Prayer of Saint Claude De La Colombiere

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An Act of Hope and Confidence in God

(thanks to Matt Willkom for sharing his vocal gifts on this prayer)

My God, I believe most firmly that Thou watchest over all who hope in Thee, and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon Thee in all things; therefore I am resolved for the future to have no anxieties, and to cast all my cares upon Thee.
People may deprive me of worldly goods and of honors; sickness may take from me my strength and the means of serving Thee; I may even lose Thy grace by sin; but my trust shall never leave me. I will preserve it to the last moment of my life, and the powers of hell shall seek in vain to wrestle it from me.

Let others seek happiness in their wealth, in their talents; let them trust to the purity of their lives, the severity of their mortifications, to the number of their good works, the fervor of their prayers; as for me, O my God, in my very confidence lies all my hope. “For Thou, O Lord, singularly has settled me in hope.” This confidence can never be in vain. “No one has hoped in the Lord and has been confounded.”

I am assured, therefore, of my eternal happiness, for I firmly hope for it, and all my hope is in Thee. “In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped; let me never be confounded.”

I know, alas! I know but too well that I am frail and changable; I know the power of temptation against the strongest virtue. I have seen stars fall from heaven, and pillars of firmament totter; but these things alarm me not. While I hope in Thee I am sheltered from all misfortune, and I am sure that my trust shall endure, for I rely upon Thee to sustain this unfailing hope.

Finally, I know that my confidence cannot exceed Thy bounty, and that I shall never receive less than I have hoped for from Thee. Therefore I hope that Thou wilt sustain me against my evil inclinations; that Thou wilt protect me against the most furious assults of the evil one, and that Thou wilt cause my weakness to triumph over my most powerful enemies. I hope that Thou wilt never cease to love me, and that I shall love Thee unceasingly. “In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded.”

From the writings of St. Claude on Prayer

“Since by the mercy of God I feel myself somewhat drawn to prayer, I have asked of God, with a large heart, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, that He would give me the grace to love this holy exercise more and more, unto the hour of my death.

It is the one means for our purification, the one way to union with God, the one channel by which God may unite Himself with us, that He may do anything with us for His glory. To obtain the virtues of an apostle we must pray; to make them of use to our neighbour we must pray; to prevent our losing them while we use them in His service we must pray.

The cousel, or rather the commandment: Pray always, seems to me extremely sweet and by no means impossible. It secures the practice of the presence of God; I wish, with the help of Our Lord, to endeavour to follow it. We are always in need of God, then we need to pray always; the more we pray the more we please Him, and the more we receive.

I do not ask for those delights in prayer which God gives to who He will; I am not worthy of them, I have not strength enough to bear them. Extraordinary graces are not good for me; to give them to me would be to build on sand, it would only be pouring precious liquor into a leaking hogshead which can hold nothing. I ask of God only a solid, simple manner of prayer, which may give Him glory and will not puff me up; dryness and desolation, accompanied with His grace, are very good for me, so it seems. Then I make acts of the best kind, and with satisfaction; then I make efforts against my evil disposition, I try to be faithful to God, etc….

Above all things I am resigned to be sanctified by the way that God shall please, by the absence of all sensible delight, if He wishes it so to be, by interior trials, by continual combat with my passions.”

8 thoughts on “Prayer of Saint Claude De La Colombiere – Discerning Hearts”

My son has pulmonary fibrosis..He needs a miracle…May Blessed Claude la Colombiere’s provide a miracle through God’s Blessed Grace.
On June 25, 2013, I was watching “Miracles Around Us. It was on a protestant station. As a Roman Catholic I was surprise it was on.
There were two segments on. One of a young migrant worker by the name of Theresa. She

Please pray to St. Claude de la Colombiere for healing of my mother Severine Pinto who suffering from Pulmonary illness and is not able to speak.

Please Saint Claude, pray for my son and me. Thanks

I was drawn to pick a patron saint for the year after reading a newsletter from Medjugorje. I said a prayer to the Holy Spirit and had the web page choose a Saint for me. it chose Saint Claude De La Colombiere . I began reading about Saint Claude De La Colombiere and it felt so right. The things that are going on in my life and work seemed a perfect fit. This Saint obviously chose me.

Would love to hear if others have chosen a patron Saint for the year.

Rosary being said tonight for all. My uncle (Fr John Houle SJ) was suffering from PF and when blessed by St Claude relics was cured and became the third miracle needed for the subsequent Sainthood. May God bless all and may Saint Claude watch over you.

St Claude de Colombiere please pray for me and be my spiritual director from heaven that I may love the Sacred Heart of Jesus more and more.

I have been drawn to St. Claude de la Colombiere for may years now. I found that I was very attracted to the prayers of his in the Jesuit prayer book Hearts of Fire. A theme of his prayers, it appears to be hope and to pray to “not be confounded”. I am a person that can be “weak and changeable” But I do pray for Jesus to enter my heart. I did my first novena to St. Claude in 1992 when he was then Blessed St. Claude. I prayed for a personal healing…which did happen. It is today 2/7/21, and I am beginning another Novena to St. Claude. I pray for healing of this world and for us not to give up hope or “be confounded”; and that Jesus Sacred Heart will touch our hearts during this remarkable time in our history.