Meditation on God’s Gifts

Prayer for the Household

Omnipotent and merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Your most wise judgment, You instituted the household in addition to the ministry of the church and the rule of government. I praise You and beg You with my whole heart to guard this holy nursery of church and republic. Grant to married and unmarried widows and widowers, true holiness of soul and chastity of body. May the unmarried depend completely on You (1 Corinthians 7:34). May those who have been widowed continue in prayer day and night (1 Timothy 5:5). May husband and wife highly esteem each other with sincere love (Ephesians 5:25). May all serve You in righteousness and holiness with their whole heart. May the marriage bed be undefiled (Hebrew 13:4) and every soul unstained. May all who believe be violets of humility and lilies of chastity. May they be roses of charity and balsams of sanctity.

Bind together with the bond of chaste love the hearts of the pious who are married so they embrace each other willingly and continue in Your holy service. Guard them from the plots of Asmodeus (Tobit 3:8) so they do not burn with hatred for each other. May the wife be a helper for her husband and supply comfort in adversity (Genesis 2:18). May the strong bond of marriage be a holy mystery of the love between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32). The closer the fellowship of husband and wife, the more fervent may their zeal in prayer be. The more they are subject to peril and misfortune, with souls more closely joined, the more may they be engaged in piety and prayer.

Please stand by pious parents with Your grace so they bring up their children with holy admonition and discipline (Ephesians 6:4). May they acknowledge that their children, the fruit of their marriage, are Your gift. May they offer them back to You through a pious and faithful marriage. May they place before their children an example of a holy life so they will not entangle themselves in the most grievous sin of causing others to stumble.

Bend also the hearts of the children so they show their parents the obedience owed to them. May the be the fragrance of a heavenly paradise’s little plants, not useless wood that is subject to the flames of hell. May they scatter about the most pleasant smell of piety, obedience, reverence, and every virtue so they do not fall into the detestable stench of sin and hell. May they remember the commandment to honor their parents. May they be aroused to cherish their parents in return. May they remember to return to their parents the care they received so they will not fall into the abyss of misfortune (Ephesians 6:2-3). May parents and children worship You, true God, with united devotion in this life so they may praise You in eternal life with united praises.

May servants willingly obey their masters, serving them with fear and simplicity of heart, not only with eye-service or to please people. May they decide to render this service to Christ (Ephesians 6:5-6). In turn, may masters embrace servants with kindness so lawful authority does not lead to tyrannical cruelness. The household is a household church, highly esteemed by God and angels.

Johann Gerhard