February 2024: Prayers and Reflections
Prayers and Reflections February 2024
The Pope’s Monthly Intention
For the Terminally Ill: We pray that those with a terminal illness, and their families, receive the necessary physical and spiritual care and accompaniment.* * *
FORMS OF FRIDAY PENANCE DURING LENT
The following are suggested as ways of fulfilling Friday penance:
- Abstaining from meat or some other food;
- Abstaining from alcoholic drink or smoking;
- Making a special effort at involvement in family prayer;
- Making a special effort to participate in Mass on Fridays;
- Visiting the Blessed Sacrament;
- Making the Stations of the Cross;
- Fasting from all food for a longer period than usual and perhaps giving what is saved to the needy;
- Helping the poor, sick, old or lonely.
From the statement on Friday Penance
issued by the Bishops’ Conference, 2011
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Prayer for the Sick to St John of God
World Day of the Sick • 6 February
Good Saint John,
lover of those who suffer
and special Patron of
the Sick,
how patiently you bore the sufferings of your own disease!
Teach me to carry with cheerful resignation
the cross that God has
given me.
Let me never complain or lose courage.
Help me to understand that suffering
is a very important means of sanctifying my soul,
of atoning for my many sins,
and of reaping a plentiful harvest of merit for Heaven.
I trust in your great love for the sick
and in the power of your intercession to help them.
Help me, good St John,
and beg the God whose name you bear to touch me
as He touched the sick while on earth,
that through His almighty power
health may return to my body.
And as you derived strength
in your own sufferings from the crucifix,
so may I be able to say what you did to Jesus Crucified:
‘Lord, Thy thorns are my roses and Thy sufferings my paradise.’
Columban Daily Prayer
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Intercessions for
International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking • 8 February
On this day, when we celebrate the gift if life which comes from God, we make our prayers for all our needs and especially for the needs of those whose lives have been affected by the reality of human trafficking.
- For people everywhere, who are made in the image of God – that they may be valued for who they are and not for the economic benefit that they bring to others. Lord hear us.
- For women and men who have been victims of human trafficking so that they can be used for the profit or the pleasure of others – that they may be rescued out of slavery and helped to build new lives which are consistent with their own freedom and dignity. Lord hear us.
- For children who have been unlawfully removed from the families and from their homes – that they may be found safe and well and restored to their families and friends. Lord hear us.
- For families who have lost trace of a son or daughter, a brother or sister – that they may be consoled and supported in the hope of one day being reunited with the one who is lost. Lord hear us
- For all who work to find and to support victims of human trafficking – that their work may bear fruit and that they may retain always their own sense of the dignity of every person. Lord hear us.
- For all who have died as a result of their violence and abuse associated with human trafficking – that they may enjoy freedom and peace in the kingdom of heaven. Lord hear us.
God our Father, you love all your daughters and sons equally and personally. We entrust to you our brothers and sisters whose lives have been touched by the pain of human trafficking. Help them to know, even in their isolation and enslavement, that they remain your sons and daughters and that you love them with an everlasting love. We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord.
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Day of Prayer for Victims of Abuse • 16 February
God of endless love, ever caring, ever strong, always present, always just: You gave your only Son to save us by his blood on the cross. Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace, join to your own suffering the pain of all who have been hurt in body, mind, and spirit by those who betrayed the trust placed in them. Hear the cries of our brothers and sisters who have been gravely harmed, and the cries of those who love them. Soothe their restless hearts with hope, steady their shaken spirits with faith. Grant them justice for their cause, enlightened by your truth. Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts, heal your people’s wounds and transform brokenness into wholeness. Grant us the courage and wisdom, humility and grace, to act with justice. Breathe wisdom into our prayers and labors. Grant that all harmed by abuse may find peace in justice. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
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