Skip to the text
Ember
PT

Morning Offering — Heroic Minute

Opus Dei (Heroic Minute)

2 min

At the fixed hour, rise without hesitation. Kiss the floor and say aloud:

I will serve!

Sérviam!

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Offering of Works

Now offer the day — its work, its prayer, its contradictions — for God's glory.

I adore you, my God, and I love you with all my heart. I thank you for having created me, made me a Christian and kept me in this night. I offer you the actions of the day: grant that all of them may be according to your holy will and for your greater glory. Preserve me from sin and from all evil. May your grace be always with me and with all my loved ones. Amen.

And to seal the offering:

All for the glory of God!

Deo omnis glória!

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

About this prayer

The morning act in the spirit of St. Josemaría Escrivá — rising at the fixed time without hesitation, kissing the floor with *Serviam!*, and offering the day of ordinary work to God.

History

St. Josemaría Escrivá taught the *minuto heroico* in *The Way* §206 — the heroic minute is the time fixed for getting up: *without hesitation, a supernatural reflection and… up!* The first conscious act of the day is *Serviam!* — *I will serve!* — answering the *non serviam* of pride. The offering of works that follows is the household prayer he learned from his mother and kept all his life — adoration, thanks for the night, and the day's *actions* handed over before they are known.

How to pray it

When the alarm sounds, rise at once. Kiss the floor (or the place by the bed) and say aloud: *Serviam!* Sign yourself, and then make the offering of works standing — handing over the actions of the day before you know what they will be. Close with *Deo omnis gloria!*

St. Josemaría Escrivá, *The Way* (Camino) §206 — the *minuto heroico*; *Serviam!* and *Deo omnis gloria!* aspirations from Opus Dei spiritual tradition. Offering text is the customary *ofrecimiento de obras* of the *Pocket Prayer Book* (offering-of-works), the prayer St. Josemaría learned from his mother — not the Apostleship of Prayer formula, which belongs to a different devotion.

Found in