Here’s
a prayer for a Baccalaureate service on graduation weekend. It was written by
Brother Lawrence A. Whitney, LC., and posted on the Boston University Marsh Chapel
website.
Prayer on Graduation Weekend
Holy
God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Eternal.
We
pray today for our graduates here at [college
or university].
We
give thanks for their achievements.
We
give praise for their wisdom and understanding,
and
we ask you to guide them to hear the sound of the genuine in themselves,
that
they may continue to excel in leadership, scholarship, and service;
that
they may come alive to lives of fulfillment and joy,
and
that they may prosper and flourish in their vocations.
We
pray for the parents, families, and friends of our graduates:
We
give thanks for their accompaniment to this point,
we
give praise for their perseverance and dedication,
and
we ask you to empower them
in
a new manner of nurture and guidance,
that
they may find ongoing joy and satisfaction
in
the accomplishments of their graduates,
that
our graduates may continue to find nourishment
in
the traditions and values of their roots,
and
that they together might enter into
a
new manner of relationship in mutuality and partnership.
We
pray for the faculty, staff, and administrators
who
have guided this class of graduates throughout their years of study:
We
give thanks for their leadership, scholarship, teaching, and service;
we
give praise for their graceful presence and compassionate shepherding.
We
ask you to empower them to persevere
in
the ongoing work of forming, informing, and transforming
students
at [name college or university],
that
they may find ongoing fulfillment in teaching and guiding
as
sources of inspiration for their scholarship;
that
their striving for wisdom and understanding
may
bear fruit in compassionate service of this community and the world,
and
that future classes of graduates may attain
to
similar and greater heights of achievement as those who graduate today.
We
pray for the greater community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
We
give praise for the great cloud of witnesses
who
provided and provide vision
for
this campus and community of learning, virtue, and piety,
and
we ask you to inspire our hearts and minds
to
pursue and attain to even greater knowledge and insight,
that
the ordering of our society and its affairs might be improved,
that
justice and mercy might prevail,
and
that your glory may be known upon the earth.
In
all of these things, we fulfill your command, O God,
and
offer you all praise and glory this day. Amen.
~
written by Brother Lawrence A. Whitney, LC., 2013. Posted on the Boston University Marsh Chapel website.
https://www.bu.edu/chapel/2013/05/19/baccalaureate-prayers-2013/
