Prayers of Reparation and Healing for Autistic People

 

As a follow-up to our last post, here is the list of Prayers of the Faithful as they were originally written. Feel free to pray them, and to download and print the PDF of these prayers for your own use.

Please note: These prayers were composed by actually autistic people. When we speak of “offering our autism,” we are speaking from the first-person. The phrasing of this petition and others may need to be modified accordingly when these prayers are offered by those who are neurotypical.

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Prayers of Reparation and Healing for Autistic People

To affirm the value of all autistic lives of all ages and all support needs:

 

– When our autistic struggles are portrayed as burdensome and our lives deemed worthless by society, may we persevere in faith, not yielding to despair, but trusting that truth will triumph through the grace of God.

 

Lord, hear us!

 

– May we, as Church, have the courage to speak up and defend the humanity and dignity of autistic people – and to pray publicly for those who dehumanize and devalue autistic lives. Let us pray especially for the conversion of anyone who sees us as a burden on families and society. May our hearts be pierced with contrition for any time we have contributed to this attitude, in however small a gesture we may have made in viewing autistic needs as inconvenient – or worse.

 

Lord, hear us!

 

– May Church leaders actively speak out against dehumanizing autistic people… and may their actions and examples ensure this does not happen in our parishes. May our pastors and bishops lead the way for others to follow, and to make reparation for those who would have us eliminated.

 

Lord, hear us!

 

-As the Body of Christ, we must summon our leaders and laity alike to pray for autistic people now more than ever. For our part, we offer our own autism in witness to the dignity of all human lives.

 

Lord, hear us!

 

-May we, with renewed commitment, pursue accurate and current information about autism and autistic accommodations, with our focus on building a community that supports and champions autistic members of all ages.

 

Lord, hear us!

 

– May we call upon the patronage and intercession of Our Blessed Mother, Saint Thorlak, Sts.___________ , Saint Hannibal Maria Di Francia, and Luisa Piccarreta (Servant of God) to lead the Church in embracing and supporting neurodiversity among all members of the Body of Christ in your Holy Divine Will and on behalf of all souls past present and future.

 

Lord, hear us!

 

Download PDF Here

Looking ahead: Easter into April

It is with deep gratitude that we acknowledge the worldwide and encouraging response to our Daily Lenten Prayer Petitions for autism’s belonging in the Body of Christ. We truly thank everyone who has joined us in prayer, and we assure you that you have been instrumental in stirring up grace and new life where it has been greatly needed.

With the Easter season ushering in April, we have the opportunity to take these prayers a step further. If Lent showed us a way through the spiritual desert many of us experience from a lack of understanding and support for our autistic needs, then we have a ready reference in hand to offer our communities during the month dedicated in most places to autism awareness, acceptance and affirmation. As such, we have taken our Lenten prayers and written them so as to be suitable for praying any time, any day, any week, any season. As individuals, we can pray them in sequence, cycling through with renewed resolution each time we begin the set again. As parishes, we might use them specifically during April as a meaningful way to mark Autism Month in the Prayers of the Faithful. As Church, we may reflect on each petition as a way to assess how we are doing, and what we need to do, to support and champion neurodiversity in the Body of Christ. In whatever way the Spirit moves us, may we use these prayers to the glory of God.

Autism Consecrated’s Prayer Intentions are free to download, print, share and use as individuals and groups. May God bless and renew each one of us this April, and beyond!