In honor of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops — with the theme “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization,” Oct. 5-19, at the Vatican — we offer Pope St. John Paul II’s prayer for families (published in L’Osservatore Romano, May 1980 via EWTN.com):

Lord, from you every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
Father, you are love and life.
Through your Son, Jesus Christ, born of woman, and through the Holy Spirit, the fountain of divine charity, grant that every family on earth may become for each successive generation a true shrine of life and love.
Grant that your grace may guide the thoughts and actions of husbands and wives for the good of their families and of all the families of the world.
Grant that the young may find in the family solid support for their human dignity and for their growth in truth and love.
Grant that love, strengthened by the grace of the sacrament of marriage, may prove mightier than all the weaknesses and trials through which our families sometimes pass.
Through the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that the Church may fruitfully carry out her worldwide mission in the family and through the family.
We ask this of you, who are life, truth and love, with the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.