Christmas Prayer

Merciful and eternal God, heavenly Father! we Thy children thank Thee
from the depth of our hearts that Thou didst so faithfully keep Thy
promise and turn to us Thy kind and paternal heart, didst send unto us
Thine only-begotten Son, the highest Good, to be our Saviour, and to
assume our human nature, and thus didst render us acceptable through Thy
Beloved. O Lord Jesus! Thou eternal Son of God, we honor, praise and
glorify Thee, that Thou to-day didst become our brother and Emmanuel,
that is: God with us, didst out of unspeakable love befriend us and
clothe Thyself with our poor flesh and blood. Thou didst in nowise assume
the nature of angels, but didst honor the seed of Abraham, our human
nature, this poor earth, wretched ashes and worthless dust even so much
as to connect Thyself personally and inseparably with the same to all
eternity. Thou wast conceived holy and without sin, and born into this
world of a pure and chaste virgin; whereby Thou didst sanctify and
consecrate our Adamic, sinful and impure conception and birth, so that it
may not be harmful to us who by nature are children of wrath, conceived
in sin, and flesh born of flesh. Thou wast born in a stable, poor and
lowly; Thou in a manger didst lie, in poverty great, and of Thy crib,
though hard, no offence didst take, in order that Thou couldst enrich our
souls and make us lords in Thy heavenly mansion. Thou didst humble
Thyself, in order to exalt us; Thou didst appear upon earth, in order
that we in turn might come unto Thee in heaven. O God, Holy Spirit! our
most exalted teacher and comforter, we to-day offer unto Thee the
sacrifices of our lips and thank Thee with our hearts that Thou didst
reveal this exalted mystery of godliness; and as the angels proclaimed it
to the shepherds and chanted it on the plain, so let it still be preached
unto us through Thy Word and its servants. Glory be to Thee, O God the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost! in the highest, peace on earth and good will
towards men. Help, O faithful God and father! that we may be partakers of
the new birth of Thy dear Son, be relieved of our old sinful nature, and
be and remain new born children of Thy grace and heirs of Thy kingdom. My
Jesus, whom I count most dear, a clean soft bed prepare Thou here, to
take within my heart Thy rest, so shall I hold Thy memory best. Grant, O
God, Holy Spirit! that thus our Saviour be now and forevermore
spiritually born and developed within us. Help also, that by virtue of
this birth we may rejoice and be comforted amidst all temptations,
patiently endure and overcome all things, and with all the angels of God
praise, honor and glorify Thee, here in time and in heaven forever. Amen.

Christmas Prayer for Children #5

Ah! dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee. Amen.

Christmas Prayer for Children #4

Precious Babe of Bethlehem,
Gift of love to sinful men,
Thou, our Savior, Lord, and King--
May we all Thy praises sing! Amen.

Christmas Prayer for Children #3

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
  Descend to us, we pray;
  Cast out our sin and enter in.
  Be born in us to-day. Amen.

Christmas Prayer #2

Lord our God,
the heavens are the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars you made;
the earth and the sea,
and every living creature came into being by your word.
And all of us, too.
May this tree bring cheer to this house
though Jesus Christ your good and holy Son,
who brings life and beauty to us and to our world.
Lighting this tree, we hope in his promise.

Amen.

Christmas Anticipation Prayer

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
in which the Son of God was born
of the most pure Virgin Mary,
at midnight,
in Bethlehem,
in the piercing cold.
In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God,
to hear my prayer and grant my desires,

[State your intention(s) here...]

through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and of His blessed Mother.

Amen.

(Beginning on St. Andrew the Apostle's feast day, November 30th, the following prayer
is traditionally prayed 15 times a day until Christmas. This is a very meditative prayer
that helps us increase our awareness of the real focus of Christmas and helps us prepare
ourselves spiritually for His coming.)

A Christmas Time Prayer For Country Living

Lord Jesus Christ, when,
on a winter's night I look up through the clear air at the stars,
I can be very close to You
and to Your native Bethlehem.
It was at night that You first came to this earth.
It was under the same stars that now gleam in this night sky
that Mary first held You in her arms.
It was by the faint light of these stars
still shining tonight that the shepherds found their way to the stable,
and discovered You,
as the angels had said they would,
lying in a manger.
Dear Christ,
it is especially at Christmas time
that I see and understand how close You are
to those who live on the land.
We have so many reminders of You!
The stars and moon at night and the sun by day,
the same stars under which You were born;
the same moon that shone that night on Bethlehem;
the same sun that brightened Your first days on earth.
The stable, and the farm animals
that shared their quarters and their warmth with You, their creator.
The sheep and the shepherds that came to adore You,
rough men, but good, truthful, honest, and sincere.
O Jesus, Son of the everlasting God,
You are so wonderfully made one of us at Christmas time!
You are our God,
but You are our Brother, too.
You are our King,
but You come as a helpless little baby,
longing for our love.
Help us today and always to see You
in all those with whom we come in contact.
Let us never forget Your own instruction,
that whatever we do for the least of those around us,
we do for You.
Help us always to serve You in the generous,
selfless spirit of this season,
and we shall then be real Christians,
more and more like You, other Christs.

Amen.

Christmas Prayer

Moonless darkness stands between.
Past, the Past, no more be seen!
But the Bethlehem star may lead me
To the sight of Him Who freed me
From the self that I have been.
Make me pure, Lord: Thou art Holy;
Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and always,
Now begin, on Christmas day.

(By Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844-1889.)

A Christmas Day Prayer

Praise to You, Lord God!

You have become one of us.
You have become a human being,
while still retaining all your power and holiness as God!

You, O Lord, made the journey of the unborn child.
By being an embryo, a fetus, and a newborn,
you joined all unborn and newborn children to you!

From the beginning of history, O Lord,
You were the Creator of every human life.
Now, with Christmas,
You join Yourself in an unthinkable way with the life You created.

Let this Christmas, O God,
fill all of us with awe and wonder
at how close human life is to You.
Cleanse the world of all that tarnishes
and rejects this gift.
Purify our hearts of all that fears this gift.

Let our Christmas joy be the joy of welcoming every human life!

Amen!

A Prayer For Those Who Work On Christmas Day

Lord, as I spend today going about my work,
help me to put aside any bitterness
that I'm not celebrating at home with loved ones.
I ask you, Loving Father,
to give me a special sense of your presence as I meet people,
that I may shed on them the light of the Bethlehem Star,
the Spirit of Christmas.

Amen.

A Prayer For Children

God, we pray that through the
intercessions of St. Nicholas
you will guide and protect our children.

Keep them safe from all harm
and help them grow to become
loving disciples of Jesus in your sight.

Give them strength to always mature
into deeper faith in you,
and to keep alive joy in your creation.

Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

—by Father David R. Engbarth, St. Nicholas Church, Aurora, Illinois

Prayers for Children, Schools, Families & more

God of joy and cheer,
we thank you for your servant,
the good bishop Nicholas.
In loving the poor,
he showed us your kindness;
in caring for your children,
he revealed your love.
Make us thoughtful
without need of reward
so that we, too, may be good
followers of Jesus.

Catholic Christmas Collect

Father you make this holy night radiant with the splendor of Jesus Christ our light.

We welcome Him as Lord, true light of the world.

Bring us to eternal joy in the kingdom of heaven where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever.

International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL)

Prayer for Midnight Mass - 2

Lord our God, with the birth of your Son, your glory breaks on the world. Through the night hours of the darkened earth, we your people watch for the coming of your promised Son. As we wait, give us a foretaste of the joy that you will grant us when the fullness of his glory has filled the earth, who lives and reigns with you for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for Midnight Mass

Father, you make this holy night radiant with the splendor of Jesus Christ our light. We welcome him as Lord, the true light of the world. Bring us to eternal joy in the kingdom of heaven, where he lives and reigns wiht you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Christmas Vigil Prayer - 2

God our Father, every year we rejoice as we look forward to this feast of our salvation. May we welcome Christ as our Redeemer, and meet him with confidence when he comes to be our judge, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Christmas Vigil Prayer

God of endless ages, Father of all goodness, we keep vigil for the dawn of salvation and the birth of your Son. With gratitude we recall his humanity, the life he shared with the sons of men. May the power of his divinity help us answer his call to forgiveness and life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Before Breakfast Prayer for Christmas Season

The Word was made flesh, alleluia, alleluia!
And dwelt among us, alleluia, alleluia!

Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad, before the face of the Lord, for He comes. Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christmas Prayer

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel's song, for infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold his glory, and are bathed in its radiance.

Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wisemen. Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen.

The Holy Infancy

Adorable Child Jesus, in you wisdom resides, divinity dwells, and all eternal riches are found. You are the beauty of heaven, the delight of the angels, and the salvation of mankind. Here I am prostrated at your feet, O Source of innocence, purity, and holiness. Although I am a slave of sin, I belong to you by the undeniable right of your sovereignty.

I hereby render to you as my Lord, my King and my dignified and most adorable Savior, my faith and my homage with the shepherds, and my act of adoration with the Magi. I give myself entirely and without restriction into your powerful hands, which drew all the universe from nothingness and preserved it in the admirable order that we see.

O lovable Child, grant that as a result of my total devotion to honoring the mystery of your divine Childhood, I may have the happiness, through the mediation of your holy Mother and St. Joseph, your foster father, to live all the rest of my life in the same manner as you. May I live in you, for you, and under the direction of your divine Spirit, so that not one moment of my life deviates from your will, or forestalls it in any respect, but listens to it and faithfully follows it in every way.