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Prayer attributed to St Colmcille

3/4/2016

 
Lord, Thou art my island; in Thy bosom I rest.
Thou art the calm of the sea;
in that peace I stay.
Thou art the deep waves
of the shining ocean.
With their eternal sound I sing.
Thou art the song of the birds; in that tune is my joy.
Thou art the smooth white strand of the shore;
in Thee is no gloom.
Thou art the breaking of the waves on the rock;
Thy praise is echoed in the swell.
​Thou art the Lord of my life. 
Picture

Prayer of St Columbanus

3/4/2016

 
I beseech you, merciful God, to allow me to drink from the stream that flows from your fountain of life. May I taste the sweet beauty of its waters, which spring from the very depths of your truth. O Lord, you are that fountain from which I desire with all my heart to drink. Give me, Lord Jesus, this water that it may quench the burning spiritual thirst within my soul, and purify me from all sin. I know, King of Glory, that I am asking from you a great gift, but you give to your faithful people without counting the cost, and you promise even greater things in the future. Indeed, nothing is greater than yourself, and you have given yourself to mankind on the cross. Therefore, in praying for the waters of life, I am praying that you, the source of those waters, will give yourself to me. You are my light, my salvation, my food, my drink, my God.

(photo: Leg Columban, Graubünden)
Picture

Lovesmith Divine

3/3/2016

 
"Lovesmith divine, may your fiery love purify my life with your compassion as I set out this day. Purify my deeds that I might act for more than myself, purify my words that I might speak with integrity; purify my heart that I might know your presence more; purify my perceptions that I might distinguish between the impurity of self-centredness and the dirt-honest job of being true to myself. Smithy my soul in the Workshop of this world that when I pass through the fire I will not be burned, but tempered to forge a way more loving, by your transformation at work in me this day." (Tess Ward)
Picture

Innermost God

3/2/2016

 
"Blessed be you, Innermost God, outside,
in the wide open wilderness with no walls."

(Tess Ward)
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A Spring Prayer

3/2/2016

 
"I make the encircling of the crafts
about me this spring day:
delight of poetry,
majesty of music, variety of art,
vision of seership,
compasison of healing,
peace of prayer,
spirit of druidry,
inquiry of science,
transformation of alchemy.
Nine crafts about me,
perfection of skill
encompass my soul this day."

(Caitlin Matthews)
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A Prayer of St Columba

9/11/2015

 
Let me bless almighty God,
whose power extends over sea and land,
whose angels watch over all.

Let me study sacred books to calm my soul:
I pray for peace,
kneeling at heaven's gates.

Let me do my daily work,
gathering seaweed, catching fish,
giving food to the poor.

Let me say my daily prayers,
sometimes chanting, sometimes quiet,
always thanking God.

Delightful it is to live
on a peaceful isle, in a quiet cell,
serving the King of kings.
Picture
Gartan, birthplace of St Columba

God bless the work !

9/4/2015

 
"God, bless our work this week,
From morning's waking
Till night's folding.
Bless our comings and goings,
The spinning of our labour and our lives.
May the ones we meet, 
Even those with whom we compete,
Be better for it.
God bless this week.
God bless this journey.
God bless the work. Amen."

(W.J. Fitzgerald)
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Ripening

9/4/2015

 
"Praise to you Sacred Spirit who ripens and brings to fruition, 
who knows the right time for things.
You know the quivering poise between readiness and fall, 
the delicate tension between gathering and letting go. 
Give me grace to know what is my season 
in the rhythms of my flourishing and fading 
as your love ever ripens in me."

(a prayer from “Celtic Wheel of the Year” by Tess Ward)

Picture

The Lustration

9/4/2015

 
I AM bathing my face
In the mild rays of the sun,
As Mary bathed Christ
In the rich milk of Egypt.

Sweetness be in my mouth,
Wisdom be in my speech,
The love the fair Mary gave her Son
Be in the heart of all flesh for me.

The love of Christ in my breast,
The form of Christ protecting me,
There is not in sea nor on land
That can overcome the King of the Lord's Day.

The hand of Bride about my neck,
The hand of Mary about my breast,
The hand of Michael laving me,
The hand of Christ saving me.

Force in my mouth,
Sense be in my speech,
The taste of nectar on my lips,
Till I return hither.



(Carmina Gadelica)
Picture
St Gundred's Well, Cornwall

Protection from Evil

1/19/2014

 

"Protection from Evil" - A Meditation on the Collect 
for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany (BCP) 
by Violet Mary Firth (Dion Fortune)

"O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright; Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 

Although we may recognise the need for precaution in times of danger, let us never forget that our strongest weapon is courage. No influence or attack, however strong, can ever injure the soul unless we allow ourselves to vibrate in response to its note. The best method of defense is to hold consciousness steady by tuning it to a definite keynote and keeping it vibrating at that pitch all the time by constant meditation. Once again the collect gives us the keynote in teaching us to pray for the help we need to be sent to us “through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

“By reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright,” says the old prayer, and who does not know its truth? When spiritual evil threatens, we have nothing to fear except ourselves. As long as we can keep our hearts and minds fixed steadily on Christ Jesus, so that His influence permeates our whole being, we shall not react to the forces of evil, and evil will be powerless to harm us.

It is not the evil which assails the soul that injures us, but the evil that finds entrance into the soul.

We may wonder why it is that when we are sincerely striving after spiritual things the fiercest assaults of evil should fall upon us? There is always a backwash with every tide. The flowing tide of spiritual force stirs up the powers of evil; we must be prepared for this when we enter upon the spiritual life; it is no strange thing which befalls us; all the servants of God have known it.

There are forces in the unseen which are but little understood; the sheep of Christ's flock, the souls who look to him as shepherd, not as Master, are protected from these forces; they are not called upon to encounter them. But we, if we elect to follow the straight way to the heights, if we would aspire to work with our Master in in His tasks and not merely to be carried in His bosom, must be prepared to encounter those forces and conditions which Saint Paul referred to as “spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Let us never forget that it is “by reason of the frailty of our nature that we cannot always stand upright.” Let us watch our own thoughts closely when we are encountering the dark storms of the spiritual world, for it is here that the first danger shows itself. And let our thoughts be so centred on our Lord, so filled and imbued with love and faith, that evil, and the fear that opens the door to evil, can find no cranny for a lodging place.
Picture
St Brighid's Girdle, for Protection
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    This blog is simply a selection of  quotes, some long some short, from various spiritual authors. Our Journal "In Hoc Signo Vinces" may be found on the Holy Cross Benedictines page.

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