Prayer for Safe Travel

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Pray before departure on any significant journey — the threshold of the home before leaving for a road trip, the boarding gate before a flight, the dock before a sea voyage, the door of the bus before a long pilgrimage. The prayer is short enough to pray silently while buckling a seatbelt or while waiting in line at airport security. Catholic drivers traditionally begin every car journey with a brief Sign of the Cross and this prayer (often abbreviated to just the Sign of the Cross plus the petition naming the destination). For longer trips, the Itinerarium tradition — found in many Catholic prayer books and in the Roman Ritual — provides a more extended prayer: Psalm 91 ('Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High'), the Magnificat, and a specific blessing of the traveler. Catholic families often pray this prayer together at the start of a vacation departure (parents leading the prayer aloud with children before the car pulls out of the driveway). Many Catholic households keep a small holy-water font near the door so the traveler can bless themselves on the way out. The prayer is especially appropriate for: any long-distance travel (driving over 100 miles, any flight, any international journey); the family of a deployed military member; the family of a long-distance commuter; before a pilgrimage; and as a daily prayer for those whose work requires constant travel. The St. Christopher medal in the car is the tangible companion practice; the practice of blessing the vehicle on St. Christopher's feast (July 25) at a parish blessing of vehicles is a traditional Catholic moment.