Confidence in God

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A Prayer of Saint Claude de la Colombière

My God, I’m so persuaded that You watch over all who hope in You and nothing can be lacking to those who await from You all things, that I have determined to live from now on without any concern, letting go and giving You all of my anxieties. I will sleep and rest in peace because You, O Lord, and only You, have secured my hope.

Men can deprive me of possessions and reputation; illnesses can take away my strength and means to serve You; I myself can lose Your grace because of sin; but I will not lose my hope; I will conserve it until the last instant of my life and all the efforts from demons trying to take it away from me will be useless. I will sleep and rest in peace.

May others expect happiness in their richness and talents; some may lean on the innocence of their lives, or the rigor of their penitence, or above all on the amount of their good works, or the fervor of their prayers. As for myself Lord, all my confidence is my confidence itself. Because You Lord, only You have secured my hope.

No one has been deceived by this confidence. No one who has waited in the Lord has been frustrated in their confidence. Therefore, I am sure that I will be eternally happy because I firmly hope to be; and because You, Oh, My God, are in Whom I expect all. In You I hope Lord, and never will I be confused.

I know very well . . . too well that I am fragile and inconstant, I know well the power of temptations against the most firm virtue; I have seen thestars fall from heaven and columns from the firmament; but none of this can frighten me. As long as I maintain firm my hope, I will be conserved from all calamities; and I am sure to hope always, because I hope the same in this unchanging hope.

In conclusion, I am sure that I cannot hope in excess in You and that I will receive all that I would have hoped for in You. Therefore, I know You will sustain me on the most rapid and slippery slopes, that You will strengthen me against the assaults and make my weakness triumph over the most tremendous enemies.

I hope You will always love me and I will love you without interruption; to take once and for all my hope as far as it can reach. I hope in You and only in You! Oh, My Creator! In time and for all eternity.

Amen.

Saint Claude de la Colombière, pray for us.

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Michel Lorenc: Ave Maria

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Ave Maria

Setting by Michel Lorenc (1995)

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Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus

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A video portrait of the Benedictine Nuns of Our Lady of Ephesus Priory:

Our Lady of Ephesus, pray for us.

Sts. Benedict and Scholastica, pray for us.

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Deathbed Prayer of Saint Macrina

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S. Macrina, pray for us.

Although it is not yet her feast day, Saint Macrina's final prayer before dying has come to my attention again and believing I and others need to read and pray it righ now, I post it at this time.  I sincerely pray that through the grace of the Spirit of Holiness that it will be a blessing to those who read it.

Saint Macrina said: 'O Lord, You have freed us from the fear of death; You have made the end of life here the beginning of a true life for us. 

For a time, You give rest to our bodies in sleep and You awaken us again with the last trumpet. The dust from which You fashioned us with Your hands You give back to the dust of the earth for safekeeping, and You who have relinquished it will recall it after reshaping with incorruptibility and grace our mortal and graceless substance. 

You redeemed us from the curse and from sin, having taken both upon Yourself; You crushed the heads of the serpent who had seized us with his jaws in the abyss of disobedience. Breaking down the gates of hell and overcoming the one who had the empire of death, You opened up for us a path to the resurrection. 

For those who fear You, You gave as a token the sign of the Holy Cross for the destruction of the Adversary and the salvation of our life. 

O God everlasting, towards whom I have directed myself from my mother's womb, whom my soul has loved with all its strength, to whom I have dedicated my body and my soul from my infancy up to now, prepare for me a shining angel to lead me to the place of refreshment where is the water of relaxation near the bosom of the holy Fathers. 

You who broke the flaming sword and compassionately gave Paradise back to the man crucified with You, remember me also in Your kingdom, for I, too, have been crucified with You, having nailed my flesh through fear of You and having feared your judgments. 

Let the terrible abyss not separate me from Your chosen ones; let the Slanderer not stand in my way or my sins be discovered before Your eyes if I have fallen and sinned in word or deed or thought because of the weakness of our nature. 

Do You who have power on earth to forgive sins forgive me so that I may be refreshed and may be found before You once I have put off my body, having no fault in the form of my soul, but blameless and spotless may my soul be taken into Your hands as an offering before Your face.'... 

When she had completed the thanksgiving and indicated that the [later nocturnal] prayer was over by making the sign of the cross, she breathed a deep breath and with the prayer her life came to an end."

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, "The Life of St Macrina." 

In Saint Gregory of Nyssa - Ascetical Works.

(Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1967).

Troparion - Tone 8 

The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Mother, For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away, But to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. Therefore your spirit, O Holy Mother Macrina, rejoices with the Angels! 

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

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Christaraksha: Powerful Prayer of the Cross

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I know that this prayer is known by many of the baptised and the religious of the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.  Perhaps, dear reader, it is unfamiliar to you, or perhaps you have read it before in a previous post of mine - one may even wonder why I post it again.

The answer is simple: we need this prayer.  We need to pray it. I need to pray it or something like it every single day together with Paternoster, Ave Maria, and Gloria Patri. 

Pray it over your children and loved ones before they leave for the day. Pray it for yourself by day or by night. Pray it as part of your family prayers or rosary and simply change the "you" to me or us as is appropriate for your situation.

Although this is my personal opinion, I pray you will make daily use of this prayer or something like it.  I entreat you to take this as seriously as if "when the bridge is out, I told you the bridge is out, so you would not come to frustration or harm."  

So then, let us pray,

May the Cross of the Son of God,

which is mightier than all the hosts of satan

and more glorious than all the hosts of heaven,

abide with you in your going out and your coming in.

By day and night, at morning and at evening,

at all times and in all places may it protect and defend you.

From the wrath of evildoers,

from the assaults of evil spirits

from foes visible and invisible

from the snares of the devil,

from all passions that beguile the soul and body:

May the Cross of Christ guard, protect and deliver you. 
Amen.

from India

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The Stripped and Humiliated Attorney in China

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http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160610-the-man-who-had-his-clothes-torn-off

Saint Isidore's Prayer

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I cannot stress how important it is to pray this prayer daily during this time, this present darkness.  No one sees what tomorrow brings or what will come in the next hour, but for each step we take, minute by minute by minute, we need the Holy Spirit who is the Lord and Giver of Life to inhabit the whole of our life, our prayer, our thoughts, and our actions.  

The Prayer of Saint Isidore of Sevilla

        Here we are before thee, O Holy Ghost. 

        We feel the burden of our infirmities, 

        but we are united all together in Thy name: 

        come to us, help us, enter into our hearts: 

        teach us what we should do, 

        the path to follow, 

        do for us what Thou askest us to do. 

        Be the only one to propose and guide our decisions, 

        because only Thou, with the Father and the Son, 

        hast a name that is glorious and holy. 

        Do not allow us to offend justice, 

        Thou, who lovest order and peace, 

        Let not ignorance lead us astray, 

        Let not human sympathy bias us, 

        Do not let people or office influence us. 

        Keep us intimately close to Thee 

        with the gift of Thy Grace, 

        so that we may be only one thing with Thee, 

        and nothing may separate us from the Truth. 

        Gathered in Thy Holy Name, 

        may we be good and firm, 

        so that all we do may be in one accord with Thee, 

        awaiting that the faithful fulfillment of our duty 

        may lead us to the eternal good. Amen.

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Segatashya's First Message from Jesus to All of Us

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This is the first message that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to Segatashya to share with the world while he was still a young boy in his native Rwanda in Africa:

“Jesus Christ sent me here today to tell you, 

and all men to renew your hearts. 

The day is coming 

when things will really get hard for humanity. 

You must change your heart while there is still time. 

Soon those who have refused to repent 

will not be able to do so. 

Let those who know that I set foot on earth, 

know that I am on my way back 

to take those who have worked well for Me 

to heaven for their eternal reward.”

Messages from Segatashya:

Jesus Speaks to the Boy from Kibeho

Neither Segatashya nor his parents had ever been in a school or a church. While not yet approved by the Catholic Church, I am a firm believer in the veracity of Emmanuel Segatashya and all that he said and did in his too short life.

Emmanuel Segatashya, pray for us.

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Coptic Intercession

Priest
Pray for the air of heaven, the fruits of the earth,
the rising of the waters of the rivers,
the seeds, the herbs, and the plants of the field;
that Christ our God may bless them,
bring them to perfection in peace without harm,
and forgive us our sins.

People
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Priest
Raise them to their measure according to your grace.
Give joy to the face of the earth.
May its furrows be abundatly watered
and its fruits be plentiful.
Prepare it for sowing and harvesting.
Manage our life as deemed fit.
Bless the crown of the year with your goodness,
for the sake of the poor of your people,
the widow, the orphan, the traveller, the stranger,
and for the sake of us all, who entreat you
and seek your holy Name.
For the eyes of everyone wait upon you,
for you give them their food in due season.
Deal with us according to your goodness,
O you who give food to all flesh.

Fill our hearts with joy and gladness,
that we too, having sufficiency in everything always,
may abound in every good deed.

People
Lord have mercy.

Prayers from the East:
Traditions of Eastern Christianity
Richard Marsh, editor

Atheist Sam Harris on the Problem with Hillary Clinton, Obama, and Islam

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A friend (a political Libertarian in the USA) sent me an email message with the subject "Hell froze over", and in the email message he described that "evangelical-atheist" anti-religionist Sam Harris had put forth a YouTube video with which my friend entirely agreed.  Okay, it sounds like hell did indeed freeze over.

I had privately theorised that it would only be associates of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris who would be able to cut through the mind-numbing insanity of the political Left with regard to Islam and its attendant horrors in order to have any hope of reaching those on the political Left for whom 'political correctness' is their singular and de facto religion.  

I find it interesting how swiftly the LGBTQI activists (joined at the hip to the Left, Inc. and its religion of political correctness and anti-traditional anything) would start heaping invective upon any Leftist who decided to wander off the farm and declare that Islam is a perversion of the human spiritual impulse and a highly destructive inversion of justice and jurisprudence.  

So, what follows below is Sam Harris' statement on YouTube (and apologies in advance if there are any objectionable advertisements prior to his statement):

P.S. 

It does bear stating that there are all sorts of problems with the official narrative of the Orlando massacre that could lead one to believe apart from the reality of those murdered that the whole story is as fake, fake, fake as the US government's absolute lie about a video being responsible for the monstrous evil at Benghazi in Libya.  

Some of what the Orlando official story does not tell us: (a)The Orlando assassin Omar Mateen was an actor (whose IMDB page has been scrubbed recently). (b) Mateen was known to frequent gay bars and have relationships with gay men. The Brazilian press reports that the FBI told Mateen's ex-wife not to mention publicly his homosexual activities. (c) He worked for G4S (former Wackenhut) which is a front for the CIA.  

There is a very great deal wrong with the story emerging from official government sources as there has been something stinkingly wrong with every similar official U.S. government story going back to the USA's bombing of their own ship the USS Maine.  

Plant fruit trees, nut-bearing trees... please

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If you can, plant a fruit tree or a nut bearing tree.  You never know when it may become your only source of food for you and your family.

Anglican Chant: The Weather Forecast

Saint Isaac the Syrian: Offer Up Prayer Full of Tears

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Via the Reverend Canon A.M. Allchin of + Memory Eternal +


Saint Isaac the Syrian writes:

    An elder was once asked 'What is a compassionate heart?'

    He replied, 'It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, for demons and for all that exists.

    'At the recollection and at the sight of them such a person's eyes overflow with tears owing to the vehemence of the compassion which grips his heart; as a result of his deep mercy, his heart shrinks and cannot bear to hear or look on any injury or the slightest suffering of anything in creation.

    'This is why he constantly offers up prayer full of tears, even for the irrational animals and for the enemies of truth, even for those who harm him, so that they may be protected and find mercy. He even prays for the reptiles as a result of the great compassion which is poured out without measure - after the likeness of God - in his heart. '

The heart of compassion: 

daily readings with St Isaac of Syria 

A.M. Allchin

(London 1989), p9. 

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Conspirare: Eliza Gylkison's Requiem

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Eliza Gylkison's "Requiem" arranged by Craig Hella Johnson

Sung by the vocal ensemble Conspirare

"requiem" by eliza gylkison

mother mary, 
full of grace, 
awaken.
all our homes are gone, 

our loved ones taken,
taken by the sea.

mother mary, 

calm our fears, have mercy,
drowning in a sea of tears, have mercy,
hear our mournful plea.
our world has been shaken, 
we wander our homelands forsaken.

in the dark night of the soul 
bring some comfort to us all,
oh mother mary, come and carry us in your embrace 
that our sorrows may be faced.

mary, 

fill the glass to overflowing,
illuminate the path where we are going,
have mercy on us all.
in funeral fires burning 
each flame to your mystery, returning.

in the dark night of the soul 
your shattered dreamers, make them whole,
oh mother mary, find us where we've fallen out of grace,
lead us to a higher place.

in the dark night of the soul 
our broken hearts you can make whole,
oh mother mary, come and carry us in your embrace,
let us see your gentle face, 
mary.

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Elgar: Lux æterna

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Choir of New College, Oxford

Edward Higginbottom, DPhil (Oxon), BMus (Cantab), FRCO

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Libera me, Domine

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Verdi Requiem • Libera me, Domine
Renata Scotto, soprano

Claudio Abbado, dir.

10 October A.D. 1970

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Lacrimosa

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Mozart Requiem • Lacrimosa

Herrwegghe, dir.

Zbigniew Preisner • Lacrimosa

Sumi Jo, soprano

Verdi Requiem • Lacrimosa

Dies Irae

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Mozart Requiem • Dies Irae

Claudio Abbado, dir.

Verdi Requiem • Dies Irae

Claudio Abbado, dir.

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For the Deceased and the Mourners

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O Lord and King, who art full of compassion, God of the spirits of all flesh, in whose hand are the souls of the living and the dead, receive, we beseech thee, in thy great loving-kindness the souls of our brethren who have been gathered unto their people. Have mercy upon them; pardon all their transgressions, for there is none righteous upon the earth, who doeth only good, and sinneth not. Remember unto them the righteousness which they wrought, and let their reward be with them, and their recompense before them. Shelter their souls in the shadow of thy wings. Make known to them the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand, bliss for evermore.

O Lord, who healest the broken-hearted and bindest up their wounds, grant thy consolation unto the mourners. Strengthen and support them in the day of their grief and sorrow; and remember them for a long and good life. Put into their hearts the fear and love of thee, that they may serve thee with a perfect heart; and let their latter end be peace. Amen.

May Jesus, the Good Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, draw all of His flock into His arms and carry them home to the Kingdom of Heaven where they may safely dwell with Him in the Divine Presence and in glory everlasting. Amen.

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Prayer of the Church

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From a Services Book of King's College Chapel

THOU that art the hope of all the ends of the earth: remember all thy creation for good; visit the world with thy compassion. Thou preserver and lover of mankind: remember all, and on all have mercy, O Lord.

REMEMBER thy holy Church that is from one end of the earth to the other, and pacify her which Thou hast purchased with thy precious blood, and stablish her even unto the end of the world. Remember every human soul afflicted and oppressed and struggling and needing thy mercy and succour: and our brethren that are in captivities and in prisons and bonds and bitter thraldoms: supplying return to the wanderers, health to the sick, deliverance to the captives, and rest to them that have fallen asleep aforetime.

AND them that we have not remembered by reason of ignorance or forgetfulness or multitude of names, thyself remember, O God, which knowest the age and appellation of each, which knowest every one from his mother’s womb. For Thou, O Lord, art the succour of the succourless, and the hope of them that are past hope, the saviour of the tempest-tossed, the harbour of the voyagers, the physician of the sick; Thyself become all things to all men, which knowest each one and his petition, each house and its needs.

REMEMBER, O Lord God, all spirits and all flesh, whom we have remembered and whom we have remembered not, from righteous Abel unto this day that now is. And for us, direct the end of our lives to be Christian, well-pleasing, and if it please Thee, painless in peace, gathering us together under the feet of thine elect, when Thou wilt and as Thou wilt, only without shame and sin.

Priest   LORD in thy mercy,

All      Hear our prayer.

Priest   GRANT this our prayer for the sake of thy Son, 

         our Saviour Jesus Christ.

All     Amen.

Lancelot Andrewes, pray for us.

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A Child's Prayer for Peace

From an old Anglican Children's Prayer Book

Martha's Anxiety

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Sr. Wendy Beckett writes:

Worry is a canker. And it's self-regarding. Whereas all our real life is in Jesus. The function of anxiety is surely to alert us to our dependence on him and to the fact that he alone matters. It is a most useful feeling. It says: You are fragile, unrealised, not in charge of your life, in danger of... therefore turn wholly to Jesus. The feeling mayor may not diminish but the direction out of self's narrowness into his love has been conquered. We have to go on and on until finally we live out of self, in him....

The great thing to grasp is that to feel "relaxed/happy" or to feel anxious is unimportant. Feelings only matter as an occasion for love. Happy, secure feelings prompt us to praise him; sad, anxious feelings prompt us to express our faith and pray for him to be all in all to us. The feelings themselves tell us nothing about our "state" which is God's secret and God's work. We don't base anything on ourselves but only on him, on his goodness, knowing, as Paul says, in whom we have believed. Why are we anxious? Let's will to have Jesus as our holiness. Gradually even the feeling vanishes, but that is unimportant.

We can feel that growing in love should make life "easier” – that there is some failure in our fear, temptation, struggle. Not so. In fact the tempest may blow more severely as we near harbour. Jesus could never know a psychic respite, as the Gospels show. But our attitudes change. We cease to be afraid of fear; we open our arms to the will for the Father to give us whatever he will, knowing, in Jesus, that he gives only "good things".

Sister Wendy Beckett

Sister Wendy Beckett is a South African-born British art expert, a consecrated virgin, and contemplative hermit who lives under the protection of a Carmelite monastery in Norfolk, England.

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A Prayer of Saint Edmund

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O Lord, into Thy hands

and into the hands of Thine holy angels,

I commit and entrust this day my soul,

my relatives, benefactors, friends and enemies,

and all Thy Catholic people.

Keep us, O Lord, through the day,

by the merits and intercession

of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of all Thy saints;

keep us from all vicious and unruly desires,

from all sins and temptations of the devil,

from a sudden unprepared death,

and the pains of hell.

Illumine my heart with the grace of Thy Holy Ghost.

Grant that I may ever be obedient to Thy commandments.

Suffer me not to be separated from Thee,

O God, who livest and reignest

with God the Father and the same Holy Ghost. Amen.

Saint Edmund, pray for us to the Lord.

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A Prayer of Saint Isidore of Sevilla

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Here we are before thee, O Holy Ghost.
We feel the burden of our infirmities,
but we are united all together in Thy name:
come to us, help us, enter into our hearts:
teach us what we should do,
the path to follow,
do for us what Thou askest us to do.
Be the only one to propose and guide our decisions,
because only Thou, with the Father and the Son,
hast a name that is glorious and holy.
Do not allow us to offend justice,
Thou, who lovest order and peace,
Let not ignorance lead us astray,
Let not human sympathy bias us,
Do not let people or office influence us.
Keep us intimately close to Thee
with the gift of Thy Grace,
so that we may be only one thing with Thee,
and nothing may separate us from the Truth.
Gathered in Thy Holy Name,
may we be good and firm,
so that all we do may be in one accord with Thee,
awaiting that the faithful fulfillment of our duty
may lead us to the eternal good. Amen.

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The Chaplet of Saint Michael: Mother M. Angelica, PCPA

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It is time to pray daily The Chaplet of Saint Michael if you see what I see.

The video recording embedded below is prayed by Mother M. Angelica of  the Annunciation, PCPA  (+MEMORY ETERNAL+)




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Богородице Дево (Bogoroditse Djevo)

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I am interceding for God's mercy for the people of the Earth and the Earth herself.  May the Light of Christ Jesus shine where it is darkest, and may the Holy Protection of the Theotokos be upon all of her children.

Богородице Дево (Bogoroditse Djevo) by Kurt Sander

Kurt Sander's setting of Bogoroditse Djevo (Богородице Дево) embedded above comes from a splendid recording of new music by two Orthodox Christian composers entitled "As far as the East is from the West".   

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