CIRCULAR TO: ALL PARISH PRIESTS/SHRINE RECTORS/CHAPLAINS AND SCHOOL DIRECTORS ( SUBJECT: ORATIO IMPERATA/INTERCESSORY PRAYERS FOR RAIN)

We are sending you the intentions to be inserted into the Daily and Sunday Prayers of the Faithful of the Mass:

Lord, hasten to send the rain we badly need so the damage to crops and other livelihood and impending power shortage may be averted, we pray…

Lord, inspire us in this time of crisis to share in the name of Jesus what we have and to take responsibility for one another and for the environment and resources that you have generously provided us, we
pray...

The Oratio Imperata ad Petendam Pluviam is to be prayed after Communion before the Post Communion Prayer:

God our loving Father, creator of our earth and of the universe, and all the wondrous elements of nature that sustain your living creatures, we
humbly ask you to send us the rain that our country needs so badly at
this time, to irrigate our fields, to stave off a power shortage, to
provide water for our bodily health, and to refresh our parched lands.
At your command the wind and the seas obey, raise your hand Almighty
God to send us so that crisis may be averted.

Merciful and generous God, open our eyes to the richness and beauty of your creation and instill in us a deep love for this earth and all that is
in and around it. Teach us to be wise stewards of your creation so that
we may always use them responsibly and protect them from abuse and
exploitation. At this time of crisis, dear Lord, move us to share more
and to love more.

Loving God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you entrusted the Filipino people to the special care of Mary our Mother, listen to the prayers that we bring up to her, our Blessed
Mother, to intercede for us, for the protection of our land and our
people, whom she loves.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, pray for us.

February 28, 2010 is the Second Sunday of Lent and we start with these prayers on this day, the day of our intensified journey of Lent.

Let us together storm heavens with our supplication, that God's mercy be upon us and send us the rain we need.

God Bless!

+ GAUDENCIO B. CARDINAL ROSALES, D.D.

Archbishop of Manila