In Solidarity with our Indigenous Peoples our schools have been asked to read the following prayer on December 12th.
The Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council has released a prayer of thanksgiving for families to mark the 2016 National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. The Aboriginal Council and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops have promoted the annual National Day of Prayer since 2002. It is celebrated on December 12, the memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom Pope Pius XII proclaimed patroness of the Americas in 1946. The devotion dates to 1531 when the Blessed Mother appeared as an Aztec princess to a humble Aboriginal peasant, Saint Juan Diego, at a place called the Hill of Tepeyac, which eventually became part of Villa de Guadalupe, a suburb of Mexico City. ADAPTED FROM THE CANADIAN CONFERENCES OF BISHOPS
Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica on December 12 in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe, with prayers especially for the Church in the Americas. The celebration will be accompanied by a number of ancient liturgical hymns composed in various Indigenous languages from Central America.
Prayer for Families
O Great Creator, we give praise and thanks to you for our lives and for our families. Your gift to us of human community is one of your greatest blessings.
We thank you for our Elders – our grandfathers and grandmothers -whose patience and wisdom guide our lives.
We thank you for our fathers and mothers, who by giving their love to each other bring us into the world, nurturing and leading us.
We thank you for our brothers and sisters, with whom we come to know what sharing and caring really means.
We thank you for young people, whose hope for a better world energizes and inspires us.
We thank you for the little ones – the children – whose innocence and promise bring gladness and joy.
O Creator, may our families always be that blessed and first community that we honour and cherish. As you continue to make all things new, may we hear your invitation – in all creation – to receive and share all that is good and true with each other.
O God, we also face many challenges and crises in our lives and world. May our families continue be the first and constant community that shows us how to live intimately and respectfully with all people, and all Creation.
May all Glory, Praise, Honour and Thanksgiving be shown to you, Father of all mercies and compassion, Jesus Saviour and Guardian of our souls, and Spirit of peace and communion.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen