24 November 2017
 

Rid us, O Lord

Rid us, O Lord, of the arrogant delusion that our age is harder to live in,

harder to live through and be decent in than any age that ever was, that

we are being tried as our fathers never were, that we have more excuse

for our neurotic screaming, our pitiful muddling, our eroded standards,

our sentimental slobbering, our pinching terror at the shadows of the

future cast upon our way than any men who ever walked beneath Your

heaven and on Your earth.

Teach us, O Lord, by Your sane and steadying Word that we stand before

You as we always stood, living of Your grace and moving toward Your

judgment, that the Bomb and the terrible technological trifles of our time

have not altered the great plain, steady fact that You are Lord and have not

changed the blessed time of Your coming as a thief in the night.

                                MARTIN H. FRANZMANN, Prayer for Joy, P 51.

3 October 2017
 

On the Psalms

If any oppressive sorrow has come upon you […] pray with

psalms to the Lord lest the sadness of the world which is

death swallow you up; drive destructive sickness of grief from
your heart by the frequent sweetness of the psalms.

                                                   THE VENERABLE BEDE

2 July 2017
 

Guide My Tongue

Guide my tongue, O Blessed Wisdom, so that it may not

Deviate from truth for the rest of my life. Remind me of 

Your presence, so that I may be afraid to utter falsehood.

Encourage me with Your presence, so that I may freely

speak the truth. 

                                                   Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich

                                                   Prayers by the Lake, p. 138
                                                                                          

16 June 2017
 
Christ in Need


When you receive another, you receive Him. [...] 
Let a hungry Christ be fed here, a thirsty Christ to be
given drink, a naked Christ to be clothed, a foreigner
Christ to be taken in, an ill Christ be visited,” he said.
“These are needs that arise on the journey. This is
how we are to live in a world where Christ is in need.
           

                                                         ST. AUGUSTINE

11 June 2017
 
The Politics of Discipleship

 As Christians, we bring to God all the concerns and connections
we have with the contemporary world [...]: the crisis of democracy,
the reduction of life to economics and consumption, and the
various roles that religion is playing and being forced to play in the
public sphere. Praying is thus the most political act any Christian
can engage in—richly layered, nuanced, and continuous.

                                                                         Graham Ward

04 June 2017

Come, Oh Holy Ghost

Come oh Holy Ghost, come from heav'n above, light of light divine,
Oh come to us, oh father of the poor, You are the source of all earthly store,
Guide our coming, guide our going, as we pray to you,
You alone the saving grace, Spirit of truth heal our wounds,
Our strength renew,  Come oh Holy Ghost.

26 January 2017

On Division

Let us intercede for those who are involved in some transgression,

that forbearance and humility may be given them, so that they may

submit, not to us but to the will of God. For in this way the merciful

remembrance of them in the presence of God and all saints will

be fruitful and perfect for them. Let us accept correction, which

no one ought to resent, dear friends. The reproof which we give

one another is good and exceedingly useful, for it unites us with

the will of God. For thus says the Holy Word: "The Lord has indeed

disciplined me, but has not handed me over to death."

                                                                          ST. CLEMENT OF ROME

6 January 2017

A Strange New Flood

Come then and see, this new and strange flood, greater and more

 powerful than that which occurred in the days of Noah. There the

water of the flood destroyed the human race; but here the water

of baptism, by the power of him who is baptized in it, has called

back the dead to life. There the dove carried the olive branch in its

beak, denoting the fragrance of the sweet-smelling savor of the Lord

Christ, but here the Holy Spirit, descending in the form of a dove,

reveals to us the presence of our merciful God.

                                                   Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople