O God, You Who Are All-powerful

Prayer to obtain the virtues

O God, you who are all-powerful and all-knowing, without beginning or end, the giver and sustainer of the virtues, deign to establish me on the firm ground of faith, and be protected by the impregnable shield of hope, and be adorned with the wedding garment of charity.

Give me the grace

through justice to be subject to you, through prudence to avoid the deceptions of the devil, through temperance to hold fast to the middle way, through fortitude to bear adversity with patience.

Give me the good I do not have, and the grace humbly to seek from others. who have.

May I reproach myself honestly for the evil of the wrong I have done

and bear calmly the evil of the punishment brought upon myself.

May I not begrudge what my neighbor possesses, but always give thanks for your good things.

May I always be disciplined in the way I dress, the way I walk, and the gestures I use.

Restrain my tongue from idle talk, prevent my feet from running this way and that, keep my eyes from wandering glances, protect my ears from rumors.

Lower my gaze in humility, raise my mind to heavenly things, let me disdain all that passes and yearn for you only.

Grant that I may subdue my flesh, purify my conscience, honor the saints, praise you worthily, make progress in doing good, and end a life of good works with a holy death.

Plant in me, Lord, the virtues so that I may be devout in divine matters, prudent in human affairs, and burdensome to no one in the care of my own body.

Grant me, Lord, fervor in contrition, integrity in confession, and complete reparation.

Deign to set in order my inner self by a good life so that I may do what is right and what will be meritorious for me and be an example for others.

Grant that I may never be over-hasty in undertaking tasks or lazy in avoiding them lest I try to begin things too soon or try to abandon them before they are completed. Amen.