My Three Favorite Prayers

Anne asked (tagged??) me to write here my three favorite prayers, a MEME. I’m still not sure what MEME stands for or means except that I see others have done this, and it seems like a nice tradition -- and British, based on the spelling contained in the following rules that were given to me:

“Name your three favourite prayers, and explain why they're your favourites.
Then tag five bloggers - give them a link, and then go and tell them they have been tagged. Finally, tell the person who tagged you that you've completed the meme. The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here. I'm more interested in people's favourite devotional prayers."


Thinking about my favorite prayers was a walk down memory lane. There was the prayer which resulted in my sister’s brain tumor being benign, despite all the other cancers which raged in her body; and she was blessed with three more wonderful years. There were a number of other prayers which were answered with miracles. I can never forget them. And then there were so many other prayers, so many, that gave me great consolations, just when I needed them, at some of my lowest points. All these are truly my favorite prayers, and as I walked through them one by one, I smiled. Thank you, Anne, for this little blessing of recalling these great consolations, gifts God has given to me.

But then I thought further: Prayers are not just about me and consolations I received, and I recalled the writings of Mother Teresa, John of the Cross, and so many other saints. They went many, many years and received no such consolations as mine, their Dark Nights of the Soul. Would I think my prayers greater than theirs? No, no, no, this can’t be my criteria for favorite prayers, ones where God answered my pleadings and gave me Joy in awareness of His answer. The joy He blessed me with was a recognition of the weakness, not greatness of my prayers, like candy given to a baby for “doing his duty” on the toilet rather than in his diaper: a reward for doing something he should be doing, he should be doing if he were growing up and learning.

A number of the saints wrote of growing in holiness in terms of mansions or rooms, growing closer to the largest place, the main place, the goal of holiness: unity with God. They described people who pray for consolations as ones being in the beginnings on the road to holiness. And many of them never get closer. Perhaps that is where I am in my prayer life, in the outer rooms of the mansion; I can only hope that is not true. But if not these prayers, the ones that gave me so many fond memories of God’s love, then what are my favorites (favourites)? Are they the most repeated ones, like the Hail Mary, Glory Be, or even the Our Father – Our Lord taught that one, shouldn’t it be my favorite?

I thought back on those other saints again, the ones who received no consolations: What might be their favorite prayers? I think it would be any prayer, perhaps even those I mentioned, that they knew spoke from their heart. Not prayers as just anyone says, but prayers they know THEY are saying, truly their conversations with God – even if He merely nodded to their prayers. And like any conversation with a loved one, or a dear, dear friend, the words may be repeated, like: “I love you,” or they may be no words at all. The words come from the heart, and just being near to each other, the two of them understand everything that is said --- or unsaid.

These, I think are really my favorite prayers, those which bring me near to Him. He doesn’t need to answer them; I don’t need consolations. I can feel His feelings, and I feel His closeness, even as I know He feels mine (and yes, bhg, sometimes it makes me cry tears of happiness).

These are the prayers, I say almost every day, which always bring me close to Him. They are my favorites:

1) A Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
and where there is sadness, ever joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

It was around 1987 when I began praying this prayer in earnest, and often. That was the year of my re-conversion (see the sidebar story), when I again found Him, or perhaps He found me. No, truly, it was our mother who brought us back together, and she firmly said: “Now you two say you’re sorry and make up.” And so we did.

This framed prayer hangs in my upstairs hallway. Every morning I say it, in earnest, as I walk down the stairs. It is my good morning prayer to Jesus, telling Him I hope we both have a good day. And I know I will, if He would but make me an instrument of His peace.

2) Padre Pio’s Prayer After Holy Communion
Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.
Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervor.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness.
Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.
Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.
Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and always be in Your company.
Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.
Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.
Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes: death, judgment and eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way, and for that I need You. It is getting late and death approaches; I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows.
O how I need You, my Jesus in this night of exile!
Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion may be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.
Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to you, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.
Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth, and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.

O heavenly Father, I abide in your Son Jesus, and your Son abides in me. You Son, proceeding from You receives communion of Your Divine Life, in its fullness. I have received Your Son in faith. At that time faith tells me I am with Him. And since I share in His Life, look at me in Him, through Him, with Him, as the Son in whom You are well pleased.


I found this prayer in the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper many years ago. The first time I read it I realized I was praying it; I could not say the words without my heart echoing along. I could not say them without sincerity. Said after communion, I cannot say them without feeling His presence most deeply. I often cry in joy with that beautiful feeling.

My friend, Pat, quickly loved that prayer, and insisted I read it aloud after I brought her communion. I read it one last time for her at her funeral, as I’ve read it a many funerals of friends and relatives, including my dad.

It truly is one of my favorite prayers, and I love it anew each time it is said. I printed copies of it, prayer cards, and have given away hundreds. You can email me your address if you want one.

Oh, that last paragraph of the prayer, to our Father, was not Pio’s prayer, but it seemed to fit there. I hand-printed it on my copy of Pio’s prayer. I found it in a book by Blessed Columba Marmion, Christ, the Life of the Soul.

3) My Jesus, I Trust in You

A short and simple prayer promulgated by Sister Faustina, often shown on a picture of Jesus, robed in glory with rays of light coming from His side. It’s a bookmark I often use; you can find the little cards available in lots of places on the internet.

I say this short prayer often throughout the day. It says so many things I want to say, in those few short words. It says: “I want to do Your will.” It says: “I want Your presence with me in my daily tasks.” It says: “I’m trying.” It says: “I love You.”

And I always say it with meaning. He knows.

Three little prayers I say most every day, which put me in the presence of Jesus. For now, until being in His presence is (I hope) a permanent arrangement, these prayers will have to do. They are my favorite prayers --- for now.

As required, I will forward this MEME request to five well-done blogs that I follow, and ask them to publish their favorite three prayers: My Silent Journey, Pewspective, Be Thou My Vision, Grandma’s Musings, and A Follower of Francis. Again with thanks to Anne at Imprisoned in My Bones for taking me on this delightful journey.