A prayer for Christ's forbearance O Jesus,
Does any number of falls and relapses vanquish the faithfulness and endurance of your compassion?
You forgive not only seven times but to seventy times seven and such you are all over the earth,
Even to the end,
Forgiving,
Sparing,
Forbearing,
Waiting,
Though sinners are ever provoking you,
Pitying and taking into account their ignorance,
Visiting all men,
All your enemies with the gentle pleadings of your grace day after day,
Year after year,
Up to the hour of their death.
Bear with me in spite of all my waywardness,
Perverseness and ingratitude,
Only give me your grace,
Then I shall have happy days in your presence.
Amen.
A prayer for unbelievers O Lord Jesus Christ,
Upon the cross you did say,
Father,
Forgive them,
For they know not what they do.
And this surely,
O my God,
Is the condition of vast multitudes among us now.
They deny that there is a God,
But they know not what they are doing.
They renounce all faith in you,
The Saviour of man.
They mislead the wandering,
They frighten the weak,
They corrupt the young.
Others,
Again,
Have a wish to be religious,
But mistake error for truth.
They go after fancies of their own,
And they seduce others and keep them from you.
They know not what they are doing,
But you can make them know.
Teach them now,
Open their eyes here before the future comes.
Give them faith in what they must see hereafter,
If they will not believe in it here.
Amen.
A prayer for relatives,
Friends and enemies Jesus,
Son of Mary,
We pray for all who are near and dear to us.
We beg you to bring them all into the light of your truth,
Or to keep them in your truth if they already know it,
And to keep them in a state of grace,
And to give them the gift of perseverance.
Thus,
We pray for our fathers and our mothers,
For our children,
For our brothers and sisters,
For our friends,
For our neighbours,
For our superiors and rulers,
For those who wish us well,
For those who wish us ill,
For our enemies,
For our rivals,
For our injurers and for our slanderers.
And not only for the living,
But for the dead,
Who have died in the grace of God,
That he may shorten their time of expiation and admit them into his presence above.
Amen.
