The Act of Thanksgiving

When I review prayers with my fourth-graders in my November classes, it seems they know the basic prayers, but few of them have committed to memory or pray often the Act of Faith, the Act of Hope, the Act of Love, and the Act of Contrition. So we spend time studying the wording of each of these prayers.

However, in my eight years as a catechist, I’ve never had a student who knew the Act of Thanksgiving—or had even heard of it. So I teach it during the last class before Thanksgiving. Maybe other catechists would like to introduce this prayer to their students during November. The words are from a page that long ago fell from an old prayer book. The prayer is:

Dear Lord,
I thank you from the depths of my heart for your infinite kindness in coming to me. How good you are to me. With your most holy Mother and all the angels, I praise your mercy and generosity toward me, a poor sinner.
I thank you for nourishing my soul with your Sacred Body and Precious Blood.
I will try to show my gratitude to you in the Sacrament of Your Love by obedience to your holy commandments, by fidelity to my duties, by kindness to my neighbor, and by an earnest endeavor to become more like you in my daily conduct. Amen.