MANILA - As the country continues to experience intense heat due to the El Niño phenomenon, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) came out with a prayer for rain.

The "Oratio Imperata" for rain was released by the CBCP Secretariat on Wednesday. "Oratio Imperata", meaning "ordered prayer" in Latin, is a set of prayers which the local ordinary or the prelate of the Church may publicly pray or release to the faithful when a grave need or calamity occurs.

The prayer is traditionally said at the end of the Mass.

"The suggestion is due to the prolonged drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon that has ravaged many parts of our country particularly Mindanao," said Fr. Marvin Mejia, the secretary general of CBCP.

Catholic bishops in the country are encouraged to order the use of the prayer in their respective dioceses. Only bishops have the authority to mandate the prayer within their pastoral jurisdictions.

Aside from English, the CBCP also released a Cebuano version of the prayer.

Below is the text of the prayer:

Most Gracious and Most Merciful God,
Creator, Source and Giver of all things,
Most powerful in heaven and on earth,
We give You honor and glory.

We thank You
For our home – the earth;
For our light – the sun, moon and stars;
For our solace – our family and friends, our community, our neighbors.

United as Your children, we come to You, pleading,
Shower us with rain, provide us with water that we need.
Father, Your children are begging to survive,
Hear us, we desire to live.

Prolonged drought is depriving us of the fruits of our toil;
Low water supply means hunger and thirst for most of us;
El Niño continues to threaten our relationship with one another.
O Lord, this is a very hostile phenomenon that we beg for You to end.

At this time of looming catastrophe, dear Lord, dwell in our hearts.
Teach us to be more generous; bring out the best in us;
Turn our eyes and ears toward the needs of others, especially the poor.
Move us to share more, care more, serve more and love more.

Holy God, You sanctify this earth to be our sacred abode.
Grant us courage to take in hand the sufferings of the environment;
Grant us might to save and protect the beauty of nature.
Grant us wisdom to restore whatever we have destroyed.

O Loving God, behold on us, Your beloved children
Feel us, feel for us;
Let heaven cry and its tears be our blessed rain.
Have mercy on us Lord, have mercy.
We beg you,
Most Gracious and Merciful God,
Please, let it rain.

Amen.