Litanies
Litany of the Love of God
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ graciously hear us. God, the Father of heaven, Have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. God, the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us. Thou Who art Infinite Love, Have mercy on us. Thou Who didst first love me, Have mercy on us. Thou Who commandest me to love Thee, Have mercy on us. With all my heart, I Love Thee, O My God With all my soul, I Love Thee, O My God With all my mind, I Love Thee, O My God With all my strength, I Love Thee, O My God Above all possessions and honors, I Love Thee, O My God Above all pleasures and enjoyments, I Love Thee, O My God More than myself, and everything belonging to me, I Love Thee, O My God More than all my relatives and friends, I Love Thee, O My God More than all men and angels, I Love Thee, O My God Above all created things in heaven or on earth, I Love Thee, O My God Only for Thyself, I Love Thee, O My God Because Thou art the sovereign Good, I Love Thee, O My God Because Thou art infinitely worthy of being loved, I Love Thee, O My God Because Thou art infinitely perfect, I Love Thee, O My God Even hadst Thou not promised me heaven, I Love Thee, O My God Even hadst Thou not menaced me with hell, I Love Thee, O My God Even shouldst Thou try me by want and misfortune, I Love Thee, O My God In wealth and in poverty, I Love Thee, O My God In prosperity and in adversity, I Love Thee, O My God In health and in sickness, I Love Thee, O My God In life and in death, I Love Thee, O My God In time and in eternity, I Love Thee, O My God In union with that love wherewith all the saints and all the angels love Thee in heaven, I Love Thee, O My God In union with that love wherewith the Blessed Virgin Mary loveth Thee, I Love Thee, O My God In union with that infinite love wherewith Thou lovest Thyself eternally, I Love Thee, O My God My God, Who dost possess in incomprehensible abundance all that is perfect and worthy of love, annihilate in me all guilty, sensual, and undue love for creatures. Kindle in my heart the pure fire of Thy love, so that I may love nothing but Thee or in Thee, until being so entirely consumed by holy love of Thee, I may go to love Thee eternally with the elect in heaven, the country of pure love. Amen.
A Random Prayer...
Blessing of Horses and other Draft Animals
The animals praise and glorify God inasmuch as they assist man and serve him. In their own way they assist man in attaining his ultimate goal, and for that reason the Church blesses them. In her blessing the church commends these animals to St. Anthony the hermit, who from the earliest times was regarded as the patron of farmers and animal breeders. The following prayers can be used when the animals are placed in harness for the first time. O God, our refuge and strength, the source of our devotion, hear the devout prayers of the Church, grant that what we ask in faith we may obtain in fact. Almighty, eternal God, who didst test glorious Saint Anthony the hermit in many temptations and didst grant him to go forth untouched by the seductions of this world: grant us Thy servants to make progress in virtue by his example and to be freed from the dangers of this life by his merits and intercession. May these animals, O Lord, receive Thy blessing; may they be sound in body and, by the intercession of Saint Anthony the hermit, may they be preserved from all evil. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Translated by Most Reverend J. H. Schlarman Bishop of Peoria
more prayers...