Grace is God’s free gift of His own life and help, and Catholics ask for it in every prayer, from the “Hail Mary, full of grace” to the simplest cry for help in temptation. Below are traditional Catholic prayers for grace: the prayer for grace to do God’s will from The Raccolta, St. Thomas Aquinas’s prayer for grace to please God, the Act of Hope, Scripture on the “throne of grace,” prayers for grace in particular needs, and a short explanation of what the Church means by grace.
A short prayer for grace, written for this page:
Lord, I cannot do anything good without you.
Give me your grace today: light for my mind, strength for my will,
and love in my heart, so that I may do your will in all things. Amen.
Traditional Catholic prayers for grace
Prayer for grace to do the will of God
This prayer, taken from The Imitation of Christ, was approved by Pope Leo XIII and printed in The Raccolta (1910):
Grant me, most kind Jesus, thy grace, that it may abide with me, labour with me, and persevere with me to the end.
Grant me ever to desire and to will that which is the more acceptable to Thee, and pleases Thee more dearly.
May thy will be mine, and my will ever follow thine, and be in closest accord with it.
May it be my one care to will and to be unwilling with Thee, and may I be unable to will or not will anything but what Thou willest or willest not.
St. Thomas Aquinas’s prayer for grace
The opening of St. Thomas Aquinas’s prayer for grace to lead a holy life:
Grant me grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all that is pleasing to Thee, to examine it prudently, to acknowledge it truthfully, and to accomplish it perfectly, for the praise and glory of Thy name. Amen.
See more prayers of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Act of Hope
The traditional Act of Hope asks for “the help of Thy grace”:
O my God! relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
See the Acts of Faith, Hope and Love.
Prayers for grace in particular needs
Written for this page.
For grace in temptation
Jesus, I am weak and the temptation is strong.
Give me your grace right now to turn away from sin and toward you.
Mary, Mother of grace, protect me. Amen.
For grace to forgive
Lord, I cannot forgive this hurt by my own strength.
Pour your grace into my heart, so that I may let go of resentment
and wish good to the one who wronged me, as you forgave those who crucified you. Amen.
For grace in suffering
Lord, you told St. Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
Let your grace be enough for me in this trial.
Give me patience, courage and hope, and let my suffering be united to yours. Amen.
For the grace of a good confession
Holy Spirit, give me the grace to know my sins, to be truly sorry for them,
to confess them honestly, and to amend my life. Amen.
Scripture on grace
St. Paul’s encouragement to approach God with confidence (Hebrews 4:16, Douay-Rheims):
Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace: that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid.
And the Lord’s answer to St. Paul in his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9–10):
And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
For which cause I please myself in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when I am weak, then am I powerful.
What is grace?
The Catechism explains that grace is “favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God” (CCC 1996). We cannot earn it; we can only receive it, ask for it and cooperate with it.
- Sanctifying grace is the gift of God’s own life in the soul. It is first given in Baptism, and it makes us holy and pleasing to God. It is lost by mortal sin and restored by the Sacrament of Penance (CCC 1999–2000).
- Actual graces are God’s help at particular moments: light to see what is right and strength to do it (CCC 2000).
- Sacramental graces are the gifts proper to each sacrament, and charisms are special graces given for the good of the Church (CCC 2003).
The sacraments, above all the Eucharist and Confession, are the ordinary ways God gives us His grace, and prayer is how we ask for the grace we need. The Church calls Mary “full of grace” because she was filled with God’s grace from the first moment of her life. See the Hail Mary.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Catholic prayer for grace?
The Raccolta prayer “Grant me, most kind Jesus, thy grace, that it may abide with me, labour with me, and persevere with me to the end” is a beautiful traditional prayer for grace.
How do Catholics receive grace?
Through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession, and through prayer, good works and the reading of Scripture.
Is “grace” the same as “grace before meals”?
No. Saying grace before meals means giving thanks to God for food. See grace before meals.
More prayers
- Acts of Faith, Hope and Love
- Come Holy Spirit prayer
- Catholic prayer for strength
- Prayer for wisdom
- St. Thomas Aquinas prayer
- Catholic grace before meals
Texts and sources
- The Raccolta (London: Burns and Oates, 1910), no. 57, public domain (archive.org).
- Hebrews 4:16 and 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (Douay-Rheims).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1996–2003.