Holiness for Housewives

In his book, Holiness for Housewives, Hubert van Zeller writes: "it is a common mistake to imagine that only formally arranged prayers are to be prayed. Anything can be prayed ...and if you can pray while you are reading, you can pray while you are writing. And if you can pray while you are writing, you can pray while you are doing pretty well anything. This brings us to the use of brief, spontaneous prayers and to the practice of the presence of God"

So yet again, we have proof that our labors can be prayers that we can use to bring us closer to God -wow, what a relief! And I'll tell you, I can use all the reminders I can get.

However I do want to include some "formally arranged prayers" that can aid us in our vocation, when the days get rough:

Prayer when exhausted by housework

Lord, I am sick to death of making beds, cleaning , and all the other jobs that go into keeping this household together. Grant me a clearer sense of my vocation to this work so that I may think less of the drudgery and more of the spiritual opportunity that it gives me.

Be with me in the duties of my day; and when, as now, I feel like dropping from fatigue and boredom and I long to be rid of it all, rouse in me a spirit of endurance and greater generosity.

Help me to make more of an effort to model myself on You. The daily work in the house at Nazareth was not without its hardships, and in the work of Your ministry later on, You were both weary and pressed for time. Help me to remember this when I find myself being suffocated by housework. Amen

Prayer in time of exasperation

Lord, my interruptions are almost more than I can bear. Give me patience. Help me to suppress my irritation for Your sake. Help me to see this provocation as being sent by You for the perfecting of my soul. If I do not let it act for my good will, it will inevitable act the other way. Lord, let the surface of my soul be calm, so that it may reflect Your image and Your will. Amen

Prayer when in a bad mood

Lord, I am in a shocking state of mind. I feel as if I ought not to be praying at all: I am too disgruntled for recollection and generosity and good resolutions and all those things that are necessary to Your service. But it is better to try to pray now than merely to give in and indulge in my poisonous humor. Lord, show me how to deal with myself when rebellion and bitterness well up in me and make life seem far more of a burden than it is. Show me that the remedy lies in submission to You and not in wallowing in self. Amen