Tag: mother

A prayer for all mothers

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Tuesday, Feast of St. Monica, 27 August 2019

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 ><)))*> <*(((>< Matthew 23:23-26

How wonderful, O God, that on this feast of the patroness of mothers, St. Monica, the Apostle Paul identified himself as a mother caring the church he founded.

“Rather, we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us.”

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8

Teach us to be like St. Paul in his passion and drive caring for those you have entrusted to us like “a nursing mother who cares for her children”.

But most especially, as we remember St. Monica who embodied true motherhood with her patience and perseverance and undying love for her wayward son St. Augustine, we pray also today for all mothers.

We pray, O Lord, for mothers in their old age, sick and fragile, afraid of the inevitable, feeling alone filled with so many doubts and uncertainties of what is coming, of what is next: give them the firm faith and enlightenment of mind and heart like St. Monica.

We pray for the departed mothers and may you grant them, O Lord, eternal rest and peace in your presence. May they reap the fruits of their hard work here on earth that have caused so much physical and emotional pains for them here on earth.

Photo by Jim Marpa, 2017.

We pray for the many suffering mothers, Lord: those sick with cancer and other diseases; for those who have to suffer and cry in silence due to lack of concern and understanding by their unfaithful husband or ungrateful children; for those mothers who have to leave home to earn decent living abroad, taking care of somebody else’s children while their own children are left home alone.

We pray, O Lord, for the widows who always feel alone and misunderstood by everyone especially by their grown up children, always trying to put up a front that everything is going well so as not to make others worry.

We pray also for mothers who take care of their sick children who suffer twice even thrice seeing their sons and daughters writhing in pain; bless those mothers who have lost their children for various reasons that shattered all their dreams and hopes for a wonderful future.

We pray, Lord, for mothers left behind by their own families and by the society, living on the streets or in some orphanages, unwanted, unloved. We pray also for mothers-in-law especially those “boxed” by their in-laws.

We pray for the young mothers especially the first-timers at a loss at how to care for their babies, for working mothers trying to juggle motherhood and career.

Do not forget also, Lord, the many mothers who have forgotten their children have their own lives to live too, who have wrongly thought they are always right, manipulating their children who eventually were pushed over the cliff and now lost. Help them and their mothers find their way back to you, O Lord, and to each others’ loving arms.

Bless also, O Lord, all the other mothers who are forced to work under unfavorable conditions due to poverty, for mothers languishing in jails especially the innocent ones, for mothers into some other forms of crusades and advocacies nobody cares.

Lastly, we pray for us all children and for the husbands too that we may keep in mind only you, O God, can love perfectly. A mother’s love is always imperfect but no matter how defective it may be, it is the best love she can give. Help us create a room for our mother’s imperfections filled with your divine love that would console them, soothe them, and make them feel they are loved and appreciated. Amen.

St. Monica with her son St. Augustine. She died at the age of 56, always depicted dressed like a nun with a black habit to symbolise her being a widow.

Our Joy In Mary As Mother

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Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in France.  Photo by my former student at ICSB-Malolos, Architect Philip Santiago during his pilgrimage there last September.  Used with permission.

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Monday, 11 February 2019, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
Isaiah 66:10-14///John 2:1-11

            God our loving Father, when your Son Jesus Christ came to save us, He did not only give Himself for us but even gave us His Mother, Mary to be our Mother too.  How wonderful that three years before His “hour” on the Cross, Jesus showed us a glimpse of His immense love for us through His mother at the wedding feast of Cana.

            His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn.2:5).

            Most of all, what is most beautiful on this memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes when she appeared there in 1858 to St. Bernadette Soubirous as the Immaculate Conception, we also celebrate today the World Day of the Sick to remind us “to see in our sick brothers and sisters the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and rising, achieved the salvation of humankind” as per St. John Paul II in his later on May 13, 1992.

            Help us O Lord to do whatever you tell us especially for the sick, giving them comfort “like a mother to her son so that their bodies shall fluorish like the grass” (Is.66:13-14).  May we be a mother like Mary to everyone, always “concerned” with the good of each one like during that wedding at Cana.

            O what a joy indeed for us to have Mary as our Mother too like a spring leading us to Jesus who refreshes us, heals us, and frees us.  Amen.  Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Praying For Mothers with St. Monica

santa-monica
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe-Prayer
Monday, 27 August 2018, Memorial of St. Monica
2Thessalonians 1:1-5,11-12///Matthew 23:13-22

             God our loving Father, today we pray with St. Monica the mother of St. Augustine for all mothers, those still alive and those whom you have called to join you in heaven.  Thank you very much for the gift of mother whom we have always taken for granted!  They must truly be your most special creation of all.  Mothers came later because you have to bless them with so much to be able to conceive us, carry us, deliver us, nurture us and always care for us.  Thank you very much God for the mothers who bear with us even if everyone, including our own father and siblings have given up on us.

             Please bless mothers who are sick, those who suffer in pain and anguish alone and in silence.  Heal them in their body, heart, mind and soul.  Be their strength in their weakness and their company in their loneliness.  Enlighten their minds and their hearts especially those mothers who have to work for a living.  We pray in a special manner for the single-mothers, by choice or by circumstances.

             Through St. Monica, we pray for mothers with problematic husband and children to always have faith in you, to never lose hope their loved ones would still be converted.  Give them the grace like St. Monica to “forget the past and push on to the future” (from today’s Office of Readings), that like the Thessalonians, all mothers may keep longing for what is good (1:11).

              Likewise, we pray for the mothers who have died.  Grant them eternal rest especially those who have persevered while here on earth to lead their children and others closer to you. The mothers who have been true and not hypocrite like those condemned today by Jesus in the gospel, so concerned only with what is external and not important.  Reward them with eternal peace and joy through Jesus Christ your Son who lives and reigns with you in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria,Bulacan 3022 (Photo from Google:  St. Monica with her son, St. Augustine.)