O Most Blessed and Sweet Virgin Mary

A prayer to the most blessed Virgin Mary

O most blessed and sweet Virgin Mary, Mother of God, filled with all tenderness, Daughter of the most high King, Lady of the Angels, Mother of all believers, on this day and all the days of my life I entrust to your merciful heart my body and my soul, all my acts, thoughts, choices, desires, words, deeds, my entire life, so that through your prayerful intercession all may be ordered to good according to the will of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be to me, my most holy Lady, a helper and comforter against the traps and snares of the age-old enemy and of all my enemies.

Ask for me, from your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the grace strongly to resist the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and always to have a firm resolve to sin no more, and to persevere in your service and in the service of your beloved Son.

My most holy Lady, I also beseech you to obtain for me true obedience and true humility of heart so that I may know myself for the weak and wretched sinner I am, unable by myself not only to do the least good work but also to resist the unrelenting assaults of evil without the help and grace of my Creator and without your holy prayers.

Obtain for me also, O my most sweet Lady, perpetual chastity of mind and body so that with a pure heart and a chaste body I may be strengthened to serve you and your beloved Son in your Order.

From him obtain for me the grace to accept voluntary poverty with patience and calmness of mind so that I may be strengthened to endure the labors of this Order, working for my own salvation and that of my neighbors.

Obtain for me as well O most sweet Lady genuine charity that with all my heart I may love your most holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and, after him, love you above all other things, and love my neighbor in God and because of God, so that I may rejoice in my neighbor’s goodness and grieve over his evil, despising no one and judging no one rashly, and never in my heart exalting myself over anyone.

Grant also, O Queen of Heaven, that ever in my heart I may have love and fear alike for your most sweet Son, and may I give thanks always for the many blessings bestowed on me, not because of any merits of my own but because of his kindness, and may I make a good and sincere confession of my sins, and be truly repentant so that I may be worthy to obtain his grace and mercy.

I pray also that, at the end of my life, you, Mother without compare, Gate of Heaven and Advocate of sinners, will not allow me, your unworthy servant, to stray from the holy Catholic faith but that you will assist me with your great kindness and mercy and defend me from evil spirits and obtain for me, through the blessed and glorious passion of your Son, and through your own intercession, received in hope, the forgiveness of my sins.

And, when I die in your love, and in his love, may you direct me into the way of salvation and blessedness. Amen.