Prayer for Rain

This prayer is the traditional collect from the Mass for rain in the Roman Missal. It opens with St. Paul's words to the Athenians, that in God "we live, and move, and are" (Acts 17:28), and asks for enough rain to sustain our temporal life, so that we may seek eternal life with greater confidence. Farmers and rural parishes have prayed it for centuries in times of drought, and it recalls the prophet Elijah, whose prayer brought rain after three years of dryness (1 Kings 18; James 5:17-18).

Pray it during a drought, at planting time, during wildfire seasons, or on the traditional Rogation Days, when the Church asks God's blessing on the fields and harvest. It is also a reminder that food, water, and every good gift come from the Creator, who cares for all His creatures.

The Prayer

O God, in Whom we live, move, and have our being, grant us sufficient rain, that, being aided to sustain our temporal life by Thy bounty, we may more confidently seek after life eternal. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sources: Traditional prayer for rain; classic Ritual/manuals, public domain.