Historical Prayer for Parents and Filial Gratitude

O gracious and merciful God! I give Thee heartfelt thanks, that Thou hast let me be born of good Christian parents. This is the first blessing which Thou bestowedst upon me. If my parents had been Jews, Turks, or heathen, then I should be as hardened, as unbelieving, and as lacking in Christian knowledge as they. As my parents’ first care after my birth was that I should be laid in Thy arms, O heavenly Father, through holy baptism, in which Thou gavest me the Holy Spirit as the earnest of my sonship and of my heavenly inheritance; so let Thy good Spirit ever lead and guide me, that I may be careful to fulfill my duties towards Thee and my parents.

I come now into Thy holy presence with my prayer, and beseech Thee: O grant my parents health, guard them against misfortune, prosper them in their occupation, let Thy blessing rest on their labor, give them a long life, and recompense with spiritual and heavenly gifts the faithfulness which they have shown toward me, and which I cannot recount nor requite.

Give me, O heavenly Father, an obedient heart, that I may not consciously or willfully grieve or offend them. Let me constantly keep before me the example of my Lord Jesus, who was not only obedient to Thee, His heavenly Father, but also to His foster-father Joseph and to Mary His mother. Let me always, by my childlike obedience, be the source of joy and comfort to my parents, even in their old age. Guard me, that I may not by disobedience and rebelliousness bring upon myself the curse which Thou hast threatened against wicked children; but let it be well with me here in time and there in eternity.

Give me a heart that is respectful toward them. Let me not anger them by word or deed, but conduct myself toward them with proper humility, obey them with cheerfulness, and even bear their chastisement without contradiction. Preserve me, that I may not become like those wicked children who mock at their parents, despise them, and cause them nothing but grief and sorrow; but who also incur a curse, and lose for all eternity the blessing which Thou hast promised to good and pious children. Grant me Thy grace, that I may not sin against my parents. Let me ever remember what my mother has suffered on my account, and what care it has cost my parents to bring me up. And let loving gratitude prompt me never to be the source of sorrow but always of joy to them.

If in the days of my childhood I have done toward my parents what I should not have done, I now seek pardon, O God, of Thee and of them, and promise that, by Thy grace, I will seek by my obedience and Christian conduct to fill them with joy. Grant me Thy Holy Spirit, that, as becomes a child of God, I may walk in faith, in piety, in chastity, and in the fear of God, and that I may, together with my parents, stand at Thy right hand on the day of Judgment, and enter into Thy glory. Amen.