Prepare your heart before you begin Lectio Divina with these traditional Catholic prayers. Before you open Scripture, let these familiar prayers open your heart. They will help invite grace as you begin to meditate on Scripture.
The Confiteor is one of the oldest prayers in the Church, prayed at the beginning of Mass for centuries. Its name comes from the Latin confiteor, “I confess.” Before the priest and faithful can enter into the Liturgy of the Word, they first acknowledge their sinfulness together—not shame, but as an honest starting point. Praying the Confiteor here does the same thing for your time in Lectio Divinia: it clears the ground, quiets pride, and opens a humble, contrite heart before you turn to Prayer.
The Confiteor Prayer
I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Every act of prayer begins with turning toward Someone—and for the Christian, that someone is Jesus, truly present to us. This prayer invites you to recognize that presence honestly: to bring your whole self, weaknesses included, before Him and ask for the grace to grow in faith and adoration.
Prayer to Jesus
I believe, Jesus,
That you are really here and present to me. I recognize my nothingness and I humbly bring myself into your presence, knowing that if You will it, You can give me the graces I need to grow in faith and adoration for you. Look into my soul and see the condition of it. Please listen to my pleas for help. You are my God and I humbly give you praise and adoration as my Lord and my Master. I submit to your absolute authority in my life. Please, Lord, look on me with eyes of mercy and see all the areas of my life that are in most need of your grace. I am unworthy to be in your presence because I am a sinner and I have offended you so many times with my pride and indifference. I have many defects that I have been too weak to correct and I am deeply ashamed of them. I want to be rid of this guilt and I want my conscience freed from it. I beg you to not look at my faults but look at me with pity and pardon me of my sins. I beg you for the grace to overcome them once and for all. I know that with your grace I will be able to stop the sin and to amend my life so that I may one day merit to see You face to face. Please purify my heart and my lips, my mind and my body.
AMEN.
Having turned to Jesus, we now lift our prayers to the Father—but notice how: not on our own merit, but through Christ. This prayer reflects a beautiful truth of Christian prayer: we don’t approach the Father alone. Jesus stands with us as our one Mediator. His own life and sacrifice becomes the confidence with which we dare to speak.
Prayer to the Eternal Father
I do not deserve that you should pay attention to me but by the merits of Jesus Christ, your Son, and my Redeemer, you have promised you will not reject my prayers. Jesus offers to You His homage, pleading to You for my soul through His past labors, through His Word, and through His Heart. It is by His tears and through His Most Precious Blood that I am able to pray to You. He adores You, and thanks You, and begs You for mercy on me and on the whole world. He begs You for graces to give me from Your eternal fruitfulness. Eternal Father, whatever Jesus says to You on my behalf, I say the same. I make all His homage to You my own and I join Him in His intention. I only dare to present myself before You by invoking His holy name and through His merits. It is by His death and resurrection that I can come before You with confidence that You will hear me. AMEN.
Finally, we ask for the One who makes prayer itself possible, the Holy Spirit, our Advocate. Without the Holy Spirit’s help, even a single good thought or holy desire is beyond us. This prayer is an act of humility and total dependence—asking the Spirit to inflame the heart, guide the mind, and make what follows truly fruitful.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
I am not capable without your inspiration to have a single good thought. I cannot even concentrate my thoughts without You helping me to control them. I cannot even raise my heart to You unless You attract it toward You. I cannot even love You unless You first put the love in my heart to give. I cannot even form a good resolution unless You convict my heart of the need for it. And I will never succeed unless You help me put it into practice by your grace. Every good thing I have You have given to me. Every spiritual grace I have received You have given to me without merit. Since I recognize your omnipotence and my nothingness I renounce right now in this moment all my own thoughts, which are not capable of guiding me toward eternal life. I recognize that I know nothing about what is necessary for my own salvation and that I am reliant completely on You for all grace. I am painfully aware that my own affections lead me toward evil and that they cannot be trusted. Please come, Holy Spirit, fill me with your presence. I abandon myself to You in order that You may guide me and illuminate my heart and mind. Help me pray my mental prayer well and to be committed to this every day. Help me grow in love for You and in virtue so that I may overcome the sins that afflict me right now. Inflame my heart and convert my will. I beg You to give me a heart that desires your holy will for my life and not my own selfish will.
AMEN.
With a humble heart, and having called on Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, you’re ready to begin. You might turn to today’s Daily Readings from the Mass, or simply open your own Bible to a passage that’s been on your Heart. Either way, the Word is waiting—go slowly, listen closely, and let God speak to your heart as you contemplate his Word in prayer.