As Spiritual Advisors and as Formators, we are often called upon to lead prayers, either spontaneously, as part of a meeting or ceremony, or as a dedicated time of prayer with our Conferences and Councils.
For most of us, saying prayers is easy, but it is not always easy to find or to write those prayers, much less to find or write specifically Vincentian prayers.
Luckily, there are some terrific prayer resources available to help!
A wonderful practice for Conferences is to regularly pray the Rosary together. This Marian devotion is Vincentian by its very nature, since the Blessed Mother is the Patroness of the Society! From the National Council website, you can download and print a Vincentian Rosary, which includes meditations on the mysteries with a Vincentian focus. This is available in English and in Spanish.
During Lent, the Stations of the Cross can be an excellent time for shared meditation and prayer, and the Vincentian Stations of the Cross are also available to download and print in English and in Spanish.
For both the Stations and the Rosary, try to assign several people to lead the prayers and meditations when you do them.
For those times that you just need a quick prayer, try 500 Little Prayers for Vincentians, or 500 More Little Prayers for Vincentians (and in June you can also get Another 500 Little Prayers for Vincentians). You can also download 500 and 500 More to read on your phone (they are a little long to print at home.) Sorry, these are English only.
And of course, the Opening and Closing Prayers for Society Meetings should really be used at each meeting. These prayers are available in Spanish or English, and they appear on the cards, in the Manual, and can either be downloaded or ordered in print.
- Manual (EN) Print Download
- Manual (ES) Print Download
- Meeting Prayers (EN) Print Download
- Meeting Prayers (EN) Print Download
You can find even more prayers on the web site to download, or to order in print.
Spiritual Advisors and Formators play a key role in what the Rule calls “Promoting a life of prayer and reflection, both at the individual and community level, sharing with their fellow members.” [Rule, Part I, 2.2] These simple tools will help you to do that!