Catholic Books about The Serenity Prayer

[Miquelot]

With so many books about the Serenity Prayer proliferating I was wondering, realizing that it is attributed to Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, if there were any books exploring this famous prayer and its history from a Catholic perspective.  I intend it as a Christmas gift to an Evangelical Protestant in-law -- ex-Army, not alcoholic -- who simply loves this prayer. 

[glgas]

With so many books about the Serenity Prayer proliferating I was wondering, realizing that it is attributed to Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, if there were any books exploring this famous prayer and its history from a Catholic perspective.  I intend it as a Christmas gift to an Evangelical Protestant in-law -- ex-Army, not alcoholic -- who simply loves this prayer. 

I had a card in the 1940's, on one side the serenity prayer (without title) in Hungarian, and on the other Side the picture of St Francis Assisi. I used that card for long time in the Missal, instead of extra ribbon.

I am not sure about the meaning of the English word 'serene', but if you exchange it with 'wisdom' it is a good Catholic prayer, at least this part:

    God grant me the serenity
    To accept the things I cannot change;
    Courage to change the things I can;
    And wisdom to know the difference.

The usual cadence:

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;

not necessarily, we shall care about the future, and we shall not necessarily enjoy every moment.

[Miquelot]

With so many books about the Serenity Prayer proliferating I was wondering, realizing that it is attributed to Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, if there were any books exploring this famous prayer and its history from a Catholic perspective.  I intend it as a Christmas gift to an Evangelical Protestant in-law -- ex-Army, not alcoholic -- who simply loves this prayer. 

I had a card in the 1940's, on one side the serenity prayer (without title) in Hungarian, and on the other Side the picture of St Francis Assisi. I used that card for long time in the Missal, instead of extra ribbon.

I read that it is not uncommon to have this prayer misattributed to St. Francis. 

[Bonifacius]

There are plenty of things that we cannot change that we should not "accept."  Or at least that word "accept" is ambiguous. 

[Bonifacius]

For instance, a husband may be an alcoholic.  Nothing a wife can do can *make* this change.  He has to do it.  She can help, but she cannot motivate him to do what he does not want to be motivated to do.  She cannot change the fact of his alcoholism.  And she must "accept" the fact of her husband's alcoholism as true and part of God's Providence and deal with it.  Accept it as a cross.  But she must never "accept" the alcoholism itself as something, well, acceptable.  At best it may be tolerable.  "Tolerate" might be better than "accept" if we are to pray the Serenity Prayer in an acceptable (hah!) and Catholic manner.  (And there's been alcoholism in my family and there's a framed copy of the Serenity Prayer on the wall back home, so I know a little whereof I speak.)