O Divine Savior!
I thank You for having perpetuated Your humble,
obedient, self-sacrificing
and recollected silence of Nazareth in the tabernacle.
How Your example puts me to shame!
Forgive me for my bold, self-seeking,
and superficial talkativeness.
Teach me to understand the words:
In silence and in hope shall your strength be.
Heavenly Father, You blessed the Virgin Mary
with the fullness of grace.
She is my model of faith, hope and love.
I give this new year to her intercession
and ask for her holy prayers.
O Angel of God, my blessed protector,
to whose care I have been committed by my Creator
from the moment of my birth,
unite with me in thanking the Almighty
for having given me a friend,
and instructor,
an advocate,
and a guardian in You.
O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
Truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness.
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest
Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech.
O heavenly angel,
lead me safely through this world of sin and misery;
watch over me at the hour of my death;
perform for my soul the last charitable office of you mission,
by strengthening, encouraging, and supporting me
in the agonies of dissolution, and then,
as the angel Raphael conducted Tobias safely to his father,
We long for You, Oh Spirit of Light,
we long to know God,
we want to be one with Him,
our Divine God.
We want to be one with the Father,
know Him as a Person most intimately.
We want to know the beloved One,
the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
and live and dwell in Him at all times,
every moment of our lives.
We want to be one with You,
Blessed are You, loving Father,
for all your gifts to us.
Blessed are You for giving us family and friends
to be with us in times of joy and sorrow,
to help us in days of need,
and to rejoice with us in moments of celebration.
Happy those whose offense is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy those to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
I kept it secret and my frame was wasted.
I groaned all day long,
for night and day your hand was heavy upon me.
Indeed my strength was dried up
as by the summer's heat.
Almighty God and Father of light,
a child is born for us
and a son is given to us.
Your eternal Word leaped down from heaven
in the silent watches of the night,
and now your Church is filled with wonder
at the nearness of her God.
Open our hearts to receive his life
and increase our vision with the rising of dawn,
God of endless ages,
Father of all goodness,
we keep vigil for the dawn of salvation
and the birth of your Son.
With gratitude we recall his humanity,
the life he shared with the sons of men.
May the power of his divinity help us answer his call
to forgiveness and life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.