Join with other apostles of prayer in offering Benedict XVI’s own intention for the election of the new pope. This is the prayer he included in the announcement of his resignation on February 11, 2013:
“Let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of of our Supreme Pastor, our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff.”
We can also make our own the Collect (opening prayer) of the Mass for the Election of New Pope, which you may be hearing at weekday Masses:
O God, eternal shepherd,
who govern your flock with unfailing care,
grant in your boundless fatherly love
a pastor for your Church
who will please you by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
