On this special day in which we celebrate grandparents and the elderly we pray for Mary, Mother of all the living, to keep grandparents constantly in her care.
The Dicastery for the Laity, Family and life have released a prayer for the first world day for Grandparents and the Elderly along with this we also have a prayer by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI that holds up grandparents and the elderly as a source of enrichment for families, for the Church and for all of society. As well as these prayers, here you will find prayers to Saints Joachim and Anne – the grandparents of Jesus.
Prayer: Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life
I thank You, Lord,
for the comfort of Your presence:
even in times of loneliness,
You are my hope and my confidence,
You have been my rock and my fortress since my youth!
I thank You for having given me a family
and for having blessed me with a long life.
I thank You for moments of joy and difficulty,
for the dreams that have already come true in my life and for
those that are still ahead of me.
I thank You for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which You
call me.
Increase, O Lord, my faith,
make me a channel of your peace,
teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me,
to never stop dreaming
and to tell of your wonders to new generations.
Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church,
that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.
Send Your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world,
that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed,
the poor consoled and wars ended.
Sustain me in weakness
and help me to live life to the full
in each moment that You give me,
in the certainty that you are with me every day,
even until the end of the age.
Amen.
Lord Jesus,
you were born of the Virgin Mary.
the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne.
Look with love on grandparents the world over.
Protect them! They are a source of enrichment for families, for the Church and for all of society.
Support them as they grow older.
May they continue to be for their families strong pillars of Gospel faith,
guardians of noble domestic ideals, living treasuries of sound religious traditions.
Make them teachers of wisdom and courage,
that they may pass on to future generations the fruits of their mature human and spiritual experience.
Lord Jesus,
help families and society to value the presence and role of grandparents.
May they never be ignored or excluded, but always encounter respect and love.
Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed in all the years of life which you give them.
Mary, Mother of all the living,
keep grandparents constantly in your care, accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage,
and by your prayers, grant that all families may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland,
where you await all humanity for the great embrace of life without end.
Amen
Saint Anne and Saint Joachim,
you were especially favoured by God,
on the threshold of the New Testament,
to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
You provided your daughter
with a loving home, family and faithful teaching,
and brought her up
to be the worthy Mother of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Your way of parenting was for her an example
to bring forth the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus,
treasuring all things in her heart. (cf. Lk 2.19, 51)
Your faith laid the foundation of courage and strength
that allowed Mary to stand by the Cross as her son was crucified
and to still believe. (cf. Jn 19.25-27)
In communion with Mary and Joseph,
intercede to your grandson Jesus for all parents,
so that they may help their children, to grow in strength and in knowledge
and to discover the mission that God entrusts to them
in the world and in the Church.
Good Saint Anne,
Mother of Mary, the Blessed one among women, (cf. Luke 1.42)
you were thanked by the newcomers on this glorious and free land
for your protecting intercession during their uncertain voyage across the ocean.
and you were invoked by them
in their trials and in establishing new homes and traditions.
Intercede for all our families
so that, through the help of the Holy Spirit,
we may grow together in peace and understanding
and make our home hospitable to our visitors and guests.
May we persevere, like you, in the love of Jesus and Mary
and live pure and blameless lives in the sight of God.
Grandmother of Jesus, our Saviour,
you were honoured by the First Nations people of this land
in your role of nurturing him and bring him up to maturity.
Intercede for all grandmothers,
so that they may nurture their grandchildren with love and wisdom,
teaching them to find their way in life
and to be right in word and in deed.
Gentle Saint Joachim,
Father of the Virgin Handmaid of the Lord, (cf. Luke 1.38)
Grandfather of Jesus,
among your descendants, you had the privilege
to count the One whom your own ancestors longed to see,
the long expected Messiah.
Intercede for all elders and grandfathers,
who worked hard on this land, defending its integrity,
and who grew old in the service of the Almighty.
May God grant them
to benefit from their remaining strength,
to share the wealth of their experience and wisdom
and to enter his Kingdom at the end of their earthly time.
Good Saint Anne and Saint Joachim,
Parents of Mary, the “favoured one,” (Luke 1.28)
accompany us, in our faith journey on this land,
to the glory and praise of God,
now and for ever and ever.
Amen
Prayer to St. Anne and St. Joachim from Blessings and Prayers for Home and Family
© Concacan Inc., 2004. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with permission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
British Sign Language (BSL) version.
Film of our podcast on grandparents and the elderly.
