Protection

O Thou faithful Father in heaven, would that I could render unto Thee adequate thanks and praise for all the blessings thou has bestowed upon me during all the days of my life up to this hour. But this is not within my power. For I am flesh and blood, which cannot but do wrong. Thou, however, dost daily grant me blessings without measure; in particular, if Thou this night hadst not been my shield and support, Satan would have used his power to harm me in many ways, so that I could not have risen safe and sound. But owing to Thy gracious protection I have been kept unharmed. I now fervently pray Thee, let me this day experience Thy grace and keep me, who am Thine own through Christ’s blood, in Thy grace unto life everlasting. Amen. Lord Jesus, receive my soul into Thy hands and let it be committed unto Thee. Amen.

I have deceived myself, dear Christ

I have deceived myself, dear Christ, I confess it;
I have fallen from the heights to the depths.
O lift me up again, for well I know delusion came because I wanted it.
If I presume again, I’ll fall again, and fall to my undoing.
Take me to you or I die.
It cannot be that I alone shall find you hard and unresponsive.

- St. Gregory Nazianzus

ALAS, dear Christ, the Dragon is here again.

ALAS, dear Christ, the Dragon is here again.
Alas, he is here: terror has seized me, and fear.
Alas that I ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
Alas that his envy led me to envy too.
I did not become like God; I was cast out of Paradise.
Temper, sword, awhile, the heat of your flames
and let me go again about the garden,
entering with Christ, a thief from another tree.

- St. Gregory Nazianzus

Focus

Father in heaven! Draw our hearts to you so that our longing
may be where our treasure is supposed to be. Turn our minds
and our thoughts to where our citizenship is – in your kingdom,
so that when you finally call us away from here, our leavetaking
may not be a painful separation but a joyful union with
you. We do not know the time and the place, perhaps a long
road still lies before us, and when strength is taken away from
us, when exhaustion fogs our eyes so that we peer out as into a
dark night, and restless desires stir within us, wild, impatient
longings, and the heart groans in fearful anticipation of what is
coming, oh Lord God, fix in our hearts the conviction that also
while we are living, we belong to you.

- Søren Kierkegaard
Journals & Papers IV, 45

Heart’s Devotion

O God, Thou art Life, Wisdom, Truth, Bounty, and Blessedness, the Eternal, the only true Good! My God and my Lord, Thou art my hope and my heart’s joy. I confess, with thanksgiving, that Thou hast made me in Thine image, that I may direct all my thoughts to Thee, and love Thee. Lord, make me know Thee aright, that I may more and more love, and enjoy, and possess Thee. And since, in the life here below, I cannot fully attain this blessedness, let it at least grow in me day by day, until it all be fulfilled at last in the life to come. Here be the knowledge of Thee increased, and there let it be perfected. Here let my love to Thee grow, and there let it ripen; that my joy being here great in hope, may there in fruition be made perfect. Amen.

- St. Anselm (1033-1109)

Scatter The Darkness

Almighty and merciful God, the Fountain of all goodness, who knows the thoughts of our hearts, we confess unto Thee that we have sinned against Thee, and done evil in They sight. Wash us, we beseech Thee, from the stains of our past sins, and give us grace and power to put away all hurtful things; so that, being delivered from the bondage of sin, we may bring forth worthy fruits of repentance.

O eternal Light, shine into our hearts.
O eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil.
O eternal Power, be Thou our support.
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance.
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us.

Grant unto us that with all our hearts, and minds, and strength, we may evermore seek Thy face; and finally bring us, in Thine infinite mercy, to Thy holy presence. So strengthen our weakness that, following i the footsteps of Thy blessed Son, we may obtain Thy mercy, and enter into Thy promised joy. Amen

- Kleuin, A.D. 780

The Hope Of Glory

Almighty and most merciful Father, in whom we live and move and have our being, to whose tender compassion we owe our safety in days past, together with all the comforts of this present life, and the hopes of that which is to come; we praise Thee, O God, our Creator; unto Thee do we give thanks, O God our exceeding Joy, who daily pourest Thy benefits upon us. Grant, we beseech Thee, that Jesus our Lord, the Hope of glory, may be formed in us, in all humility, meekness, patience, contentedness, and absolute surrender of our souls and bodies to Thy holy will and pleasure. Leave is not, nor forsake us, O Father, bud conduct us safe through all changes of our condition here, in an unchangeable love to Thee, and in holy tranquility of mind in Thy love to us, till we come to dwell with Thee, and rejoice in Thee forever. Amen

- Simon Patrick (1626-1707)

Lift Up My Soul

Let me not seek out of Thee what I can find only in Thee, O Lord, peace and rest and joy and bliss, which abide only in Thine abiding joy. Lift up my soul above the weary round of harassing thoughts to Thy eternal Presence. Lift up my soul to the pure, bright, serene, radiant atmosphere of Thy Presence, that there I may breathe freely, there repose in Thy love, there be at rest from myself, and from all things that weary me; and thence return, arrayed with Thy peace, to do and bear what shall please Thee. Amen.

- E. B. Pusey

Fountain Of All True And Holy Love

O Lord, my God, fountain of all true and holy love; who hast made me, and preserved me, that I might love Thee; give to Thy servant such a love, that whatsoever in Thy service may happen contrary to flesh and blood, I may not feel it; that humility may be my sanctuary, and Thy service the joy of my soul, and death itself the entrance of an eternal life, when I may live with Thee, my Strength and my Refuge, my God and everlasting Hope. Amen.

Jeremy Taylor

Surrender

Almighty and everlasting God, grant that our wills be ever meekly subject to Thy will, and our hearts be ever honestly ready to serve Thee.

O God, mercifully grant unto us, that the fire of Thy love, may burn up in us all things that displease Thee. Sanctify us for thy heavenly kingdom.

Amen.
Roman Breviary