Prayer on New Year’s Eve is considered to be among the strongest ones that we have. They allow us to set the page for the year ending and the new one to begin. Let’s end this year with a thankful heart and start the new year with peace and faith. Let us release the bitterness and frustrations of the past year.

For many, New Year’s Eve is often considered to be the most sacred of nights.

In the African American community Watch Night service is rooted in African American religious traditions. During the first Watch Night, many enslaved African Americans gathered to pray, worship, sing, and dance. At the time, enslaved black people could find little respite from ever-present surveillance, even in practicing their faith. 

In the Catholic faith it is the vigil of the Solemnity of Mary. In some faiths it is the Vigil to the World Day of Peace.

Move into the new year knowing that God loves you and wants the best for you.

Pray that the new year will be focused on healing ourselves through repentance and the renewing of our minds.

O Jesus, our Savior and our Lord,
by the proclamation of your grace,
you took the yoke of the law from our necks,
and removed the burden from our shoulders to your own;

Hear the prayers of your Church,
that we may joyfully serve you here,
and see your glorious presence in all its joy in the life to come;
through your mercy, O our God, you are blessed,
and live and govern all things, now and forever. Amen.