The Pope’s Monthly Intention
That everyone might have food: Let us pray that everyone, from large producers to small consumers, be committed to avoid wasting food, and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food.
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May Altars
In later Medieval times, Mary Gardens, as they came to be called, became popular, especially in Medieval England. England came to be known as Our Lady’s dowry! The Medieval gardeners gave the flowers in their gardens names to associate them with Mary. (e.g. Marigold – Mary’s Gold). The earliest record of a garden explicitly called a ‘Mary Garden’ involves a fifteenth century monastic accounting record of the purchase of plants ‘for Saint Mary’s garden’ by the sacristan of Norwich Priory, in England. Post reformation and enlightenment devotions to Our Lady with flowers and thirty day prayers date from Italy in the 17th and 18th Centuries (for example: Ferrara, 1784). May altar devotion was influenced and furthered, by Louis de Montfort, a famous French Marian Saint, in his Treatise on True Devotion to Mary, who, among other things, counted the decoration of Marian altars a chief exercise of Marian devotion.
clondalkinparish.com
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Prayer for the Spirit of Work St Joseph the Worker
Feast 1 May
God our Father, Creator and Ruler of the universe, in every age you call us to use and develop our gifts for the good of others. With St Joseph as our guide, help us to do the work you have asked and come to the rewards you have promised. Please grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer of St Brendan the Navigator • Feast 16 May
Lord, help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways
and break fresh ground with You.
Christ of the mysteries, I trust You
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know
that my times, even now, are in Your hand.
Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,
and somehow, make my obedience count for You. Amen.
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Prayer to Blessed John Sullivan SJ • 8 May
Blessed John Sullivan (1861-1933) was the first ever beatification celebrated in Ireland on 13 May 2017 at St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner St, Dublin.
Blessed John Sullivan, patron of the Missing, pray for us. Blessed John Sullivan, man of Prayer, pray for us. Blessed John Sullivan, carer of the Sick, pray for us. Blessed John Sullivan, priest who understood Presence, pray for us.
Bishop Denis Nulty
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Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima
Feast 13 May
O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, you were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled therein may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.
Amen.
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Prayer for the Church in China
(Day of Prayer 24 May)
Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China,
who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love.
May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world,
and of the world to Jesus.
In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high,
offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love.
Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love,
ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.
Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!
Pope Benedict XVI
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Pope Paul VI • Feast 29 May
‘All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.’
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Short Prayer Before an Exam
‘Lord, as I take this exam, I ask for Your peace and clarity of mind. Calm my nerves, help me to focus, and guide my memory to recall what I have studied. Give me the wisdom to understand the questions and the ability to express my answers clearly. I trust in You. Amen.’
Salesians Ireland
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