Christmas Prayer

Emmanuel, God with us, 
Christ, the anointed one:
You are born, you are here.
Glory in all the heavens, and on earth, peace. 


May we recognize you, may we accept you, 
May we nurture you in our hearts.  
And may we ourselves be born again in you:
So that indeed there is a new creation, 
So that all things become new. 


Thanks be to God.

Another morning prayer

Thank you God for this precious day.
Help me to live it with a peaceful and joyful heart.
Help me to live it with a mind that is clear and undistracted.
Help me to live it with compassion for all those around me.
Help me to live it in service to your will.
Help me to live it in humility, without ego-clinging.
Help me to live it in faith, for in you all things are possible.
Amen.

Prayer for Today and Many Days

O Lord, I place myself in your hands
Tell me what to do, I humbly pray.
Amen.

Prayer from Sacred Space

I highly recommend this web site: http://www.sacredspace.ie. It is run by Irish Jesuits and features prayers for every day. Here is a recent one:

O Lord, I remind myself that I am ever in your presence.

I will take refuge in your loving heart.

You are my strength in times of weakness.

You are my comforter in times of sorrow.

In the section Prayers for Peace on Earth are writings by Pope John XXIII from the encyclical Pacem in Terris. An example:

The world will never be the dwelling place of peace till peace has found a home in the heart of each and every person, till every person preserves in himself the order ordained by God to be preserved.

And on the same page I found this prayer from the Buddhist tradition:

Evoking the presence of the great compassion, let us fill our hearts with our own compassion – towards ourselves and towards all living beings.

Let us pray that all living beings realise that they are all brothers and sisters, all nourished from the same source of life.