Prayers for the New Year

Kate Taliaferro shares her go-to method (including free downloads) for memorizing a new prayer every month of the year.

I have never attempted the St. Andrew Novena until this Advent season. The novena, traditionally started on St. Andrew’s feast day which is Nov. 30, actually runs for 25 days - Nov. 30-Dec. 24. Not only is this a longer than usual novena (novenas are usually nine days long), it is also a rather demanding novena. You pray the same prayer 15 times each day.

I really wanted to spread the 15 times throughout the day, filling my whole day with prayer, rather than sitting down and saying the same prayer 15 times in one sitting. To accomplish this, I found a simple version of the prayer to put on my phone as a lock screen and had a counter widget that I could click to keep track of where I was during the day.

I did not expect to love this novena as much as I did. I found myself praying it almost without thinking. Do you know how you will be singing a song in your head for a while but not be fully conscious of it, and then you suddenly realize you’re singing along? That’s what was happening. These words were becoming a part of me, even deeper than fully conscious thought. I had LASIK surgery during the second half of Advent, and the whole time I was having the procedure, this prayer was running through my head over and over and over. It kept me calm; it kept me secure in myself.

Advent is now over, and I’m feeling a hole in my headspace. This prayer has blessed me so greatly, I think I want to find a way to continue with something similar. Perhaps you had a similar experience with the novena. Or perhaps you would like to try a similar prayer style for the new year. I’m putting together a list of prayers and Scriptures that I can intensely focus on for each month of 2023. One prayer at a time, 15 times a day, just like the St. Andrew Novena.

Here’s what I’ve come up with. If you are interested in wallpapers featuring these prayers, I’ve created free versions on my blog, Daily Graces. It wasn’t too difficult to do if you want to create your own as well. It was actually rather fun picking out colors and personalizing each prayer to reflect a vibe for the month. I used the free version of Canva to create the images.

Click to tweet:
These words were becoming a part of me, even deeper than fully conscious thought. #catholicmom

January: The Holy Name of Jesus

Philippians 2:5-11

February: The Holy Family

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
in you we contemplate
the splendour of true love; to you we turn with trust.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that our families too
may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel
and small domestic churches.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
may families never again experience violence, rejection and division;
may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
make us once more mindful
of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan.
 Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Graciously hear our prayer.
Amen. (Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, 325)

March: St. Joseph

Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so prompt, so strong,
before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.
Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession,
and obtain for me from your Divine Son
all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power,
I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers.

Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms;
I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart.
Press him in my name and kiss his fine head for me and
ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, patron of departing souls - pray for me.
Amen.

April: The Holy Spirit

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit,
that my work too may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,
that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me. O Holy Spirit,
to defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,
that I always may be holy. (St. Augustine)

May: The Blessed Virgin Mary

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Loving Mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting, have pity on us poor sinners. Amen.

June: Sacred Heart of Jesus

O most holy heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing,
I adore You, I love You, and with lively sorrow for my sins
I offer You this poor heart of mine.
Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to Your will.
Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in You and for You.
Protect me in the midst of danger.
Comfort me in my afflictions.
Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs,
Your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death.
Amen. (Daily Devotion to the Sacred Heart by the Priests of the Sacred Heart)

July: Precious Blood of Jesus

Almighty, and everlasting God,
who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world,
and hast been pleased to be reconciled unto us by His Blood,
grant us, we beseech Thee,
so to venerate with solemn worship the price of our salvation,
that the power thereof may here on earth keep us from all things hurtful,
and the fruit of the same may gladden us for ever hereafter in heaven.
Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

August: The Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy,
ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer.
As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son.
Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today, especially ...(special intention).
We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer.
We trust to your gentle care and intercession those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting.
Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever. Amen. (Part of the 9-day Novena to the Veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)

September: Our Lady of Sorrows

O most holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ:
by the overwhelming grief you experienced when you witnessed the martyrdom, the crucifixion,
and death of your divine Son,
look upon me with eyes of compassion,
and awaken in my heart a tender commiseration for those sufferings,
as well as a sincere detestation of my sins,
in order that being disengaged from all undue affection for the passing joys of this earth,
I may sigh after the eternal Jerusalem,
and that henceforward all my thoughts and all my actions
may be directed towards this one most desirable object.
Honor, glory, and love to our divine Lord Jesus, and to the holy and immaculate Mother of God. Amen.

October: The Holy Rosary

Hail, Holy Queen

November: The Holy Souls in Purgatory

Eternal Father,
I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses  said throughout the world today,
for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family.
Amen. (Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great)

December: St. Andrew’s Novena

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

Download free phone-wallpaper images for all these prayers at DailyGraces.net.

Copyright 2022 Kate Taliaferro
Images: Canva; prayer illustrations copyright 2022 Kate Taliaferro, all rights reserved.