meanwhile my mother persevered in praying for me,” Augustine wrote. “She was far away, but you are present everywhere, so you heard her in that land where she was, and took pity on me where I was.”
As my children were transplanted into the wider world, it became obvious that God was large and I was small.
When children are young a mother fills their lives, but too soon they escape the hearth to live their own lives, to travel far, and to seek their callings. Long after they’ve left mothering care, God remains. He is still there, no matter where they go, able to help in time of need, yearning to draw them tenderly to himself when they no longer desire a mother’s caress. He is the one.
“Father, mother and guardians may be absent,” Augustine confessed to God, “but you are present, you who created us and called us and even through those set over us work for our good and the saving of souls.”
Over 1600 years ago, Augustine ran away from God, took a mistress, and joined a cult. Monica, his mother, prayed faithfully for her child. Of her tear-soaked praying, a bishop told her, “It is inconceivable that he should perish, a son of tears like yours.”
God moved. Augustine yielded his life to Christ. He later confessed to God that when he did, his mother “blessed you, who have power to do more than we ask or understand, for she saw that you had granted her much more in my regard than she had been wont to beg of you in her wretched, tearful groaning.”
Hearts of love move us to pray for our children. Our weeping is essential. No matter what occurs in our children’s lives, whether blessing or trial, our prayers are necessary. We are joined to them from conception onward, no matter where they go. When no one else is in their corner bringing their concerns before God, we are there, weeping and pleading.
This is our most important ministry as mothers. It supersedes all others. They outgrow the need for our physical care, and they need our prayers more than our advice, tempted as we are to give it. Mother, you have been called to a ministry of prayer.
How does your call to prayer shape your life?
All quotes are from The Confessions, Saint Augustine, translated by Maria Boulding, O.S.B., Vintage Spiritual Classics, 1997, page numbers in order: pg. 63, 87, 184, 53, 169.
Bottom photo: Free Digital Photos. Click on photo for details.
Related
melindainman.com
Mother’s Day can bring a mix of emotions for many women. There are those anticipating the birth of their first child, step-moms wondering what their place is, those who have lost their mother and are faced with grieving on Mother’s Day, there are moms who encounter feelings of hurt because their children have turned from God, and those overwhelmed with pain from the loss of a child. No matter what you face this Mother’s Day, you can turn to God and experience peace and healing through prayer. We have collected several prayers that can apply to your journey of motherhood. It is our hope that these will encourage your soul and speak life into your calling as a mom.
A Mother’s Day Prayer
Dear Father, we approach your throne on behalf of the mothers whom you have entrusted with the care of your most precious little ones. We thank you for creating each mom with a unique combination of gifts and talents. We thank you for the sacrifice of self each mom gives for her children. For the late nights spent rocking a colicky infant. For the hands calloused from washing, wiping, scrubbing, mixing, backing, stirring, hugging, patting, disciplining, holding, writing, erasing, painting, and pouring.
We thank you for the gift of time moms give for their kids, whether it’s stay-at-home moms, working moms, and moms who have some combination of the two. We thank you for the flexibility of moms, for their tirelessness, their perseverance, and their devotion.
We pray you give each mom strength. Help her to see in every mundane task the eternal, cosmic significance that you place on motherhood. Help her to understand that the most radical, world-changing events may be happening anonymously in her home. Help her to forgive those who undermine her significance.
We especially pray for single moms, who must lean solely on you for the fathering of their children. We thank you that you’re big arms surround children who may never know their earthly father. We also pray for mother who never had the honor of bearing children, but whose nurturing extends to the many poor and needy who crass the threshold of their lives.
We ask you to be the daily bread of tired mothers. We ask you to be their living water. We ask you to be their source of spiritual and physical strength. We pray that the same grace that flowed from Father to Son to us in salvation will flow from mothers to their children. We pray that each mother rejects perfectionism and instead embraces the goodness of the gospel. We pray the rhythms of repentance and forgiveness shape every home.
Lord, give each mother a worshipful reverence of you, the Creator and Sustainer of life. Help each mother to rest in the knowledge that they are but stewards of your children and that only your Spirit can produce change into the hearts of each boy and girl. May each mother find rest in you.
Most of all, Lord, on this day in which we honor mothers, may we love and cherish the special women who have born us, who have nurtured us, and who have prayed for our well-being. May our hearts overflow with gratitude to you, who formed and knitted each of us in a mother’s womb.
– Daniel Darling
A Prayer for Single Moms on Mother’s Day
Father God, we thank you for each and every woman you have blessed with the privilege of motherhood. We thank you that each single mother is a Godly steward of each of their children, and that they raise them in the ways of the Lord. Father, we pray and ask that You continue to give them grace to walk out being a single parent with kindness and generosity. We pray that each single mother has a relationship with You, and worships You in spirit and truth.
Help each of your precious daughters to remember that although they are parenting alone, You have not left them nor forsaken them. We thank You that You see each of them and love them. Lord, if they are weary, we pray and ask that You send them a Godly sister in Christ to hold up their arms in the battle, just as Aaron did for Moses. Lord, thank you that You care about every big or small thing that concerns them. Place a hedge of protection around each single mother and her children, Father. We thank you that You alone are their Provider. Where there is lack, Father, we pray that be it Your will You bring abundance. We pray and ask these things in your name, Amen.
– Jennifer Maggio
A Prayer for A Stressed Out Mom
May you have clarity of thought and a morsel of sanity today. May you know that His grace is enough. For every season, every tantrum, every question, every failure. It is enough. Always.
May you know that you are wildly loved by your Father, just as you are. Not because of what you accomplished today, or didn’t. Or how you feel about God at this moment, or whether you complained, or spent time reading your bible, or messed up in the worst way, or celebrated a victory. He adores you, just because.
And with of this knowledge, may you feel empowered to love your children the same way. The way God asks you to, the way your kids deserve, and the way you want to.
May you feel equipped to tackle every challenge, every situation, and every day with courage and joy even if you have to “start over” 10 times by 9 a.m.
May excitement fill your heart every morning for all that the day can be. Your children are your treasure, and this day is a gift– may you fully embrace it all.
May you lay your head down at night with a heart that is bursting and memories too plentiful to count. May you know unspeakable joy at the end of the day.
May you recognize that though these days are so (so, so, so, so) long, the years are short. They are a breath. And as you exhale yours in the darkness of the night, may your cup overflow with thanksgiving. May your dreams be sweet and your sleep be restful.
Sleep well, Momma, knowing that the work you are doing is good, and your Father is smiling on you.
– Malinda Fuller
A Prayer for Those Hurting on Mothers Day
Dear God,
Some days feel too hard. We’re hurting. Struggling. Fighting fear and worry at every turn. Thank you in the midst of it all, you haven’t left us to fend for ourselves. Forgive us for doubting you are there. Forgive us for thinking you’ve forgotten. Forgive us for believing we somehow know the better way.
You are fully trustworthy. You are All Powerful. You are Able. You are Lord over every situation no matter how difficult it may seem. You are Healer and will never waste the grief we carry today. You will use all things for good in some way. Anything is possible with you. Nothing is too difficult for you.
We pray for those who grieve today. We ask for your comfort to surround those who weep. We pray for the peace of your presence to cover our minds and thoughts, as you remind us, the enemy can never steal us out of your hands. He never has the final say over our lives. We are kept safe in your presence forever, whether in life or in death.
We thank you that your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts are bigger than our thoughts. We lay it all down at your feet, every burden, every care. Believing that is the safest place for it to be. We love you Lord, we need your fresh grace.In the Powerful Name of Jesus, Amen.
– Debbie McDaniel
Mothers Day Scripture – Encouraging Bible Verses for Mom!
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” ~ Psalm 31:10-30
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.” ~ Proverbs 1:8-9
“Honor your father and mother – which is the first commandment with a promise” Ephesians 6:1-3
Read more uplifting Bible verses for moms & Mother’s Day Scriptures at BibleStudyTools.com
Christian Quotes About Moms
“I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England.” ~ John Wesley
“Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.” ~ Billy Graham
“There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.” ~ Jill Churchill
More more Mother’s Day Quotes & Christian Quotes About Moms at iBelieve.com
This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you can’t find the words to pray.
Prayer for Healing
Prayer for StrengthPrayer for ProtectionMorning PrayersGood Night PrayersSerenity PrayerPrayer for ForgivenessPrayer for GuidancePrayers for My HusbandPrayers for My SonPrayers for My DaughterPrayer Quotes
Now available is our new Daily Prayer devotional! An easy way to find start your day with prayer, read today’s prayer and sign up to receive by email.
www.crosswalk.com
