Prayer to Offer up Domestic Work

O God, who through your Son prepare us a dwelling place in Heaven and a banquet in the Kingdom, accept these jobs which I am about to do in your presence so that through them my house will be converted into a doorway to yours and a peaceful repose where you, like the father in the parable, always welcome our return and invite us to the feast of your mercy.

Jesus, who helped Mary and Joseph in the household chores in Nazareth and promised Heaven to those who nourish, clothe and look after you present in the most humble, teach me to see you in the members of my family and to serve you in them through the cleanliness, the tidiness and the cosiness of my home, with the food I prepare, the clothes I wash, iron and mend, the education I give, the money I manage and so many other things.

Holy Spirit, Divine Guest, inspire my work so that it reflects outwardly what you do in the intimacy of our soul, ever shaping it with your grace and embellishing it with your gifts. Help me make home live up to its true greatness, as the embodiment of the family, the school of humanity, a beacon of culture and a place of encounter with you. Show me how to juggle the talents you have given me, and to get everyone in the family to help out, so that this work may be a sign and fruit of the communion which we form.

Virgin most Holy, Queen of Heaven and Handmaid of the Lord, you who reared Jesus in the house of Nazareth, make him grow also in me, so that my family may feel him close to them and love him more and more. With you, my Mother, may I master my job as homemaker and realize its potential for personal enrichment and its mysterious power to save and support souls. May I do my job with competence, creativity and pride, knowing that the home I make is the source and school of all professions. And may I live like you in Nazareth, showing that to serve is to rule, and that true sovereignty is achieved only by giving ourselves to others in the little things of every day.

O Divine Manageress of the Grace and Help of Christians, pray for us. Saint Joseph, Head of the Household of Nazareth and Teacher of Jesus, intercede for your children.

AMEN.