BIRTHDAY PRAYER-2

Angelus – Lk. 1/26-53

One day God sent his messenger to Nazareth to a girl called Mary. The Messenger said

MESSENGER : Rejoice Mary for the Lord has blessed you ! He is very pleased with you.

MARY: am I me?

MESSENGER : Do not afraid Mary listen, you are going to have a baby and you will call him Jesus and your cousin Elizabeth also is with child.

MARY : My cousin Elizabeth?

MESSENGER : Yes

MARY : I am the servant of God, I am glad to do what he wants.

When she went as quickly as she could claim the hills where Elizabeth lived. Mary went in to Elizabeth house and said.

MARY : Hell. How are you ?

ELIZABETH : I am proud that you have come to visit me. Because the Lord has blessed you with a special child.

MARY : I praise the Lord for he is good. He makes me glad. I am young and I am poor and he comes and chooses me and from now on, everyone will say that he has blessed me.

PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT :

Come O Spirit of love and renew the face of the earth ones again a new garden of grace and sanctity of justice and love. Come O Spirit of love and renew the whole church bring to the perfection of love and of unity and of holiness that we may become today the greatest of all lights. Come O Spirit of wisdom and understanding ,  open the way for hearts to the understanding of the truth with the burning force of your divine lire. Come spirit of counsel and fortitude, make us courageous witnesses of the Gospel we have received. Come O Spirit of knowledge of piety and fear of the Lord. Renew the earth with your divine love, the life of all those who have been consecrated.

Let us sing a hymn to the Holy Spirit……

Aarti prayer : Lit lamp is your symbol O God. You are like the light of the morning when the sun rises. Thank you Lord for having created us in your image and likeness and granted us the grace to be the reflection of your light. We thank you for all you goodness to us and specially to our dear Sr._________ she celebrates her birthday. The flowers symbolize the goodness of Sr. __________ I request Sr.______ to perform the aarti symbolizing herself surrender to be filled with His light and radiate the same to the people.

YOUR ANGEL ON EARTH :

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day she asked God, “ How am I going to live on earth being so small and helpless?”

God replied, “Among the many angels, I chose one of  you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you”.

Child : But tell me , here in heaven, I don’t do anything else but sing and smile. That’s enough for me to be happy.

God :“ your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you  every day. And you will feel your angel’s love and be happy.

Child :  And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don’t know the language that men talk?

God: your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear and with much patience and care , your angel will teach you how to speak.

Child :  And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you ?

God: your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.

Child : I have heard that on earth there are bad people.  who will protect me ?

God : your angel will defend you, even if it means risking  its life.

Child : But I will always sad because I will not see you anymore.

God : your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you

At  that moment there was much peace in heaven but voices from earth could already be heard and the child in a hurry asked softly.

Child : Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell  me my angel’s name.

God : your angel’s name is of no importance but you will call your angel Mother

And that’s how _________ came to this world on ____________bringing great  joy in the family of ___________

Let us sing hymn : __________________

A  pocket covered well is placed on a stool, on which it is written “ Life is a gift to share with others”. Every new born child is a precious gift of God. Dear Sr. ____________ today is a joyous and unforgettable day for all of us, especially for Sister as she celebrates the life given to her. Today is a special day  on which she was brought to this world through her beloved parents. Therefore  today is a day of day, a day of surprise, a day  of gratitude. Dear Sister  this day reminds you to be grateful  to God for his marvelous love you have experienced through different persons, events, experiences and all the wonders that God has done in your life. Every birthday reminds us and invite to raise our hearts and minds to the almighty God for his unconditional love, unending mercy. The continuous protection and His loving guidance. Every person born to this world is unique person. Dear friends we may journey all over the world, meet many people, like many and love many. But we can never see a person similar to another. Dear ___________ you are a unique person you uniqueness is God’s gift to you. God tells each of us, “ I have called you by name you are mine. God knew you before you were born to this world and He had a plan for you. He named you, even before your birth and this uniqueness is given to you, by creating the person of you. Your existence to this world is not by chance but you are designed for a particular mission. Now let us join with sister in praising and thanking God for the marvelous love that she has experienced in her life through significant person and events by singing.

Hymn…………………………….

FLOWER BOUQUET :

(Sister’s sister name______) loves flowers so dearly. So she starts growing a garden in front of her house. There are a variety of flowers in it, with different colours, fragrances, shapes and sizes. On  her sister’s birthday she wanted to present her with a beautiful flower bouquet. So she got inside the garden and started plucking varieties of flowers. She arranged them in a beautiful vase with  some artistic sense. Big and small, all had their own special place in the vase. She poured some water in the vase, so  that the flowers may  not fade away. She presented it to her sister. Sister was surprised and delighted to see the bouquet. The flower vase looked perfect and beautiful, because the flowers were arranged in perfect combination of colours, shapes and sizes.

Reflect :

Let us get into the core of our own being. God has created you and arranged everything so beautifully with perfect order. But if you try to rearrange the order given by God it is a waste of time and energy. The flower vase is a beautiful expression of your life. Every day you come across people with different   attitudes, ideas, likes and dislikes. Sometimes you try to segregate them  according to their quality, colour and difference. Alas!  you find that your vase is incomplete and imperfect. You often forget the plain truth that each of us is unique and special. Whether big or small, dark or fair, we are created in His image and likeness.  “ No two snowflakes are alike, yet each is beautiful. No two sunsets are alike, yet each is glorious. No two human beings are alike, yet each has a glory; Each has a beauty we must accept and appreciate. We are God’s masterpiece, created a little less than the angels”.

Now Sr. ___________ offers the bouquet to the Lord and pray :

All glory to you O Lord

Praise to you Lord, thank to you Lord I sing praises to you O Lord. For the gift of life.

All glory to you O Lord

How wonderfully you showed you are love through parents, sisters, relatives, friends, dear and near ones.  Poured your love through them upon me.

All glory to you O Lord

Lord you reached down from above to take care of me. To protect me like mountain forest. To keep me safe under the shadow of your wings.

All glory to you O Lord

With all my heart I thank you Lord for all the wonderful things. You have done in my life from my infancy, childhood and adulthood.

All glory to you O Lord

Lord you call me friend even at times when I am sad, feel lonely, discouraged, rejected, unwanted, hopeless, your faithful love is permanent as a true friend you are there to stand beside me, to hold me, to encourage me, to love me, to appreciate and to show me a ray of hope.  You make me realize that I am special.

All glory to you O Lord

Let pray for Sr. __________

Our Father

Concluding Prayer :

Dear Sr.__________ remember that life is not all roses, there are thorns in it. And it is not all sweet, there are many bitter moments in it. The sweet is always balanced by the bitter. The roses are balanced by the thorns, the days by the nights. The summers by the winters. Life keeps a balance between the polar opposites. May  you have wonderful experience of God in years to come. We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Hymn …………”Count your blessing….: