For You have mercy upon all, O Lord,
and hate nothing that You have made.
Remember how frail our nature is,
and that You are our Father and our God.
Don’t be angry with us forever,
and stop Your tender mercies in displeasure.
For it is not for our just works
that we present our prayers before You,
but for the multitude of Your tender mercies.
Take away from us, O Lord, our iniquities,
and mercifully kindle in us the fire of Your Holy Spirit.
Take away from us the heart of stone,
and give us a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore You,
a heart to delight in, to follow, and to enjoy You.
And we entreat Your mercy, O Lord,
that You would look down graciously upon Your family,
as it pays its vows to Your most holy name;
and that the desire of none may be in vain,
and the petitions of none unfulfilled,
inspire our prayers, that they may be
to Your delight to hear and answer.
Amen.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.