Prayer to Saint Benedict for a Happy DeathDates for the celebrations below marked * are taken from the Benedictine Supplement: Proper Masses for the Use of the Benedictine Confederation, confirmed by the Congregation for Sacraments and Divine Worship, 18 October 1975. Dates in the ordo and calendar for any individual Congregation, house or year might differ. The other celebrations below are taken from the Benedictine Calendar approved in 1967.
God our Father, Saint Gregory, your bishop, praised you by the splendor of his life and teaching. In your kindness, as we forget what is past and reach out to what is before us, help us to attain that vocation to which we are called. Through Jesus Christ....
O God, you have filled us with wonder by the example of monastic observance in the lives of your blessed confessors Maur and Placid. As we celebrate their memory and follow in their footsteps, may we come to share in their reward. Through Jesus Christ....
All-powerful and eternal God, your wonders shine forth in the merits of your blessed martyr Meinrad. We beg you that, as you crowned him with the glory of suffering for your name, so now we might be aided by his prayers in obtaining your mercy. Through Jesus Christ....
God of power and might, you have given us in your saints a living witness to religious perfection. Schooled in their principles and observances, may we, too, strive to show that same faith and live in our lives. Through Jesus Christ....
O God, you brought the soul of the blessed virgin Scholastica to heaven in the form of a dove in order to bring to our notice her life of innocence. Through the prayers and merits of your saint may we live such a life that we, too, may attain everlasting happiness. Through Jesus Christ....
Through the merits of your holy virgin Scholastica, look down with favor, O Lord, upon your family nourished with spiritual food. Just as you once answered her prayers with a miraculous rain, so hear her now and moisten the dryness of our hearts with the dew of divine life. Through Jesus Christ....
Lord our God, through the teaching and example of the blessed abbot Benedict, you instilled the monastic Order with new life. Through his intercession, may we hold fast to the perfect following of Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
O God, the boundless generosity of your favor is proclaimed by the wonders you have worked in your holy women. As we are taught by your holy virgin Walburga's example of purity and rejoice in the glory of her miracles, may she be our patron to gain for us your unfailing love. Through Jesus Christ....
Ant.: The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking good pearls; when he had found one pearl of great price, he gave all that he had and bought it.
V. With your comeliness and your beauty
R. Go forth, advance prosperously, and reign.
O God, who, among the other wonders of your grace, favored your servant Frances with the familiar companionship of an Angel: grant, we beseech you, that helped by her prayers we may likewise one day be admitted into the company of the holy Angels. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O almighty and everlasting God, who delivered the most holy Confessor Benedict out of the prison of the flesh and bore him up to heaven, grant us we beseech You, your servants, who are celebrating this festival, forgiveness for all our sins, so that, united in rejoicing in his glory, we may by his intercession before You partake together also in his merits. Through our Lord.
You provided your holy confessor, Benedict, as a leader and master in the spiritual life for a countless number of followers. Filled as he was with the spirit of all the just, you flooded him with the splendor of your light in a vision. In the intense radiance of this vision his mind was freed of hindrance and he was able to discern how incomplete are all things here below: Through Christ our Lord. Because of this the entire monastic company in every part of the world sings out its joy, and the Virtues on high, with the Powers of the angelic choir, continuously praise your glory in song and say: Holy, holy, holy....
Stir up in your Church, O Lord, the spirit that animated our Father Saint Benedict, that filled with this spirit we may learn to love what he loved and practice what he taught. Through Jesus Christ....
Prayer to Saint Benedict for a Happy DeathV. Intercede for us, O holy Father Benedict.
R. And obtain for us the grace of a happy death.
O holy Father Benedict, whose very name signifies your blessedness, you most joyfully offered your angelic soul to God while you stood in prayer with your arms raised to heaven.
You have promised to defend us from the devil's attacks at the hour of death if we daily recall to you your own glorious death and heavenly joys.
Protect me, therefore, O glorious Father, today and every day by your holy blessing, so that I may never be separated from our blessed Jesus, nor from the company of you and all the saints. Amen.
O God, who adorned the precious death of our most holy Father, Saint Benedict, with so many and so great privileges, grant, we beseech You, that at our departure hence, we may be defended from the snares of the enemy by the blessed presence of him whose memory we celebrate. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord our God, you chose blessed Adalbert, your bishop, for the ministry of your word and consecrated him through martyrdom. Through his prayer and example, may we be attentive to your precepts and proclaim your gospel in word and deed. Through Jesus Christ....
Lord our God, you are the shield and glorious reward of those who walk blamelessly before you. Keep us steadfast in your holy service so that, by the example and intercession of the blessed abbots of Cluny, we may with open hearts run the path of perfect charity. Through Jesus Christ.
Let the blessed abbot Pachomius intercede for us O Lord. May his prayers win us your help, since our own actions cannot merit it. Through Jesus Christ....
Lord our God, you are the crown of your saints and the glory of the lowly. You called blessed Celestine to serve you humbly both as pope and hermit. By his intercession may we follow the hard road that leads to life eternal. Through Jesus Christ....
Let the blessed abbot Columba intercede for us, O Lord. May his prayers win us your help, since our own actions cannot merit it. Through Jesus Christ....
Heal us, O Lord, in your great power, so that as we honor the outstanding merits of the blessed abbot Procopius, we might be aided by his prayers and freed from every illness of soul. Through Jesus Christ....
Prayer for the Celebration of Saint Benedict O God, who filled your most blessed Confessor Benedict with the spirit of all the righteous : grant us, your servants, who celebrate his solemnity, that filled with his spirit, we may faithfully accomplish, with your assistance, that which we have promised. Through our Lord.
Or
Lord, by your grace Saint Benedict became a great teacher in the school of your service. Grant that we may put nothing before our love of you, and may we walk eagerly in the path of your commandments. Through Jesus Christ....
O Lord, you graciously made blessed Benedict the father of many peoples. Having all shared in the one bread, we ask you that through his prayer you may favor your Church with unity and gladden her with fruitfulness. Through Jesus Christ....
O God, you have endowed your servant Benedict with the gifts of prayer and universal charity. His life, like the good tree planted near living water, has born fruit in countless women and men who have embraced his way of life. Bless your laboring church whose valiant defender he was and whose inspiration he continues to be. We ask this in Jesus's name. Amen
Almighty and ever-living God, source of true peace and lover of concord, to know you is true life, to serve you is perfect freedom. Establish us in our love for you that by the example of blessed John, your abbot, we may render good for evil and blessings instead of curses and so find in you pardon and peace. Through Jesus Christ....
Ant.: This man, despising the world and triumphing over earthly things, has laid up treasure in heaven by word and deed.
V. The Lord led the just one through right ways.
R. And showed him the kingdom of God.
O God, who removed blessed Henry your Confessor from the government of an earthly empire and raised him to the kingdom of heaven: we humbly beseech you that, just as by the fullness of your grace you gave him strength to overcome the enticements of this life, so you would enable us, through his example, to shun the blandishments of this world and come to you with clean hearts. Through Christ our Lord.
O God, you are the giver of all good things and make our community glorious in the veneration of the Virgin Mary. In your kindness hear your servants who humbly seek this shrine, and safeguard them always in your unceasing vigilance. Through Jesus Christ....
O Lord, hear the prayers of your suppliant people. As we celebrate the feast of blessed Leo, your monk, confessor and pope, may he intercede for us so that you might not punish us in anger, even though our sins justly deserve it. Through Jesus Christ....
O God, you have given us the grace to celebrate the birthday of your blessed monks and martyrs Andrew and Benedict. Grant that we may also share their eternal happiness in heaven. Through Jesus Christ....
Inspire, O Lord, within your Church the Spirit which our holy father Benedict the abbot obeyed, so that we, too, Spirit-filled, may be zealous to love what he loved and to put into practice what he taught. Through our Lord... in the unity of the same Holy Spirit.
O Lord, you chose Joachim and Anne to be the parents of your only Son's holy Mother. Through their prayers please let us praise your mercy forever in the company of the saints. Through Jesus Christ....
Heavenly Father, your son was received as an honored and welcome guest in the home of Bethany. Keep us close to the Master in our prayer and work that, blameless in his sight, he may welcome us into our eternal home, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Or
Heavenly Father, your Son called Lazarus from the grave and sat at table in the house of Bethany. May we serve him faithfully in our brethren and with Mary ponder and feed upon his Word. Through Jesus Christ....
O God, you called the blessed abbot Bernard from the empty splendor of this world to the love of solitude and accepted his sacrifice of love as he served your people in their affliction. May we, by following in his footsteps, come to share in the love and reward which are now his. Through Jesus Christ....
O Lord, you were generous with your gifts of grace to the virgin Hildegard. By following closely her example and teaching, may we pass from the darkness of this life into your marvelous light. Through Jesus Christ....
God, our Father,
you called your servant, Columba,
to the monastic life.
You bestowed on him the grace
to understand the mysteries of your Son
and to make him known as the ideal
for all who have been baptized.
Grant that we may learn from his example
to live in Christ by opening our hearts in joy
to the Spirit of your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever. Amen. [Prayer from Marmion Abbey.]
Let the blessed abbot Gall intercede for us, O Lord. May his prayers win us your help, since our own actions cannot merit it. Through Jesus Christ....
On this day, O God, you took up your glorious bishop Willibald, who was heir to the kingdom of the Angles, into the everlasting inheritance of the Angels. May we, through his merits and prayers, be worthy to become co-heirs with him in your glory. Through Jesus Christ....
Lord our God, through the blessed abbot Theodore, you restored the beauty and discipline of monastic observance. By his help and example may we, conformed to the sufferings of Christ through endurance, also share in his glory, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one god, for ever and ever.
O God, may the example of your holy monastic servants incite us to live better lives. As we celebrate their solemnity may we also imitate their actions. Through Jesus Christ....
O God, creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant the souls of your departed servants of our Order forgiveness of all their sins. May our devout prayers obtain for them the pardon that they have always desired: You who live and reign.
O Lord, you loved to dwell in the pure heart of your virgin Gertrude. Through her merits and prayers please wash away the stains from our hearts so that they, too, may become worthy dwelling places for your divine majesty. Through Jesus Christ....
Lord our God, through your loving favor, you revealed to blessed Mechtild, your virgin, the hidden secrets of your providence. May we who know you now through faith rejoice hereafter to see you face to face. Through Jesus Christ....
Lord our God, you inspired blessed Silvester, your abbot, with the desire for monastic solitude and zeal for the active ministry. May we seek you always with true sincerity of heart and through our service in humility hasten towards our eternal home. Through Jesus Christ....
Lord our God, in your providence you raised up blessed Saba to foster monastic life and to defend and uphold the truth of the faith. May we always live that truth in love and serve only you, until we attain everlasting joy and glory. Through Jesus Christ....
O God, you have enlightened all peoples and have manifested your wondrous power through blessed Ottilia. As you dispelled the gloom of her blindness, so by her prayers and merits grant us your light in this world and glory in the world to come. Through Jesus Christ....
* Dates for these celebrations are taken from the Proper Masses for the Use of the Benedictine Confederation, confirmed by the Congregation for Sacraments and Divine Worship, 18 October 1975. Dates in the ordo and calendar for any individual Congregation, house or year might differ. The other celebrations above are taken from the Benedictine Calendar approved in 1967.
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