A special prayer to conclude 2025 and begin 2026

Dec 31, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

The end of 2025 is at hand and the world is set to welcome the new year with parties and fireworks, but many forget to celebrate it with God, the Lord of life and time. We therefore share this prayer for you to recite with your family, community, or friends before the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31.

If a Nativity scene is present, it is recommended to gather around it. Begin with the Sign of the Cross: “In the name of the Father…”

Then recite the following prayer:

Reader 1: “Lord God, master of time and eternity, yours is today and tomorrow, the past and the future. As this year comes to an end, we want to thank you for everything we have received from you.

Thank you for life and love, for the flowers, the air, and the sun; for joy and sorrow; for all that was possible and for what could not be. We offer you all that we have done this year, the work we were able to accomplish, the things that passed through our hands and what we were able to build with them.

Reader 2: We present to you the people we have loved throughout these months, the new friendships and the old ones we have known, those closest to us and those more distant, those who lent us a hand and those we were able to help, with whom we shared life, work, sorrow, and joy.

But also, Lord, today we want to ask for your forgiveness — forgiveness for the time that was wasted, the money that was ill-spent, the unhelpful words, and for the love that was squandered.

All: Forgive me for my work poorly done, and for when I lived without enthusiasm. Also for the prayer that I kept putting off little by little, and which I am only presenting to you now. For all the forgetfulness, carelessness, and and for not speaking to you, I ask for your forgiveness once again.

Before the new year starts, I take a moment to offer you the days ahead, which only you know if I will live to see.

Today I ask for myself and for my loved ones peace and joy, strength and prudence, clarity and wisdom. I want to live each day with a bright outlook and kindness, bringing with me everywhere I go a heart full of understanding and peace.

Close my ears to all falsehood and my lips to lying, selfish, biting, or hurtful words. Open my being instead to all that is good, that my spirit may be filled only with blessings and that I may shower them down wherever I go. Amen.

(To conclude, proceed to hold hands and pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be. Then give each other a hug and greet one another: “Peace be with you! Happy New Year!”)

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/268769/special-prayer-to-conclude-2025-and-begin-2026