Oh my God, I thank You for this cross that You have allowed me to carry.
Please give me the strength and faith to persevere so that I might bring glory to the name of God while withstanding the burden of its weight.
Thank-you for offering me a share in Your suffering. I know that You have always been, are now and always will be at my side every step of the way.
Thank-you for every Simon of Cyrene that You have sent to help me bear my cross.
I have often prayed that this thorn should be removed from my flesh, but I trust that Your grace is sufficient.
Change my heart's troubled cry from "How long, Lord?" to "However long, Lord!"
May I only seek to discern and to do Your will and to be more completely united with You through these sufferings.
Help me not lose my way, distracted by my self-concerns but show me how these trials are a path to know You better. Teach me to pray.
Do not let me waste my pain. Show me how to be more empathic.
Lord, I am weak and prone to falling. I become discouraged beneath the relentless weight of the cross. Please give me the courage to take one more step, and then another.
Teach me to embrace my cross, as You did that night you prayed at Gethsemane when You submit to our Father's will.
By Your grace, may I carry this cross until I see You in glory. I abandon myself totally to Your will and the will of the Father.
Christ Jesus, I trust in you.
Amen.
Attributed to Pedro de la Cruz
That is a serious prayer, and one that deserves study.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best prayers I ever came across some years ago and have since then adopted is simply this: "Lord, thank you for everything just the way it is." At its core, ERJ's prayer is basically a somewhat longer and more detailed version of this simple heartfelt prayer.
ReplyDeleteYep.
DeleteJoe-longtime lurker first time commenter. Godspeed on your recovery. That was a beautiful prayer, did you compose it?
ReplyDeleteI did not compose this prayer.
DeleteIt was on a prayer-card given to my by my sister-in-law. At the bottom of the card it was attributed to Pedro de la Cruz.
I took the liberty of adding some punctuation and simplifying some of the longer passages.
Used a search engine but came up dry on who Pedro de la Cruz is/was.
Awesome thanks, I copied it and made it a note in my phone for future reference, along with George True’s short version. I taught 5th grade CCD this past year and told the kids one of my go to on-the-spot prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours is “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me.” I like having longer prayers for study and reflection and short ones for emergency use!
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