Novena to St. Rita of Cascia for abused women and troubled marriages
Oh St. Rita, you were once called the peacemaker of Cascia yet you lived a life of trouble and strife. You struggled to bring peace and love to your home while knowing the secret occupation your husband had and shared with his family and that was unjust murder. Your marriage was arranged yet you did not choose it for yourself but obeyed the wish of your parents as you were raised this way. You learned to love your husband for his good qualities and even in his weakness. You had a kind heart and loved others as God loves us. You bore two sons and as God does so with us, you loved them into existence. With all your heart, you desired the best for those you loved. You gave your son’s lives up to God so that you would not ever witness them commit a mortal sin of revenge for their father’s life in committing murder. You became a childless widow and after some time you devoted your life to God in His service. In this generation, dear St. Rita, many women such as myself, suffer in difficult, troubled and even abusive marriages as you did. Through your intercession, help me and all other women who suffer these trials. Grant us all courage, strength, trust, peace and hope.
“For all who suffer within their home…heal and save them St. Rita
For all those whose tears shed daily…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who are beaten into submission…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who raise children without a father’s influence…heal and save them St. Rita
For those whose hearts are wounded…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who are lonely in their married lives…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who are verbally abused and spoken to as inferior…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who love without being loved…heal and save them St. Rita
For those whose lives are in danger…heal and save them St. Rita
For those whose emotional, physical or spiritual safety is threatened…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who find it difficult to pray…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who are in need of patience in adversity…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who feel trapped and have nowhere else to turn…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who are seeking refuge and sanctuary…heal and save them St. Rita
For those with bleeding hearts who try to mend others’ brokenness…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who are forced to take on the role of Mother and Father…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who have become ill as a result of poor marriage…heal and save them St. Rita
For those women whose children have fallen away from the faith…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who suffer from an internal battle…heal and save them St. Rita
For those families who struggle financially…heal and save them St. Rita
For all families who suffer from a generational curse…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who suffer from addiction…heal and save them St. Rita
For all who wish to serve God in peace and solitude according to their state in life…heal and save them St. Rita
For all who suffer obstacles that seem impossible to overturn…heal and save them St. Rita
For all those who spoke their marriage vows in vain…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who have lost a loved one…heal and save them St. Rita
For all mothers who devote their lives to the proper upbringing of their children…heal and save them St. Rita
For all those who work their way towards God but have the forces of evil fighting against them…heal and save them St. Rita
For all who desire a home filled with joy, peace and love…heal and save them St. Rita
For those whose lives are filled with regret…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who carry the burden of guilt into their golden years…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who wish they could correct the mistakes they made in life…heal and save them St. Rita
For those who yearn for love, peace and protection…heal and save them St. Rita
For all who strive toward sainthood and ultimately yearn for heaven…heal and save them St. Rita”
St. Rita, as for me and my sisters in Christ across the world, we beseech you because we are tormented by the evil one. Please place me and all those suffering this heartache under the sacred mantle of our divine Lord and His most precious Mother Mary, for our healing and protection. St. Rita, peacemaker of Cascia, bring peace and joy to our lives. Amen
Prayer for those suffering from addictions
Dear Jesus you once said “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.”(Mathew 18:8 English standard version) You meant this in the sense that you wish us to alleviate ourselves from any temptation, even from the moment the first impulse takes over. You once told your disciples: “Whoever wants to be my disciple, must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 New International Version) Lord, countless of your children suffer from enslavement of body, mind, heart and soul. Your daughters and sons suffer in torment by the evil one. The temptations of this world are strong and the pressures to submit are severe. Help your children then Lord and shield them from this evil and corruption by the blood you poured out for us from the cross. We are lost lambs searching in the dessert for our shepherd. Let your voice be heard Lord and speak softly but clearly so that we may hear you. Merciful and forgiving heart of Jesus, we ask you to walk with us through our Calvary and help us carry our cross.
“For those who suffer from the pain of lust in their eyes…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who wantonly fill themselves with food for vainly pleasure when they have no need of it….shield them with you blood Lord Jesus
For those who inflict physical pain upon themselves in breaking open their skin, so as to escape the pain in their heart…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who drink themselves to excess so that they may numb their pain for the moment…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those women who compromise their dignity in promiscuity by revealing their bodies and desecrate the temple of the Holy Spirit…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who are controlled by the lustful desires of their body and can no longer think with their mind…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those whose bodily features are disfigured due to the sin of perversion…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who covet their neighbor’s goods and use their hands to steal rather than to give…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who use the God-given herbs and plants of the earth to enhance their emotions and alter their state of mind…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who suffer enslavement to nicotine…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who gamble their finances away rather than to help the poor and needy…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who suffer inner torment from a fixation to pornographic figures…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who have an obsession for their work and make no time for their families…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who have a fixation to waste money to satisfy their vanity…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who suffer a terrible inclination to hoard possessions for which they have no need…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who attempt to make their bodies perfect and worship their exterior…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who are in love with the reflection they see in the mirror daily…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who are restless about their future and consult fortune tellers and mediums….shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who look to the stars and other meaningless signs to find their destiny…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus
For those who waste the gift of their sight and fix their eyes on electronics and technology…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus.
For those whose imagination wanders into a world of make believe fantasy due to erotic literature…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus.
For those who express their anger in foul language by taking the name of God in vain…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus.
For those who abuse prescriptive stimulants to escape their sorrows…shield them with your blood Lord Jesus.”
Lord Jesus when the lance pierced your side, blood and water flowed. The love you bore for us was so great and your heart so full. Rather than loving you in return, our sins, our malice, our wickedness, our evil wretchedness, nailed you to the cross and so you died of a broken heart. The cross you bore made you frail, weak and exhausted. Yet upon that cross, you forgave all your enemies saying “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Douay Rheims, Luke 23:34) Father, often, we too do not understand the severity, depth and degree of our sins. The many sins and wrongs we commit in your sight also make us weak and frail. We are exhausted by them. Lord in rising from the dead, you conquered death and sin itself. Help us then to be free of our addictions and common repeated fixations so that we may live peacefully and happily in order to one day merit the eternal joys of heaven. Amen
Prayer for Guidance
Lord guide my footsteps to your grace.
Lord let me see your face.
Guide the work of my hands.
By your side let me stand.
Point my every thought to you;
Allow my heart of stone to be made new.
Every decision may you choose,
So I may live only for you.
May I live and breathe for your Glory Lord,
The gift of heaven to afford.
A guiding star and shepherd I seek,
For all the moments in life I feel most weak.
Every second, every minute and hour,
Let me hear your voice and see your power.
A lost sheep I am in the night;
Save me Lord from every fright.
To love and guide me is all I ask.
Fill my heart with all I lack.
A sinner I am in need of my God;
Guide me Lord, my savior my God.
Prayer for one suffering from a broken home
Lord, you once said that you came to bring a sense of division. You came with a purpose to separate your flock, the sheep from the goats. I see that the more I choose to follow you, the more my life is torn apart. I suffer from a broken home. Mother divided from father, sister against brother, sister against sister, brother against brother. I ask you to restore unity back to my home and stability to my life. I trust in your love and faithfulness Lord. You allowed me to be born into this family and what was once a home, is now broken, damaged and destroyed. The devil wishes nothing more than to destroy the family. Do not let the devil reign in my family and in my life. Make my home full of peace and joy, a safe haven in which I may take refuge for the rest of my life. Seal the gaps and holes in every relationship so that when we come to receive you, we may be reconciled…brother to brother, sister to sister, mother to father. Seal my home and all who inhabit it, with your blood Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
A prayer in time of hopelessness
Dear Jesus, you know the pains, worries, anxieties, confusion and the troubles within my heart. Let your love and grace penetrate the deepest recesses of my mind in order to change the negative to hope in the possibilites of the future. Alter the emotions of my heart from anxiety to peace, from fear to faith, from worry to complete and unfailing trust, from bitterness to love. Create in me a pure heart, my God and cleanse my soul of all things that break your heart.