Allow me to spend this coming year in your love and service, without counting the cost.
Another year gone into the chasm of eternity! What have I done with it, my Lord and my God? Today at Mass, you vouchsafed to me a glimpse of my nothingness, my utter inadequacy, my hopelessness in your service.
How can you, my Lord, have patience with such as I? Look at the graces you showered on me, and the lack of cooperation on my part.
Forgive me and accept my thanks for allowing me another chance. Help me! Alone I cannot make one step.
Give me tolerance, understanding, humility, patience! Above all, inflame my heart with an unquenchable love for you.
Make me more charitable, more gentle, more understanding with people. Give me humility — then I shall be able to serve you as I must. Give me strength and determination for sacrifices and mortifications. Make me patient, controlling all irritability, anger, impatience.
Help me, O Master. Look not at the unworthiness of your servant but only on her desire to serve you. Enkindle that desire until, as a flame, it consumes me entirely! Bless all the things I do in your name. Give me understanding of what I should do and what I should run away from. Give me your love! In temporal things, give me my daily bread, and the rest as you will. Your will be done, not mine.
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I have done so little for you in the past year. I do not know what you have in store for me this year, yet I accept it with its joys, sacrifices, sorrow, pain, and even death — joyfully — for it is your choice.
You will help me to do my part and cooperate with your grace, refrain from my habitual sins, overcome my faults and defects. O Jesus, you know that without you I am nothing. Be with me! Allow me to spend this coming year in your love and service, without counting the cost.
Bless me and my family, those with whom I come into contact — especially those who dislike me. They have good reasons. Bring to your feet those who seek you, groping for your light.
Bless and help the dying, the poor, the sick I deal with. Give the gift of holiness to all the priests I know and also the religious. Bless all those who love me and help me. Give strength, health, and wisdom to the pope and bishops. Bless this house and all who are in it. Let me always remember that all that I am, all that I have are yours.
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Come, Lord. Visit on us peace that we might rejoice before you (cf. Ps 106:47).
Sweet Lord, give me the peace of your Holy Spirit, the peace where nothing troubles me in my tiring day. Grant that when I am overburdened, the thought of your peace may come, beautiful and calming. The little irritations of this world are like needle pricks. Give me the strength not to notice them. Give me the peace of my faith that no worldly assault may shake.
Help me. Bless me. Let me radiate your peace, Jesus of Nazareth, that in this impatient world your peace might be the peace of a turbulent sea quieted by your Word.
Let me pass your peace to others…the peace which you alone can give. O Jesus, without you I can do nothing. With you, I can do everything! Be with me always.
Adapted from O Jesus Madonna House Publications (1996); out of print.
[image: Shrine in Snow, by ©Donna Surprenant, Madonna House]
