Sunday Offering Prayer

Dear God,

Today is Sunday, Your holy day, and I want to give it all to You.

I offer You all my prayers, my little works, my joys, and even anything hard that comes today. I join them to the merits of Jesus, to the prayers of dear Mother Mary, and to all the Saints in Heaven.

I praise You, dear God, because You are my almighty Creator. You made me, and You made everything that lives. I honor Jesus, who came down from Heaven and became Man for us, and I love Him for being born so poor and gentle in Bethlehem.

I thank You for my holy Guardian Angel, and for all the Angels and Saints who help us and pray for us.

Thank You for creating me, dear Lord. Thank You for watching over me, even when I do not notice it. Thank You for keeping me safe from many sins, dangers, temptations, and troubles.

Please give me a strong and faithful heart. Help me want what You want. Bless and protect Your Holy Catholic Church. And when my life is finished someday, please bring me safely home to Heaven.

I am sorry for all my sins, especially for anything I have done that hurt the Faith or made me less loving toward You. I also pray for the souls of my departed friends and benefactors, especially the ones who are forgotten and have no one to pray for them.

Please take this Sunday, dear God, and make it a little offering of praise, thanksgiving, sorrow, and love.  

Amen.

This prayer comes from a very small and beautiful Catholic prayer book printed in Augsburg, Germany, in 1776, titled Auserlesenes Gebethbüchlein, meaning “A Choice Little Prayer Book.” It includes morning and evening prayers, prayers for Confession and Holy Communion, litanies, and other daily devotions. First prepared for the young nobility of Austria and later published for all Catholics, the book contains old German blackletter pages, delicate devotional engravings, and Church approval pages showing the prayers had been examined and approved in Augsburg in 1752. Nearly 250 years later, these prayers are being gently translated into clear English by Sister Mary Claire for Kathy at Camp Littlemore Farm, so they may once again be prayed slowly and reverently.