Readers and colleagues have asked if there are any specific prayers for these days of voting for a new pope.

Here’s one via the Knights of Columbus:

And one from George Weigel (of Saint Pope John Paul II chronicling fame) on the First Things website:

And yesterday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (can you tell he’s Italian?), the dean of the College of Cardinals said:

“May we pray for “a Pope who knows how best to awaken the consciences of all and awaken the moral and spiritual energies in today’s society” that “tends to forget God.””

And he prayed:

“May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede with her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the minds of the Cardinal electors and help them agree on the Pope that our time needs.”

A writer for Our Sunday Visitor posted this, which as someone who loves Pope John XXIII and Cardinal Dolan, I found deeply moving:

John 23rd is famous for saying at the end of a day: “It’s your Church, Lord, I’m going to bed.”

And so we could definitely ask: St. Pope John XXIII, pray for us and our Concave cardinals and soon-to-be pope. You know how hard it will be!

Michael Heinlein also posted this tried-and-true prayer (it’s my go-to in many situations):