Oh my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee the most precious Blood of Jesus, from all the altars throughout the world, joining with It my every thought, word and action of this day……
This is the beginning part of a morning offering I learned many years ago when I was first enrolled in the Brown Scapular. And while I attempt to make it the first thing I say every morning, I have to admit sometimes it’s later in the morning……sometimes in the car even. This first part makes you step back and think, if just for a moment about what it is exactly you’re saying.
1] Precisely to Whom am I speaking? ‘Oh my God’. I am speaking directly to God the Father…..going directly to God. There’s no middle man here. It’s just Him and me.
2] Am I offering this by myself? ‘In union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary’. I am asking that my prayer be united to hers, the Mother of God. Do you ever ask someone to do a favor for you? Ask someone to speak on your behalf to someone that the other person maybe has more influence? It’s the same thing. God loves His Mother so much that He crowned her Queen of Heaven and Earth! He honors her requests!
3] What am I offering? ‘I offer Thee (God the Father) the most Precious Blood of Jesus, from all the altars throughout the world’. One miniscule drop of the Blood of Jesus would have sufficed to appease God. But He gave not one drop, but all His Blood. He poured out upon the world an ocean of His Divine Mercy, that we may be immersed in His Love. At the consecration of the chalice at Mass, I have a favorite prayer I say. “O Blood of my Saviour, bathe me in the Sweet Liquid of my redemption. Moreover, Lord, drown me in It, that I may live in Thee, with Thee, For Thee and only Thee, for all eternity.”
4] Am I offering anything additional? ‘Joining with It (the Blood of my Saviour), my every thought, word and action of this day’. In other words, I’m offering myself. All that I am and all that I hope to be. This is where it can get interesting. This means that every one of my thoughts, words and actions are being offered to God. Sometimes my thoughts are not very kind. My words harsh. My actions hap-hazardly done. And what’s worse is while others can witness my words and actions, God alone knows my every thought…..even the ugly ones.
But I offer Him this prayer and try to make those gifts worthy of Him. That is what one is called to do. Will I ever wake up and there be no struggles or strife? No. Every day one must make the resolve to do better than the day before. This is the thing we call living. This is the thing we call trying to live in grace. It is only through prayer that one can ever expect to do this.
The rest of the offering:
O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate that she may best apply them to the interests of Thy Most Sacred Heart! Most Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
A-men
Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine!
A grateful heart,
Kellie
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What does your Morning Offering look like?
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by Fr Jacques Philippe.
After I finish my morning offering, I give my every step to Blessed Mother and my every breath to my Lord. I ask Mary to perfect everything I do before she gives it to her Son.
I just found out about this blog and can already see God’s Hands blessing it. Keep up the wonderful work!
Michelle
My Morning offering is “O My Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You all my prayers, works, joys & sufferings of this day for an increase of holy vocations for the diocese of Erie, and for an increase of holiness for all my “special” Priests. (Then i list them by name or category ie all the Priests who have heard my confession…)
I also have my 3 young boys say a shorter version of the MO each morning with breakfast prayers. Theirs stops at “of this day”.
How beautiful to include priests in your morning offering.
My alarm on my phone goes off and I start my with this offering via an app on my phone:
Dear Lord, I do not know what will happen to me today. I only know that nothing will happen that was not forseen by You, and directed to my greater good from all eternity. I adore your holy and unfathomable plans, and submit to them with all my heart for love of You, the Pope and the Immacualte Heart of Mary. Amen.
This helps remind me of who is really in control and my submission.
Wonderful post Kellie!
“This helps remind me of who is really in control and my submission.”
I need that daily reminder.
I grew up saying the Morning Offering from the Apostleship of Prayer – the same as Theresa wrote above. Now I pray the Divine Office from the 1962 liturgical books and the hour of Prime has two beautiful prayers that make something of a Morning Offering.
The first: Let us pray. To the beginning of this day You have brought us, O Lord God Almighty. Preserve us now by Your power so that throughout this whole day we may not fall into any sin; rather that all our words, thoughts, and acts become part of Your holy, providential plan. This we ask of You through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever. Amen.
The second: Let us pray. O Lord God, King of heaven and earth, be pleased this day to direct and sanctify, to rule and govern our hearts and bodies, our thoughts, words, and deeds according to Your law and in obedience to Your commandments. Now and forever may we attain salvation and freedom by your help, O Savior of the world, living and reigning forever and ever. Amen.
Now I am thinking that I should start out with the MO I was raised with before I start praying the Divine Office. Thank you Kellie, for this post.
Barb…thanks for the reminder…THAT’s where I first read that MO prayer : ) The Divine Office is really my Morning Prayer but I still find myself saying the MO out of habit.
I make my morning offering first thing as soon as the alarm goes off and while I am still in bed. A wonderful spiritual director directed me to begin my day this way and I have done so ever since!
O My Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You all the prayers and works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Most Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in reparation for my sins and for the health and intentions of the Holy Father, the Pope. Take my body, Jesus, take my eyes, my ears, my tongue. . .never let them do You wrong. Take my heart and mind and fill them full of love for You. All I have I give to You. I give myself to You. Amen.
I say mine while I am still in bed as well. sometimes I have a couple of “do overs” because I’m still a littel sleepy.
Ha, me too! We’re supposed to start our day, as Lay Dominicans, with an Our father, Haily Mary and Glory Be….sometimes those get repeated a few times.
I wouldn’t worry about being a bit sleepy. …Your intention of offering yourself and your day is there…Its a beautiful way of starting your morning…with a yawn and a stretch and a prayer…sounds like a great way to start. I am quite good at starting with a child or two in bed as well
Me too!
My morning offering in the office, but before I became a Dominican tertiary, I said the same one as you, Theresa. I found it in one of my many Catholic prayerbooks.
Great post, Kellie. I especially like the part at the end about resolve. When I first learned to say the hours, the priest who taught me said, “Sometimes the hours are said beautifully. And sometimes, they’re just said.” Some of the best spiritual wisdom I’ve ever gotten!
Words of wisdom from the priest. I have started many a conversation to my spiritual father with the words, “…but I don’t feel…” only to hear him reply abruptly, “Good! Prayer is not about how you feel.”
So true. Prayer isn’t about how I feel…and I always feel better *after* I do it, anyway.
Boy…if I went on feelings I would be in big trouble : ) Thanks be to God for perseverance and the love I have for Him that keeps me going!
It’s a pleasure to have a post shared on Jenny’s new site. I could say ‘Good luck’, but I don’t believe in luck. “Fiat Voluntas tua!” Thy will be done! Pax Christi
Thank you Kellie for sharing your meditations on your Morning Offering. Our Morning Offering is:
God the Father in heaven, I offer to Thee the most precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Thy dearly beloved Son, my Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for my sins and those of the whole world. With this offering I would like to make the offering of all my days thoughts, words and deeds and I pray that these may be worthy and acceptable of Thy love.
My Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that I may gain all the indulgences and merits that I can this day and I offer these up to the Blessed Virgin Mary so that she may distribute them to the needs of Thy most Sacred Heart.
God the Holy Ghost, I pray that I not offend Thee today, but persevere in doing good and in overcoming the attachment to sin most troublesome to me.
What a beautiful reflection worthy of meditation! Thank you for sharing your inspiring words Kellie.
My Morning Offering consists of Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours and also one I learned many years ago which is very similar to the one you say: “O My Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins and the sins of the world, for the intentions of all my associates and the special intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen.”