Praying for Light, Love, and Protection

Bathe us in the Light of your Eucharist, Lord 

Envelop us in the Living Heart of your Love

Pour Hope, Health, and Healing over us and into us, Lord

Refresh our spirit with your Holy Spirit, Lord.

Renew our faith and Grant us your peace

Prayerful Reflections

Praying this prayer daily for myself, my family, those I know, and the world, has helped me weather the anxiety of social isolation and fears of illness. It has helped me navigate personal sorrow and heartrending illnesses in those I love.

Before getting out of bed each day, just before sleep at night, and frequently in between, I pray this prayer, inserting the names into each clause, going through first my immediate family, then (my rather large) extended family, my friends, those I care for, my community, and the world. It is a concrete way to daily entrust those I love into the arms of a good and gracious God, one who loves us abundantly and is with us always.
 

Bathe us in the Light of your Eucharist, Lord

For this part of the prayer, I visualize my Mom sitting on our front porch on every sunny Seattle day she could find--and let's face it, in the perpetual drizzle of the Northwest, she had to really search for those days, cherishing each one. I can never forget the sight of her sitting with her back to the warm bricks, her face raised to the sun, eyes closed, bathed in the glory of light. 

I visualize my parish church, with the light streaming through the windows as our pastor Father Tim elevates the Host at the consecration of the Mass. I prayerfully ask for that grace-filled-moment, present every day in every church across the world, to warm our lives, light our paths, and illumine a darkened world. 

Note: for those who are not Catholic, please feel free to substitute, Bathe us in your Light, oh Lord. 

Envelop us in the Living Heart of your Love

The insight for this part of the prayer occurred when I accompanied a Catholic nun for whom I care to an ultrasound of her heart. I've always loved this particular medical test, mostly because of the soothing sound of a beating heart. 

This time, as I watched the swirling colors of red and blue flowing into, around, and out of the heart and the tiny heart valves bowing and waving, opening and closing, I thought of the Heart of Jesus, how his heart is identical to our own, identical to the images shown in an ultrasound. Rather than a stilted, Valentines heart pasted upon the image of Jesus, I could instead see a moving, breathing, living, loving heart of God, the vibrant heart He created for each of us, so we might better love him and one another.

When I pray these words, I reflect on the first sound Jesus heard: the sound of his Mother Mary's beating heart. The first sound his mother heard was the beating heart of her mother, and onward backward into history, and forward into the lives of each of us. From before we are born, each of us has tiny valves, dancing to the beat of love, waving joyously, oxygenating our lives and our souls. 

In the Easter Season, I sometimes pray "Envelop us in the Resurrected Heart of your Love," imagining the loving embrace of my own mother, her sparkling blue eyes, the unconditional way she loved me (and loves me), no matter what. I meditate on the image of the prodigal son, returning from his far-from-faith, deficient-in-love-choices, to the eternal embrace of his Father, the vibrant exchange of grace and forgiveness. And I imagine myself enveloped in the Heart of all Love, embraced, safe, secure, without fear and sorrow, imbued with faith, blessed by grace.

Pour Hope and Health and Healing over us and into us, Lord

Here I imagine a beautiful set of waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, called Multnomah Falls. The water cascades down the cliffs, filling the river basin below with water and mist. High above, a bridge has been built over the divide, a place where one can walk to see up close the glory of this life-giving water and hear the roar and feel the wonder of its passing.

When I pray these words, I remember how empty I often feel, how worry, anxiety, sadness, and grief weigh me down. My personal sorrow leaves my countenance thirsting for healing, desperate for hope. I pray for an abundance of life-saving water , a renewal of hope, and outpouring of God's healing mercy to flow over and into me and those I love. I pray to be immersed in faith.  Here I reflect on the sacrament of baptism, where cleansing water is poured from an earthen vessel over our littlest ones and grace is welcomed home.  

Refresh our spirit with your Holy Spirit, Lord.

Here, I ask to be refreshed in spirit and blessed by the Holy Spirit.  I ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit into my life and the lives of my loved ones. During the days , months, and years in which my soul feels parched and dry, I ask for the groundwaters of God's Grace to saturate me.  I pray for the cracked, arid, soil of my soul to be rained upon, softened, sifted, ready to grow. 

Renew our faith... and Grant us your peace

I ask God, each day, to renew my faith and the faith of my family members, those I love, and all people, everywhere.  I ask for the peace of God, which "surpasses all understanding" to dwell in us and in our incarnate world. 

A  Prayer for Protection

Dearest Lord,

Send your Angels, the Saints, and our dearly departed loved ones

To Guard us, Guide us, and Protect us, Lord 

To Keep us Safe from all Harm

And to lead us, with joy, on the path to eternal life 

I love to be specific in my prayers, often with this prayer I will pray it with the particular names of family members and loved ones. For example, I might pray, "Bathe so and so in the light of your Eucharist, Lord, envelop him in the living heart of your love." "Pour your waters of hope and health and healing over her, Lord. "

Then I continue, asking God to send the archangels Michael, and Gabriel and Raphael, the Guardian Angels of those for whom I pray, and the angels from the churches nearby their homes to guard and guide and protect them that day and every day. I pray for my friends who are Saints, like Mother Teresa and John Paul the Second, and Maximillian Kolbe, and Francis Cabrini, and the patron saint of the person I am praying for, to join us in prayer. 

And I invite those who have "gone before us in the sign of faith," including my mom Julie and my Grandma Dennehy, my friend and mentor Katie McKay, and all my loved ones who have died,  to join me in prayer for those we all love, to guard and guide and protect them, and keep them safe from all harm, and lead them, with joy, on the path to eternal life.