Prayer Meme

Kee at Little Hare has tagged me for a beautiful prayer meme created by Mac at Mulier Fortis. Thanks, Kee! The rules are:

Name your three favorite prayers and explain why they're your favorites. Then tag five other bloggers- give them a link and let them know they've been tagged. Finally, tell the person who tagged you that you have completed the meme. The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here.

I had a tough time picking out favorites but these three speak to my heart in a special way:

Daily Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Creator Spirit, come and visit the souls that are Yours; fill with heavenly grace the hearts that You created.
You are called by the name of Paraclete, gift of God most high, spring of life, fire, love and the soul's anointing.
Seven gifts are Yours to give. You are the finger of the Father's right hand. You, the clear promise of the Father, give men's tongues the grace of speech.
Kindle a light in our minds, pour love into our hearts and uphold with Your unfailing strength the frailty of our human nature.
Drive our enemy far from us and give us always the grace of peace; so may it be that, with Your grace ever guiding us in this way, we may avoid all that is sinful..
Grant that through You we may know the Father and the Son, and may we ever believe You to be the Spirit of both the Father and the Son.
Glory be to God the Father, and to the Son, who rose from the dead, and to the Paraclete for ever and ever. Amen

This prayer is a great reflection on the Holy Spirit. I've always loved meditating on the titles of God and this prayer contains a number of them. Perhaps that's why I love litanies so much, too.

Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, heal me. Blood of Christ, drench me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
Good Jesus, hear me. In your wounds, shelter me. From turning away, keep me. From the evil one, protect me.
At the hour of my death, call me. Into your presence lead me, to praise You with all saints, for ever and ever. Amen.

This prayer speaks for itself. Wow! The simplicity and truth in this prayer electrifies me. Drenched in the Blood of the Lamb...mere words aren't enough to express my gratitude to Jesus.

Self-Offering

Holy Spirit, God of Love, be present to me; accept the offering of myself which I make to you. Receive these hands, these feet, these eyes, this tongue, and all my senses. Receive my memory, my willl, my understanding, my desires, my sighs, the longings and the aspirations of my soul. Receive my every hour, my every moment, and all the happenings of my life.
Holy Spirit, God of Love, knit my soul to you. Let your love possess my whole being - my senses, my powers, my affections, my very life. Let your love rule my labor and my rest, my going and my staying, and move me as it pleases. Let your love disquiet or comfort me, humble or exalt me, and burn away all my faults.
Holy Spirit, God of Love, draw me to yourself. Do with me what you will. Nothing will cause me fear if only your love enfolds me.
I ask confidently because your desire to give is greater than mine to receive. Transform me into yourself, so that I may no longer know myself, nor find myself, except in you.                
                                                                                                          Thomas of Jesus

I love prayers of abandonment to God and this one is a favorite of mine. Beautiful! Over the years it has become a constant refrain in my heart - to abandon myself to the Divine Will. It's helped me so much to "let go and let God" and to release control of my life to Him. To keep my mind and heart on Him during the course of the day I place myself in his hands often - sometimes with words and sometimes without.

Having said all this, my favorite kind of prayer is simply... heartfelt conversation with the Lord of all that is.

I tag:
Colleen at Thoughts on Grace
Karinann at Daughter of the King
Victor (here's a mimi for you) at Time for Reflections
Bernie at On My Own
Nancy at Be Not Afraid

Speaking of memes, I always thought the word was pronounced mem (no clue why) but found out it is meem thanks to Breadgirl who Googled it :)