A MORNING OFFERING

What’s the best thing you can give God first thing in your day? A Morning offering! Although people have started their day with fervent prayers to God for centuries, this first Morning offering below, or perhaps one of its variations, is the best known today. It was composed by Father Francois Xavier Gaulrelet in 1844 for his Apostleship of Prayer which he founded that year.

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.

This prayer truly offers God everything in our day, good and bad, while reminding us of the importance of praying for others, with the help of our Blessed Mother, including our bishops and our Holy Father. They can all certainly use our prayers these days!

The Apostleship of Prayer once wrote on their website that, “Pope John Paul II once said that the practice of praying the Morning Offering is ‘of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful.’ It is a daily reminder to make our entire day, our whole life ‘a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’ (Romans 12: 1).” In doing so we are also joining our sacrifice with that of our Lord both in His Passion and in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!

You can use one of these prayers as a morning offering as well:

My God, I adore You, and I love You with all my heart. I thank you for having created me, made me a Christian, and preserved me this night. I offer You the actions of this day. Grant that all of them may be in accordance with Your holy Will and for Your greater glory. Protect me from sin and from all evil. Let Your grace be always with me and with all my dear ones. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, in union with that divine intention with which You offered to God Your praises on earth through Your most Sacred Heart, and now offer them in the Sacrament of the Eucharist everywhere even to the end of time, I most gladly offer You throughout this entire day, all my thoughts and intentions, all my affections and desires, all my words and deeds, in imitation of the most holy heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate. Amen.

Into Thy hands, O God, we commend ourselves this day, and all those who are dear to us. Let the gift of thy wonderful presence be with us even to the end of the day. Grant that we never lose sight of Thee all the day long, but rather praise and beseech Thee, that our thanks may come to thee again at its close. Amen

This eloquent Morning Offering comes from the Little Flower St. Therese.

O my God ! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits ; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.

O my God! I ask thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in Heaven for all Eternity. Amen.

And finally, this prayer is resonant of her Morning Offering especially in its last line, “let my last heartbeat be an act of perfect love” which calls to mind her words “I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart”:

Lord Jesus, I unite myself to Your perpetual, unceasing, universal Sacrifice. I offer myself to You every day of my life and every moment of every day, according to Your most holy and adorable Will. Since You have been the Victim of my salvation, I wish to be the victim of Your love. Accept my desire, take my offering, and graciously hear my prayer. Let me live for love of You; let me die for love of You; let my last heartbeat be an act of perfect love.

We hope that one of these prayers can give your day a good start for whatever challenges, and hopefully rewards, may follow!