For many of us, mornings are not our best time of the day. We wake up and the upcoming day’s obligations can overwhelm us, tempting us to go back in bed and not even start.
Yet, it doesn’t have to be like this.
Many of the saints would begin the day, not dreading it, but embracing the many challenges it would bring and offering them to God. They recognized the sufferings they would endure, but instead of letting troubles affect them, they lifted them up to God, achieving a sense of freedom they wouldn’t normally have.
St. Therese of Lisieux was one of those saints who began each day with a heartfelt morning offering. This was in part due to her membership in the Apostleship of Prayer (now known as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network), an organization that stresses the need to offer all of your thoughts, words, and deeds to God, for the intention of the Holy Father. It is a way to unite yourself to the Heart of Jesus, and participate in his mission of mercy.
She composed her own prayer, one that clearly displays the deep love she had for God and can inspire us as we start our day, seeing our lives in a broader context.
If you are feeling uninspired as you wake up in the morning, consider praying this prayer by St. Therese of Lisieux.
O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits ; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.
O my God! I ask thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in Heaven for all Eternity. Amen.
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