Healing & Pastoral Care
Inner Healing & Forgiveness
Readings and prayers for painful memories, forgiveness, trauma, Christian hope, and the Sacred Heart.
Collection in preparation
Catholic Bioethics
Human Dignity & Moral Discernment
Educational resources for beginning-of-life, end-of-life, medical ethics, reproductive technologies, and emerging technology.
Collection in preparation
Prayer & Formation
Spiritual Life & Merciful Love
Recommended books, Church documents, videos, teachings, and devotional resources for continued formation.
Collection in preparation
More resources are on the way.
Articles, links, videos, and recommended materials will be added here soon.
From the Church
Official documents and pages from the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), available to read now.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church’s compendium of Magisterial teachings.
Evangelium Vitae
Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical on the Gospel of Life (1995).
Dignitas Infinita
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith declaration on human dignity (2024).
USCCB Resources
On life, marriage, family and ethical religious directives for healthcare.
Catholic Bioethics Resources
Since 1972, the National Catholic Bioethics Center has provided education, guidance, and resources to help the Church and society uphold the dignity of the human person in health care and biomedical research.
Links are provided for reference; Merciful Love Ministries is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Holy See, the USCCB, or the NCBC.
PRAYERS
These selection of prayers from the Church’s treasury are offered for personal use.
The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
Prayer for the Sick
Father of goodness and love, hear our prayers for the sick members of our community and for all who are in need. Amid mental and physical suffering may they find consolation in your healing presence. Show your mercy as you close wounds, cure illness, make broken bodies whole, and turn sorrow into joy. Grant to those who care for them wisdom, patience, and gentleness, and strengthen them with your Spirit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Divine Mercy (Chaplet)
Especially recommended to be prayed at 3 pm, the hour of mercy
and at the bedside of a dying person.
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (x10)
Oh blood and water wish gushed forth from the side of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us,
I trust in you! (X3)
Jesus, I trust in You.
Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Prayer to the Holy Face
May the most Holy, Most Sacred, Most adorable and most unutterable name of God be forever praised, loved adored and glorified in Heaven, on Eartha nd Under the earth by all the creatures of God and by the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Arise, Oh Lord, and let your enemies be scatterd, may all who hate you flee before your Holy Face.
Guardian Angel Prayer
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
FORGIVENESS PRAYER
Rev. Robert De Grandis, SJ
Lord Jesus Christ, I ask today to forgive everyone in my life. I know that You will
give me strength to forgive and I thank You that You love me more than I love myself
and want my happiness more than I desire it for myself.
Lord Jesus, I want to be free from the feelings of resentment, bitterness, and
unforgiveness toward You for the times I thought You sent death, hardships, financial
difficulties, punishments and sickness in our family.
Lord, I forgive myself for my sins, faults, and failings. For all that is truly bad in
myself or all that I think is bad, I do forgive myself. For an delving in the occult, Ouija
boards, horoscopes, seances, fortune telling, lucky charms, [dream catchers]; for taking
my name in vain; for not worshiping You; for hurting my parents; for getting drunk; [for
the use of illegal drugs]; [for the misuse of legal drugs]; for sins against my purity; for
adultery; for abortion; for stealing; for lying — I am truly forgiving myself today. Thank
You Lord for Your grace at this moment.
I truly forgive my mother. I forgive her for all the times she hurt me, resented me,
was angry with me and for all the times she punished me [unjustly]. I forgive her for the
times she preferred my brothers and sisters to me. I forgive her for the times she told
me I was dumb, ugly, stupid, the worst of the children or that I cost the family a lot of
money. For the times she told me I was unwanted, an accident, a mistake or not what
she expected. [For any negativity, gossip, manipulation, or bad example], I forgive her.
I forgive my father. I forgive him for an lack of support, any lack of love, affection
or attention. I forgive him for any lack of time, for not giving me his companionship, for
his drinking or arguing and fighting with my mother or other children. For his severe
punishments, for desertion, for being away from home, for divorcing my mother or for
any running around, I do forgive him.
(Note: The forgiveness for mother and father can be interchangeable depending on your story).
Lord, I extend forgiveness to my sisters and brothers. I forgive those who
rejected me, lied about me, hated me, resented me, competed for my parents’ love,
those who hurt me, who physically harmed me. For those who were too severe on me,
punished me or made my life unpleasant in any way, I do forgive them.
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Lord, I forgive my spouse for lack of love, affection, consideration, support,
attention, communication, for faults, failings, weaknesses, and those other acts or words
that hurt or disturb me.
Jesus, I forgive my children for their lack of respect, obedience, love, attention,
support, warmth, understanding; their bad habits, falling away from the Church, and bad
actions which disturb me.
My God, I forgive my in-laws—mother, father, son or daughter in-law, sister and
brother in-law and other relatives by marriage. For their lack of love, words of criticism,
thoughts, actions, or omissions which injure and cause pain, I do forgive them.
Please help me to forgive my relatives, my grandmother and grandfather who
may have interfered in our family, been possessive of my parents, who may have
caused confusion or turned one parent against the other.
Jesus, help me to forgive my co-workers who are disagreeable or make life
miserable for me. For those who push their work off on me, gossip about me, won’t
cooperate with me, try to take my job, I do forgive them.
My neighbors need to be forgiven, Lord. For al their noise, letting their property
run down, [not training their pets properly], not taking in their trash cans, being
prejudiced and running down the neighborhood, I do forgive them.
I now forgive my clergyman, [ministers], my congregation and my church for all
their lack of support, pettiness, bad sermons, lack of friendliness, not affirming me as
they should, not providing me with inspiration, for not using me in a key position, for not
inviting me to serve in a major capacity and for any other hurt they have inflicted—I do
forgive them today.
Lord I forgive all professional people who have hurt me in any way—doctors,
nurses, police officers, hospital works, lawyers, contractors. For anything they did to me
unjustly, I truly forgive them.
Lord, I forgive my employer for not paying me enough money, for not
appreciating my work, for being unkind and unreasonable with me, for being angry and
unfriendly, for not promoting me and for not complimenting me on my work.
Lord, I forgive my schoolteachers, professors, and instructors of the past, as well
as the present. For those who punished me, humiliated me, insulted me, treated me
unjustly, made fun of me, called me dumb or stupid, made me stay after school.
Lord, I forgive my friends who have let me down, lost contact with me, do not
support me, were not available when I needed help, borrowed money and did not return
it, gossiped about me.
Lord Jesus, I especially pray for the grace of forgiveness for that one person in
life who has hurt me the most. I ask to forgive anyone who I consider my greatest
enemy, the one who I said I would never forgive.
Thank You, Jesus, that I am free of the evil of unforgiveness. Let Your Holy Spirit
fill me with light and let every dark area of my mind be enlightened.
AMEN.
Note: Remember, forgiveness is an act of the will, not a feeling.
Jesus calls us to forgive always and throughout our entire lives.
Daily we need to forgive those who hurt or injure us.
NOTE: In the following prayer most of the significant areas will be covered.
Often such a prayer will bring to mind other areas that need forgiveness.
Let the Holy Spirit move freely and guide your mind to persons or groups that you need to forgive.
“Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do notsay to you seven times,
but seventy times seven.” (Matt. 18:21-22, RSV CE).
Preparing for Confession
Before the Sacrament of Reconciliation, take time to pray
with an examination of conscience from the USCCB (opens in a new tab).
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
— Psalm 119:105