Reflections on the changing season

“In the midst of Lent I am made aware that Easter is coming again: the days are becoming longer, the snow is withdrawing, the sun is bringing new warmth, and a bird is singing. Yesterday, during the night prayers, a cat was crying! Indeed, spring announces itself. And tonight, O Lord, I [...]

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"P" is for Praise

Here is a place of beauty and piety.

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Grant to us

Ominpotens et misericors Deus,
concede nobis spiritum orations
et paenitentiae, ut caritate tui
et hominum ardeamus.
Almighty and merciful God,
grant to us the spirit of prayer
and of penance, that we may bear with love for you
and for one another.
I found this prayer on an index card in an old schoolbook of mine tonight. I believe it is from [...]

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faith: evening prayer

Tonight I was just thinking over the responsibilities and concerns for tomorrow and growing anxious. My employer has asked me to take on a significant new duty (calculating the commissions on paid invoices from the last month) and I have to find a way to learn how to do this, get it done tomorrow, plus [...]

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Celtic Daily Prayer Office

About six years ago, I discovered the joy of using “the daily office,” or fixed-hour prayer. Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours was my introduction, and I find this tradition to be a rich resource for personal daily devotion and forming the habit of prayer. For me it has been difficult to acquire this discipline — [...]

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"Unruly Wills and Affections"

Collect of the Day: Fifth Monday in Lent

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true [...]

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A Prayer of Self Dedication

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our [...]

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Prayer for a New Day

For several years now I have enjoyed using the fixed hour prayers in Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours. I have come to love the last prayer of the morning office:
Lord God, Almighty and Everlasting Father, you have brought me in saftey to this new day. Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not [...]

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