Prayer for Forgiveness
According to Fr. ROBERT DEGRANDIS SSJ
† In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you today for the grace to forgive EVERYONE in my life. I know you will give me the strength to do so; I thank you that you love me more than I love myself and that you want my joy more than I want it for myself.
Father, I no longer blame YOU for every time someone in our family died, for hard times, financial difficulties, or what I thought were punishments from you. Where people said, "This is God's will" and I was bitter and angry towards You. Cleanse my heart and mind today.
Lord, I forgive MYSELF my sins, weaknesses and faults, all evil in me or that I think is evil in me. I forgive myself for any dealings with superstition, using the boards of psychic meetings and taking part in them; reading horoscopes, going to fortune tellers, card readers and spiritual healers or wearing lucky charms, etc. . . . I renounce all this superstition and choose YOU alone as my Lord and Saviour. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, I forgive MYSELF for misusing Your Name, for not worshipping You by attending Holy Mass; for hurting my parents, for being drunk, for sins against purity, bad books and movies, fornication, adultery, practised homosexuality. You have already forgiven me in the Sacrament of Confession, today I forgive myself - also abortion, theft, lying, fraud, slander.
Lord, I sincerely forgive my MOTHER. I forgive her every time she hurt me, when she rejected me, when she was angry with me, and for every time she punished me. I forgive her when she preferred my brothers and sisters to me. I forgive her when she called me stupid, ugly, silly, the worst child, or that I cost the family a lot of money. Every time she told me I was unwanted, an accident, a mistake or not what she expected. I forgive her.
Lord, I sincerely forgive my FATHER. I forgive him for any denial of support, lack of love, affection or attention. I forgive him any lack of time, not accompanying me, his drunkenness, quarrelling and fighting with my mother or the other children. Too harsh punishment, his abandonment, his "being away from home". His separation from my mother or his straying. I forgive him.
Lord, I extend my forgiveness to my BROTHERS and SISTERS. I forgive those who rejected me, who spread lies about me, hated me, refused me, competed with me for my parents' love, who hurt me, physically harmed me. Those who were too hard on me, punished me or made my life unpleasant in some way. I forgive them.
Lord, I forgive my SPOUSE for the lack of love, affection, consideration, support, attention, communication. His or her weaknesses, faults, frailties and other behaviours or words that have hurt or disturbed me.
Jesus, I forgive my CHILDREN for the lack of respect, obedience, love, attention, support, warmth, understanding. Any bad habits, apostasy from the church, any bad actions that have disturbed me.
Lord God, I forgive my PARENTS-IN-LAW, my children-in-law and all other in-laws who treated my family unlovingly. Any words, thoughts, actions or omissions that hurt and cause pain. I forgive them.
Please help me to forgive my RELATIVES. My grandmother and grandfather, my aunts, uncles, cousins who disrupted our family, who were possessive towards my parents, who caused confusion or turned parents against each other. I forgive them.
Jesus, help me to forgive my WORK MATES who are unpleasant or make my life miserable. Those who push their work on me, gossip about me, don't want to work with me, want to take my job away. I forgive them.
My NEIGHBOURS need forgiveness, Lord. For all the noise, for running down their property, for not tethering their dog that runs through my garden, for not taking out their rubbish, for being judgmental and running around the neighbourhood with it. I forgive them.
I forgive my PARISH PRIEST, my congregation, my church for lack of support and affirmation, bad homilies, pettiness, lack of kindness, for not offering me and my family the inspiration we need, for all the pain that has been inflicted on me or my family, even in the distant past. I forgive them today.
Lord, I forgive ALL those who have a different CONVICTION, different political views, who attacked me, ridiculed me, discriminated against me, made fun of me, harm me economically.
I forgive THOSE who belong to other religious CONFESSIONS or beliefs who harassed me, attacked me, argued with me, tried to impose their views on me or my family. Those who have ethically violated me, discriminated against me, mocked me, made jokes about my race or nationality, hurt my family physically, emotionally or materially. I forgive them today.
I forgive all PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE who hurt me in any way: doctors, nurses, lawyers, judges, politicians, and civil servants.
I forgive all SERVICE PROVIDERS: policemen, firemen, bus drivers, hospital workers, and particularly craftsmen who have taken advantage of me in their work.
Lord, I forgive my EMPLOYER for not paying me enough money, for not recognising my work, for being cruel and reacting inappropriately, for being indignant and unkind, for not promoting me and giving me recognition.
Lord, I forgive my TEACHERS past and present. Those who punished me, humiliated me, insulted me, treated me unfairly, made fun of me, called me "stupid", gave me detention. Today I sincerely forgive them.
Lord, I forgive my FRIENDS who disappointed me, cut off contact with me, did not support me, were not there for me when I needed help, borrowed money from me and did not give it back, spoke badly about me.
Lord Jesus, I especially ask for the grace of forgiveness for the ONE PERSON who HAS HURT me MOST in my life . . . . . I ask forgiveness for the one person I consider my greatest enemy, for the one person I have the hardest time forgiving, for the one person I say I will never forgive.
Lord, I ask forgiveness from all these people whom I have caused pain, especially my mother, my father and my spouse. I am particularly sorry for the three greatest pains I have caused with each of them.
Thank You Jesus for delivering me from the evil of unforgiveness. Let Your Holy Spirit fill me with light and enlighten every dark place of my mind.
Amen.
Tips on Forgiveness:
- Forgiveness is an act of the will, not a feeling.
- When we pray for a person, we can be sure that we have forgiven that person.
- One help to accept an individual and to be able to open ourselves to a special person is to picture him with our Lord Jesus and say to the Lord, "I love him because YOU love him. I forgive him because YOU forgive him."
- Forgiveness is a lifelong commitment.
- We need to forgive daily those who hurt or harm us.