Morning Prayer: Catholic Prayers for the Start of the Day
The first thought of the day belongs to God. Here is a complete morning prayer from the 1865 German edition of the Raccolta, together with the good intention, the Morning Offering and short prayers for hurried mornings.
Before the telephone rings and the first worries arrive, the morning belongs to God. A Catholic morning prayer needs only a few minutes: the Sign of the Cross, adoration and thanksgiving, the good intention and a request for God’s help for the day. This guide presents a complete morning prayer from the 1865 German edition of the Raccolta, explains the good intention and the Morning Offering, and gathers short morning prayers for days when time is short.
- Morning prayer is personal prayer at the beginning of the day: the Christian adores God, thanks him for the night and offers him the day ahead.
- Its heart is the good intention, the resolve to do all the thinking, speaking, doing and suffering of the day for the glory of God (cf. 1 Cor 10:31).
- A complete morning prayer is found in the 1865 German edition of the Raccolta, the translation declared authentic by the Congregation of Indulgences.
- On hurried mornings the Sign of the Cross, a sentence of offering and a short prayer to the Guardian Angel are enough.
What is a Catholic morning prayer?
A Catholic morning prayer is the prayer with which the Christian begins the day. He adores God, thanks him for the past night, offers him the thoughts, words, works and sufferings of the day, makes good resolutions and commends himself to the Mother of God and to his Guardian Angel.
The Church herself begins every day with prayer. According to the preface of the 1890 German Breviary, Prime, one of the Hours of the Breviary, once concluded the night office as a prayer at sunrise. There St Basil the Great explains the meaning of morning prayer: the first movements of the mind should belong to God before the cares of the day gain entry. The personal morning prayer of the faithful is the small form of the same thought.
“We pray in the morning so that the first movements of our mind may be consecrated to God, and so that we allow no care to gain entry to us before we have rejoiced in the remembrance of God …”
St Basil the Great, quoted from: Das römische Brevier in deutscher Sprache (The Roman Breviary in German), edited by Ferdinand Janner, winter part, Regensburg 1890, preface p. V; translated from the German
How do you pray a morning prayer?
A morning prayer follows a traditional order: the Sign of the Cross, adoration and thanksgiving, the offering of the day with the good intention, a resolution, and commendation to the Saviour, Our Lady and the Guardian Angel. You may close with intercessions, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed.
This is how the morning prayer is arranged in the appendix of the prayer collection that Michael Haringer translated from the Italian, here in its second edition of 1865. It is the German edition of the Raccolta, the collection of prayers to which the Popes have granted indulgences. The order in seven steps:
- The Sign of the Cross: In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
- Adoration and thanksgiving: adore God for his greatness, love his goodness and thank him for having kept you through the night.
- Offering: offer up all the thoughts, words, works and sufferings of the day in union with the merits of Christ and make the good intention.
- Resolution: avoid sin and its occasions, especially your own predominant fault, and accept what is hard from the hand of God.
- Commendation: commend your soul to the Saviour, into his most holy five wounds.
- The Mother of God, the holy patrons and the Guardian Angel: the Salve Regina with its versicle and the request for her motherly blessing, then the invocation of your holy patrons and the prayer to the Guardian Angel.
- If you wish: pray for the Church, for the living and for the dead, then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. The collection says that “one may” close with these.
What is the wording of a complete Catholic morning prayer?
A complete Catholic morning prayer from the 1865 German Raccolta begins, after the Sign of the Cross, with “My God, I adore thine infinite greatness”, gives thanks for protection in the night, offers up the day and commends the one praying to the Saviour, Our Lady and the Guardian Angel.
In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
My God, I adore thine infinite greatness; I love thine infinite goodness above all things. I thank thee for all the benefits thou hast bestowed on me, and above all that thou hast preserved me this night and graciously kept me from all evil. In union with the merits of Jesus Christ, thine only-begotten Son, I offer thee all the thoughts, words, works and sufferings of this day, and I make the intention that I will think, speak, do and suffer all things for thy greater good pleasure and for thy greater honour and glory. […]
I make the firm resolution to avoid, as far as I am able, all wilful sins and all wilful occasions of sin, and whenever a temptation or an evil thought assails me, to call at once upon the most holy names of Jesus and Mary. My God, I would rather die than offend thee by a mortal sin. […]
O my sweetest Jesus, bless me and give me the strength and the grace to remain faithful to my resolutions. Into thy most holy five wounds I commend my soul, that it may be safe against all the snares of the evil enemy. Remember that thou hast suffered so much for me and hast redeemed me with thy Blood, and let not thy precious Blood be lost on me. My Jesus, for thee I live; my Jesus, for thee I die; my Jesus, I am thine in life and in death. Amen.
[…] My Mother Mary, bless me with thy motherly blessing, and protect me in all dangers of body and soul. Under thy protecting mantle I will live and die.
My holy patrons, pray for me.
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. […]
Sammlung von Gebeten und frommen Werken, für welche die Päpste heilige Ablässe verliehen haben (Collection of prayers and pious works to which the Popes have granted holy indulgences), translated by Michael Haringer, 2nd edition, Regensburg 1865, second appendix, pp. 59 to 62 (abridged; translated from the German; Angel of God in the traditional English form)
In the full text, the one praying also places all the indulgences he can gain that day into the hands of the Most Blessed Virgin, so that she may distribute those applicable to the holy souls in Purgatory as she pleases. After “My Jesus, for thee I live” come the Salve Regina and a versicle. At the end follows an intercession for Holy Church, the Pope, relatives, benefactors and enemies, the sick and the dying and the departed, and then the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed, as given in full in our prayer companion for the Rosary.
What does the good intention in the morning mean?
The good intention is the explicit resolve in the morning to offer to God everything you think, say, do and suffer that day, and to do it for his glory. In this way even the ordinary work of the day is offered to God.
The good intention follows the word of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: whether you eat or drink or do anything else, do all to the glory of God, omnia in gloriam Dei facite (1 Cor 10:31). St Basil calls it the final purpose of all the Hours of prayer “that we refer everything we do to the glorification of God and of Christ” (translated from the German). In the 1865 morning prayer the good intention reads: “and I make the intention that I will think, speak, do and suffer all things for thy greater good pleasure and for thy greater honour and glory”.
The good intention includes the readiness to accept even what is unpleasant from the hand of God. For this the same prayer contains a sentence that the Raccolta lists as an ejaculation in its own right: “May the most just, the most high and the most amiable will of God be done, praised and eternally exalted in all things.” The official collection of indulgences Preces et pia opera of 1952 (literally: prayers and pious works) records an indulgence of 500 days for this prayer (no. 4).
What is the Morning Offering?
A Morning Offering is a prayer at the start of the day by which the faithful offer the day to God. The 1865 Raccolta contains the “Offering at the beginning of the day”, which offers God all the Holy Masses celebrated now, in the past and until the end of the world.
By the brief of 30 September 1859, Pius IX granted an indulgence of 300 days to all who prayed this Offering at the beginning of the day devoutly and with a contrite heart, in whatever language; a second brief of 11 April 1860 extended it to three years. Anyone who prayed it daily for a month together with the offering during Holy Mass could gain a plenary indulgence on going to Confession, receiving Communion, visiting a church and praying for the intentions of the Holy Father. This is how the Haringer edition of 1865 records it; the collection of 1952 no longer contains this indulgence.
O Lord God almighty, behold me prostrate before thee, to adore and to propitiate thy divine Majesty in the name of all creatures. But how can I, a wretched creature and a sinner, accomplish this? And yet I can, I will; for I know that it is thy good pleasure to be called the Father of mercies, and that out of love for us thou hast given thine only-begotten Son, who offered himself for us on the Cross and unceasingly renews the sacrifice of himself for us upon our altars.
The Offering at the beginning of the day (opening), after Haringer, Sammlung von Gebeten, 1865, appendix I, pp. 8 f.; the prayer continues there as far as p. 10; translated from the German
The thought behind it is the Sacrifice of the Mass. The Offering unites the day of the one praying with all the Holy Masses that are being celebrated now, have been celebrated and will be celebrated until the end of the world, in order to adore God, to thank him, to make satisfaction for sins and to implore his mercy for all the living and the dead.
What short morning prayers are there?
Short morning prayers include the Sign of the Cross, the ejaculation “My Jesus, for thee I live; my Jesus, for thee I die”, the prayer to the Guardian Angel and the brief petition that God’s will be done in all things. Each takes only seconds on rising.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
My Jesus, for thee I live; my Jesus, for thee I die; my Jesus, I am thine in life and in death. Amen.
Angele Dei, qui custos es mei, me tibi commissum pietate superna hodie illumina, custodi, rege et guberna. Amen.
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
Sign of the Cross and Angel of God in the traditional English form. Ejaculation after Haringer, Sammlung von Gebeten, 1865, second appendix, pp. 61 f., translated from the German. Latin from Preces et pia opera, Vatican 1952, no. 402.
In the 1952 collection the Latin prayer to the Guardian Angel has the word hodie, today, with the variant hac nocte, this night; so it suits the morning as well as the evening. Anyone who prays it often in the morning and evening during the year can gain a plenary indulgence on the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels on 2 October, under the usual conditions of the collection: Confession, Communion, a visit to a church and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father. According to Beringer, St Vincent Ferrer (died 1419) already advised his listeners to say an older form of this prayer every morning and evening on their knees. In the morning, moreover, the bell rings for the Angelus.
For the way to work we knot finger rosaries from 4 mm 550 paracord, with 10 mm metal beads and a Pardon Crucifix with a St Benedict medal. The finger rosary fits in a trouser pocket, can be fastened to a carabiner or worn as a bracelet.
We set the beads far enough apart for the thumb to fit comfortably in between. A rosary with 6 to 8 mm beads fits into our leather pouch of about 13 by 10 cm and is stowed safely with the zip.
Mentioned in this article
Paracord finger rosary, bronze/black
Hand-knotted from 550 paracord, with metal beads and a Pardon Crucifix, small enough for a trouser pocket.
View the finger rosary
Frequently asked questions about morning prayer
When should you say your morning prayer?
It is best to say your morning prayer straight after getting up, before work begins. St Basil warns against setting the body to the tasks of one’s state of life before one has prayed to God.
Is there an indulgence for morning prayer?
The Church has granted indulgences for several of the prayers of the morning prayer, for example for the prayer to the Guardian Angel and for the ejaculation to the will of God. In a note, the 1865 Haringer edition refers to the pages of the collection on which these indulgences are listed.
Is the Angelus part of morning prayer?
The Angelus is a prayer in its own right, prayed morning, noon and evening when the bell rings. Because the Church expressly provides for it in the early morning too, it can easily be added to morning prayer.
Which morning prayer is suitable for children?
The Sign of the Cross and the prayer to the Guardian Angel are suitable for children, because both are short and easy to learn by heart. A finger rosary of their own helps them later to pray a decade too, that is, ten Hail Marys with the Our Father and the Glory Be.
- Sammlung von Gebeten und frommen Werken, für welche die Päpste heilige Ablässe verliehen haben (the German Raccolta), ed. Aloysius Prinzivalli, translated by Michael Haringer, 2nd edition, Regensburg 1865: morning prayer (second appendix, pp. 59 to 62) and Offering at the beginning of the day (appendix I, pp. 7 to 10). archive.org
- Das römische Brevier in deutscher Sprache (The Roman Breviary in German), edited by Ferdinand Janner, winter part, Regensburg 1890, preface pp. V f. (Basil on the Hours of prayer). archive.org
- Preces et pia opera, Vatican 1952, no. 4 (Fiat, laudetur) and no. 402 (Angele Dei). archive.org
- Franz Beringer: Die Ablässe, ihr Wesen und Gebrauch (Indulgences, their nature and use, in German), 10th edition, Paderborn 1893, no. 16, p. 114 (prayer to the Guardian Angel, reference to St Vincent Ferrer) and no. 90, pp. 168 f. (the Angelus). archive.org
- Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Clementina): 1 Cor 10:31. drbo.org
Last checked on 19 October 2026.
The MarcellusOnlineShop workshop
We knot rosaries by hand in our workshop in Germany and write in the Guide about prayers, devotional articles and the traditional Catholic faith.
