Jesus tells us clearly and unequivocally: “if [a wife] divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mark 10:12). Both adulterous parties—the unfaithful spouse and her/his lover—commit a mortal sin and stand in dire need of repentance.
Christ wants us not only to forgive acts of betrayal but also to pray for those who offend us and are unaware of the mortal threat facing them: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). In this connection, we offer the spouse who has been faithful despite the infidelity of the other a powerful prayer that will help the offended party find the necessary forgiveness and allow God’s redemptive action to heal the ailing relationship.
Prayer for my Husband’s Wife’s Lover
Lord Jesus, I come to you in great pain over the wound dealt to my heart and our marital union by a third party who has forced his/her way into our marriage covenant. Help me each day to forgive my spouse and his/her lover for the harm done to us: our children, myself, and the family of the lover as well. Send your Holy Spirit into our earts.
Free, I beseech you Lord Jesus, my spouse’s lover from those feelings of attraction toward him/her that lead to mortal sin. Free my spouse also from his/her attraction to his/her lover. Fill his/her heart with love for me and the family we established together. Heal my spouse and his/her lover of their sick relationship. Heal those wounds with which both my spouse and his/her lover came into life and which they incurred during childhood. Remove the burdens and impediments they incurred in their youth and adult life. Restore to yourself the heart of my spouse’s lover and help her/him to decide to leave my spouse and embark on a life of sanctifying grace. Pour into her/his heart the feelings of self-worth and serenity that come from building a relationship with you. Fill her/his heart with the love that she/he lacks, and with the certitude that you, Jesus, love her/him with a boundless love. Help her/him to develop an honest relationship with you, while strengthening her/his faith. Grant her/him the gift of inner peace and strengthen in her/him the virtues of justice and honesty. Help her/him to find her/his place in life, which you, Lord, have foreseen for her/him since time out of mind, that she/he may attain eternal salvation. Fill the heart of my spouse with a desire to build marital fidelity so as to preserve our marriage covenant. Convert his/her heart that he/she may live in truth. Strengthen him/her in the task of choosing good and fostering conjugal and parental love. Grant, Lord Jesus, that you may hold pride of place in my spouse’s heart.
Thank you, Lord, for hearing me and for always caring about our sacramental union. Amen.
The Movement of Faithful Hearts (MFH) is there for spouses of sacramental marriages who wish to entrust their troubled union to Jesus Christ so as to be strengthened by God and the graces that flow from His holy sacraments. The spouse vows to remain chaste and faithful to his or her marriage covenant and remain in a state of sanctifying grace. To join MFH the married person needs to:
– make a sacramental confession;
– receive Holy Communion;
– entrust himself/herself wholeheartedly to Jesus, by pledging fidelity to Him in the words of the MFH prayer of consecration:
The Prayer of Consecration of the Movement of Faithful Hearts
Lord Jesus, I offer you our marriage. I thank you for uniting us, for giving us to each other, and for strengthening our union in the sacrament of matrimony. However, our marriage now stands in need of healing.
I offer you, Lord, my whole self, my memory, my soul, and my body. Please teach me to love my husband/wife and children with the love that comes from you.
Grant both of us, dear Jesus, a pure heart modeled on yours. Enable me to remain faithful in my difficult situation. Grant me the grace to forgive my spouse for all the wounds and harm he/she has dealt me, and that I may not lose hope in the possibility of reconciliation (in the case of separation or divorce).
Cleanse my thoughts that I may remain faithful and loving. May daily prayer—the rosary, the chaplet of Divine Mercy, Holy Mass, and frequent reception of Holy Communion—help me in this endeavor. I vow to pick myself up from every serious sin through the sacrament of penance. Grant that I may always be strengthened by the graces of the sacrament of matrimony.
Lord Jesus, be the One Lord of my life. Teach me to control my emotions and sexual desires, that my love for my spouse may endure and be faithful until death do us part. Purify my love of all selfishness, that I may always forgive, nurse no grudges, and persevere in prayer.
To preserve a pure heart, I pledge never to read, purchase, or look at pornographic magazines, TV programs, or films. Grant me your help, O Lord, that I may avoid everything that enslaves and incites me to evil.
Mary, my Mother, lead me in the ways of faith toward the one source of love in our marriage—to Jesus, that I may always trust and believe in Him. Like Blessed John Paul II, I entrust myself wholly to you: “Totus Tuus, Maria!” In your Immaculate Heart I place my entire self, all that I am, every step I take, every moment of my life. Blessed John Paul II, entreat for me the gift of a pure and faithful heart! Amen.
Please inform LOA of your decision to join MFH and remain faithful to your spouse and your pledges. Members of MFH promise to: live in a state of sanctifying grace and foster a personal relationship with Jesus; make a regular Holy Communion and read frequently from Holy Scripture; entrust to God in daily prayer themselves, their loved ones, and fellow members of MFH.
Fr. Mieczysław Piotrowski
& the LOA team