PRAYER FOR SAFETY IN HURRICANE SEASON

O God, Master of this passing world,

hear the humble voices of your children.

The Sea of Galilee obeyed Your order

and returned to its former quietude.

You are still the Master of land and sea.

We live in the shadow of a danger

over which we have no control:

the Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant,

can awake from its seeming lethargy,

overstep its conventional boundaries,

invade our land, and spread chaos and disaster.

During this hurricane season we turn to You,

O loving Father.

Spare us from past tragedies

whose memories are still so vivid

and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal

with passing of time.

O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother,

we ask you to plead with your Son on our behalf,

so that spared from the calamities common to this area

and animated with a true spirit of gratitude,

we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son

to reach the heavenly Jerusalem

where a stormless eternity awaits us.        Amen

Most Rev. Maurice Schexnayder (1895 – 1981)

Second Bishop of Lafayette

used by permission