Saturday, July 4, 2015

PRAYERS FOR PURITY: A COMPILATION

These prayers for purity are classified as:

I. Short biblical prayers
II. Prayers to God
  • Prayer for Purity (Traditional)
  • Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Prayer for Chastity (from Catholics United for Faith)
  • Prayer for Chastity (from Reason)
III. Prayers to Jesus, Our Lord
  • Prayer for the Virtue of Chastity
  • Prayer for Purity of Heart (from Christopher West)
  • Prayer for Redemption of Sexual Desire (from Christopher West)
  • Prayer in a Moment of Temptation to Lust (from Christopher West)
IV. Prayer to Jesus, Mary and Joseph
  • Prayer for Purity
  • Prayer for Purity
V. Prayers to Mary
  • Blessed be Your Purity
  • A Prayer for Purity
VI. Prayer to St. Joseph
  • Prayer to St. Joseph
VII. Prayers to St. Maria Gorretti
  • Official Prayer  
  • Prayer before a dance  
  • Prayer before a date

I. SHORT BIBLICAL PRAYERS

If you wish you can make me clean. – Luke 5:12

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10

II. PRAYERS TO GOD

Lord, inflame our hearts and our inmost beings with the fire of Your Holy Spirit, that we may serve You with chaste bodies and pure minds. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Prayer for Purity (Traditional)

O my God, thou who hast given me a body to keep pure and clean and healthy for thy service and my eternal happiness, forgive me for all my unfaithfulness in this great responsibility. Forgive me for every mean use which I have made of thy gifts in thought, word or deed since my rebirth as thine own son in Baptism and my registration as a soldier of Jesus on the day of my Confirmation.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and give me a steadfast will that I may be a strength to others around me.Teach me to reverence my body and the bodies of my fellow creatures. Help me to see the glory of perfect manhood in Jesus Christ and of perfect womanhood in Mary Immaculate. Inspire me with such love for the ideals for which our Savior lived and died, that all my passions and energies will be caught up into the enthusiasm of His service and evil things will lose their power. May my body be the servant of my soul, and may both body and soul be Thy servants, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas

Dearest Jesus! I know well that every perfect gift, and above all others that of chastity, depends upon the most powerful assistance of Thy Providence, and that without Thee a creature can do nothing. Therefore, I pray Thee to defend, with Thy grace, chastity and purity in my soul as well as in my body.

And if I have ever received through my senses any impression that could stain my chastity and purity, do Thou, Who art the Supreme Lord of all my powers, take it from me, that I may with an immaculate heart advance in Thy love and service, offering myself chaste all the days of my life on the most pure altar of Thy Divinity. Amen.

Prayer for Chastity

Father in heaven, You have created us for love, and given our bodies nuptial meaning. You have enabled us to share in Your creative love in the sublime act proper to the sacrament of matrimony. Help us to see the beauty and dignity of this noble and profound act, and to never trivialize so precious a gift.

I firmly believe You are with me in this journey, that You will lead me home to sexual sobriety, if I am open to Your truth, Your grace, and Your ministers of love. Help me to be honest with myself, and with You, that I may know the peace of love rather than the chaos of unchastity.

Jesus, You showed us the truth about personhood in Your own life on earth. Help me to model my life on Yours, that within my own unique personality, I may come to imitate Your purity, Your love and Your peace.

Spirit of love, help me to welcome You into my life, that I might live by Your gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel and courage. May they bring forth the fruits of self control, modesty and chastity in my life.

Mary, queen of peace and model of purity, bring my prayer to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that I might live always in His light, and rejoice forever in His love. Amen.


Prayer for Chastity

Lord Jesus, I beg you for the grace and joy of chastity, for without you I can do nothing.

Grant me the gift to reverence my body and the bodies of my sisters and brothers in Christ. Help me to recognize the truth of each human body: a sacred incarnate spirit, a sublime image of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, a person worth all the blood of Christ, and a child of God created by you, the first human and the only model of all human bodies. 

Teach me, Jesus, to see you in each human body, protect each one from evil, and serve each one with your benevolent, saving love.

Deliver me, Lord, from the disgusting and addicting evil of lustthe sin of seeing and using my body and the bodies of your beloved daughters and sons as mere things and objects for my own selfish ends. 

May I reverence human sexuality as an image of your divine self-giving to form your family, your design to procreate immortal souls for your bride, the Church. I am deeply sorry for my sins of selfishness which offend you, make you suffer the greatest pains, and destroy my very self.

My merciful Mother, through your all-powerful prayer, help us your children to live with the dignity of children of God, masters of our feelings, urges, and desires. Help us to quickly flee from any temptation and turn at once to my Crucified and Risen Savior, who is Infinite Love and Infinite Beauty. Amen.

Source:  Reason

III. PRAYERS TO JESUS, OUR LORD

Prayer for the Virtue of Chastity

Jesus, Fortress of mankind,
You are Immaculate as God and Man!
Bless me with Your infinite graces,
That I may remain in a state of purity.
Strengthen my body, spirit and soul
To continually reflect Your chastity.
Protect my soul in its daily struggles,
Guiding it to ponder on Your Godliness.
Defend me from the forces of evil,
Those that seek to acquire my soul:
I am truly Yours forever and ever.
Holy is my King, the Conqueror of sin

Prayer for Purity of Heart

Lord, help me to accept and receive my sexuality as a gift from you.

Grant me the grace to resist the many lies that distort this divine gift and help me to live my sexuality according to the truth of self-giving love.

Grant me purity of heart so that I might see the image of your glory in the beauty of others, and one day see you face to face. Amen.

Source:  Christopher West

Prayer for the Redemption of Sexual Desire

Lord, I praise you and thank you for the gift of my sexual desires.

By the power of your death and resurrection, untwist in me what sin has twisted so that I might know sexual desire as you created it to be as the desire to love freely, totally, faithfully, and fruitfully. Amen.

Source: Christopher West

Prayer in a Moment of Temptation to Lust
Lord, thank you for the beauty of this person whom you made to be loved never to be treated as a thing for my gratification.

I renounce any tendency within me to use this person for my own pleasure, and I ask you to set my desires aright. Amen.

Source: Christopher West


IV. PRAYER TO JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH

Prayer for Purity

Jesus, Lover of chastity, Mary, Mother most pure, and Joseph, chaste guardian of the Virgin, to you I come at this hour, begging you to plead with God for me. I earnestly wish to be pure in thought, word and deed in imitation of your own holy purity.

Obtain for me, then, a deep sense of modesty which will be reflected in my external conduct. Protect my eyes, the windows of my soul, from anything that might dim the luster of a heart that must mirror only Christlike purity.

And when the "Bread of Angels becomes the Bread of me" in my heart at Holy Communion, seal it forever against the suggestions of sinful pleasures.

Heart of Jesus, Fount of all purity, have mercy on us.

Prayer for purity

Mary, Mother most pure, and Joseph, chaste guardian of the Virgin, to you I entrust the purity of my soul and body. I beg you to plead with God for me that I may never for the remainder of my life soil my soul by any sin of impurity. I earnestly wish to be pure in thought, word and deed in imitation of your own holy purity. Obtain for me a deep sense of modesty, which will be reflected in my external conduct. Protect my eyes, the windows of my soul, from anything that might dim the luster of a heart that must mirror only Christ-like purity. And when the “Bread of Angels” becomes my food in Holy Communion, seal my heart forever against the suggestions of sinful pleasures. Finally, may I be among the number of those of whom Jesus spoke, “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.” Amen.



V. PRAYERS TO MARY

Blessed be your purity

Blessed be your purity,
May it be blessed for ever,
For no less than God takes delight
In such exalted beauty.
To you, heavenly Princess,
Holy Virgin Mary,
I offer on this day
My whole heart, life, and soul.
Look upon me with compassion;
Do not leave me, my mother. 

A Prayer for Purity

Mary, loving Daughter of God the Father, I give my soul to your care. Protect the life of God in my soul. Do not let me lose it by serious sin. Protect my mind and my will so that all my thoughts and desires will be pleasing to God.

Hail Mary...

Mary, loving Mother of God the Son, I give my heart to your care. Let me love you with all my heart. Let me always try to love my neighbor. And help me avoid friends who might lead me away from Jesus and into a life of sin.

Hail Mary...

Mary, loving Spouse of the Holy Spirit, I give my body to your care. Let me always remember that my body is a home for the Holy Spirit who dwells in me. Let me never sin against Him by any impure actions alone or with others, against the virtue of purity.

Hail Mary...



VI. PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH

Prayer to St. Joseph

St. Joseph, father and guardian of virgins, to whose faithful keeping Christ Jesus, innocence itself, and Mary, the virgin of virgins, were entrusted, I pray and beseech you by that twofold and most precious charge, by Jesus and Mary, to save me from all uncleanness, to keep my mind untainted, my heart pure, and my body chaste; and to help me always to serve Jesus and Mary in perfect chastity. Amen.



VII. PRAYERS TO ST. MARIA GORETTI


Oh Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity, look graciously on the unhappy human race which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially youth, with what courage and promptitude we should flee for the love of Jesus anything that could offend Him or stain our souls with sin. Obtain for us from our Lord victory in temptation, comfort in the sorrows of life, and the grace which we earnestly beg of thee (here insert intention), and may we one day enjoy with thee the imperishable glory of Heaven. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father, etc.
St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!


Dear Saint Maria Goretti! The world teaches that we must please others in order to be popular. Conscience demands that I please God more than one who asks an evil thing in the name of false love. Teach me by your example to instill into others a real respect for modesty and purity. Through your powerful intercession, help me to make of this evening an occasion for helping others to become spiritually stronger. Grant that others may see in me reason to change their ways, if that be necessary, and that I may have the courage to resist any temptation to sinful conduct. Let others be led closer to Jesus and Mary by my example.
Oh Little Saint who wanted to be popular only with your Divine Master and His Blessed Mother, help me to imitate you. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father, etc.
St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!


Dear Little Saint Maria Goretti! Teach me that God must be my first love and that all other love is based on Him and Him alone. Obtain for me the grace to cease toying with the occasions of sin and to remember that my body and the bodies of all in grace are temples of the Holy Spirit, destined someday for a glorious resurrection.
Through your beautiful example, teach me the value and dignity of Christian modesty. Grant that I may never be the occasion of dragging others into Hell, by suggestive words or evil deeds of any kind. Through the merits of your Martyrdom, obtain for me the grace to turn aside from sin, no matter what the cost, so that one day I may enjoy Heaven with you and all the other saints. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father, etc.
St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!



No comments: