“Jesus, loving companion of Your children,
You have extended Your friendship to all.
You opened Your arms without discrimination,
Offering Your warmth to those seeking comfort.
Endow me with the virtue of such a friendship,
To know, love and trust all on an equal basis;
To share my patronizing without favorism,
And to be pleasant towards the destitute.
Fashion my heart to reflect Your qualities,
Those befitting of a cordial association.
Jesus, You showed me the way to true friendship:
Blessed is Your amazing and warm Person”. - (A Prayer for True Friendship).
“I want to thank you, Gracious Lord,
for the good friends you give me;
they are for me a priceless bounty.
Thanks to them, friendship is neither an abstraction,
nor a distant, almost impossible, dream.
I owe to your providence, Lord,
the possibiltiy of counting on
the constant help of friends.
Between me and them you have formed a solid bridge,
which can withstand all threats of destruction.
The happiness with which you have blessed us
enables us to enrich one another.
Lord, tehre was something astonishing,
almost mysterious,
in the way I met my friends;
it was always outside the expected pattern.
But you alone know the reasons
that drew us closer together.
This surprise and joy are refreshing,
and I experience them anew
at every step of my life.
Not all proved to be steadfast friends,
but I have to thank you
for the faithful ones.
I promise to do everything in my power
to deserve this precious gift
that you have reserved for me.
I ask you, Gracious Lord, to keep them safe in your hands,
for they are yours above all.
Amen”. - (Prayer of Thanks for Friends).
