Thanks to Pope Francis, today we celebrate the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly for the first time. According to the decision of the Holy Father, the Church celebrates the world day on the Sunday close to the liturgical memorial day of the bodily grandparents of Jesus Christ, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. Below you can read the prayer for World Day.
Prayer for the World Day of Grandparents and Elderly
I thank you, Lord,
for the comfort of your presence:
even in times of loneliness,
you are my hope and trust,
you are my rock and I have waited since my youth!
Thank you for giving me a family
and for blessing me with a long life.
I thank you for the moments of joy and hardship,
for the dreams that have already come true in my life,
and for the dreams that are yet to come.
Thank you for this period of renewed fertility
to which you invite me.
Increase my faith, Lord,
make me an instrument of your peace,
teach me to embrace all those who suffer more than me,
grant that I never stop dreaming
and telling new generations about your miracles.
Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church
so that the light of the Gospel reaches the ends of the earth.
Send your Holy Spirit, Lord, to renew the world,
to calm the storm of the pandemic,
to comfort the poor and to end wars.
Be my support in the weakness of old age and help me
to live fully in every moment that You give me,
in the certainty that You are with me every day,
until the end of the world.
Amen.
(The prayer was translated by the Hungarian Liturgical and Church Music Institute.)
(Cover image source: jatektenger.hu)
