Leila is the author of Raising Chaste Catholic Men: Practical Advice, Mom to Mom. In addition to her own blog, she is a contributor to Catholic Answers Magazine Online. Leila and her husband have eight children and several grandchildren.
Dear God, hear our prayer for [Name of Family] and for all families who have marriages in need of Your urgent and divine assistance. In all things, may Your will be done.
We humbly pray that You bring healing, calm, understanding, joy, peace, and clarity of thinking to all involved in this current situation. We pray that You will remove the pain and hurt in their hearts and strengthen them if they have wavered or lost the desire to heal their marriage. Please instill in them an openness to rehabilitate the relationship, whether or not they feel hope or even if at times they fear that their relationship is long over or decayed beyond repair. Please help them make a new beginning.
Heal the wounds each of the spouses brought into the marriage through their childhoods and through other life experiences. Send others to help them recognize how those wounds can affect their marriage now, and aid them in accepting that help.
Help them recommit to the health of the relationship and begin trusting one another. Drive away fear and pride and give them courage for the road ahead. Give them softened hearts that can listen to one another.
We pray for a mighty introduction and maintenance of hope for all aspects of this relationship, even the deepest and darkest corners. Help them turn away from any temptations and addictions. Where necessary, lead them to experts to help them heal from any addictions, and give them the humility to accept assistance.
Help them focus on You and one another. Infuse them with wisdom about the sacrificial love and suffering needed in marriage. Intervene in any areas of injustice, infidelity, impurity, or any other sins. Help them to forgive, and, as they process past hurts, help them to forgive, again and again.
Help them build a strong disposition of goodwill for all involved and a patience to await Your beautiful work in their marriage. Remind them of the qualities in one another that initially drew them together.
Give anyone who is in danger a respite of safety from which to allow Your work of healing. May all involved receive from You an infusing of knowledge regarding licit options to take, which lead to safety, sobriety, mental health, and protection of provision. May Your healing lead to reconciliation wherever possible.
Remove any forces that separate the couple. May any false promise of counterfeit happiness with anyone else now lose its appeal. Guide them back to a strong marital commitment and rekindle in them the beauty of the marital embrace if it has faded.
We know that many children of divorce face anxiety, hidden and unspoken pain, lack of confidence, lack of protection, and feelings of abandonment and anger. Please help them care for and protect any children, whether unborn, young, or older. Help them strengthen their intact family structure, which was created for the children’s security, mental and emotional development, and moral education. May their children’s well-being motivate them to try even harder and surrender to Your loving guidance. Knowing that divorce causes suffering in the immediate family, the extended family, the circle of friends, the familial generations to come, and society as a whole, help them sustain their marriage as a witness to overcoming difficulties and honoring the marital bond.
Please send with haste solid and faithful friends to stand by them, to share the truth in charity, and to be listening ears and advocates for their marriage. Send people who are faithful to true teachings of marriage, family, and life. May no one in their circle of friends or family contribute to the disintegration of this marriage. Help them to reject and stand against any false support from others who try to convince them that their marriage is irredeemable, hopeless, or too difficult. Help them embrace their marriage, which is a covenant for life. Protect them from believing that abandoning their vows will lead to happiness.
We call the angels, archangels, and saints to duty, to help them. Strengthen and encourage their hearts, and quiet the voices and influence of any people who would drive a wedge between them or who feed the fire of discontent.
May they never surrender to the challenges they encounter. Help them embrace sacrifice and suffering as a path to holiness. We know this is how saints are made and how long-married couples overcome periods of even great difficulty in order to finish their story together, not quitting before the last beautiful chapters are written, as God designed.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
St. Rita of Cascia, pray for us.
St. Monica, pray for us.
St. Thomas More, pray for us.
St. Priscilla, pray for us.
St. Valentine, pray for us.
St. Adelaide of Burgundy, pray for us.
Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, pray for us.
St. Gengulphus of Burgundy, pray for us.
St. Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.
Amen.
Dear Lord, please hear this prayer for [Name of Family], whose marriage needs Your divine assistance. We beg you to remove the pain and hurt in their hearts. Intervene to remove any forces, temptations, or sinfulness that separate the spouses. Infuse peace, joy, patience, understanding, and sacrificial love into the soul and heart of each spouse so as to renew their relationship, both for them and their family. May they turn to You in their time of need, and may they never surrender to the challenges they encounter. May Your mercy and blessing help them spend the rest of their lives together. Let no one contribute to the disintegration of their union. Help both of them love one another anew, and please remove anything that has complicated their relationship. Knowing and trusting that You know what they need, may Your will be done for them and for all such marriages needing Your urgent assistance.
Amen.