To mark the World Day for Grandparents & the Elderly, we share a prayer by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI from Knock Prayer Book
Lord Jesus,
you were born of the Virgin Mary,
the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne.
Look with love on grandparents the world over.
Protect them!
They are a source of enrichment for families, for
the Church and for all of society.
Support them!
As they grow older,
may they continue to be for their families
strong pillars of Gospel faith,
guardians of noble domestic ideals,
living treasuries of sound religious traditions.
Make them teachers of wisdom and courage, that
they may pass on to future generations the fruits of
their mature human and spiritual experience.
Lord Jesus,
help families and society to value
the presence and role of grandparents.
May they never be ignored or excluded,
but always encounter respect and love.
Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed
in all the years of life which you give them.
Mary, Mother of all the living,
keep grandparents constantly in your care,
accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage,
and by our prayers, grant that all families
may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland,
where you await all humanity
for the great embrace of life without end.
Amen.
– Benedict XVI
Knock Prayer Book by Fr Richard Gibbons is available for purchase here.