VIDEO with Pope Francis' Prayer for World Day of the Elderly Released by the Vatican - FULL Official TEXT



The Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life released the video-prayer for the Catholic Church’s first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which will be observed worldwide on Sunday, July 25.
In the video, with English subtitles, Pope Francis leads the prayer in Spanish, the video-prayer continues in French, English, Portuguese and Italian, recited by 21 grandparents and elderly men and women from around the world.  
The theme of the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which is the assurance of Jesus: “I am with you always” (Mt. 28:30).   
First World Day for Grandparents and Elderly scheduled for 25 July
and will be celebrated with a Mass at 10 am in St. Peter’s Basilica.  The Dicastery said some 2,000 people of the Rome Diocese involved with the elderly are invited to attend.  
At the end of the Mass, the young people present will offer the grandparents and the elderly a flower with the Holy Father’s message: “I am with you always”.
Many local initiatives have been organized in dioceses and parishes all over the world for the event.  
Pope Francis has also granted the faithful the possibility of gaining a plenary indulgence on July 25 by devoting some time to actually or virtually visit elderly people in need or in difficulty (such as the sick, the abandoned, the disabled and others).
Please find below the text of the prayer:
I thank You, Lord,
for the comfort of Your presence:
even in times of loneliness,
You are my hope and my confidence,
You have been my rock and my fortress since my youth!
I thank You for having given me a family
and for having blessed me with a long life.
I thank You for moments of joy and difficulty,
for the dreams that have already come true in my life and for
those that are still ahead of me.
I thank You for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which You
call me.
Increase, O Lord, my faith,
make me a channel of your peace,
teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me,
to never stop dreaming
and to tell of your wonders to new generations.
Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church,
that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.
Send Your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world,
that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed,
the poor consoled and wars ended.
Sustain me in weakness
and help me to live life to the full
in each moment that You give me,
in the certainty that you are with me every day,
even until the end of the age.
Amen.

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