As I have mentioned before, I do love Thomas...
Courtesy of a friend on facebook, I offer this lovely "prayer before study", written by the Angelic Doctor.
'Creator past all telling, you have appointed from the treasures of your wisdom the hierarchies of angels, disposing them in wondrous order above the bright heavens, and have so beautifully set out all parts of the universe. You we call the true fount of wisdom and noble origin of all things. Be pleased to shed on the darkness of mind in which I was born, the twofold beam of your light and warmth to dispel my ignorance and sin. You make eloquent the tongues of children; instruct my speech and touch my lips with graciousness. Make me keen to understand, quick to learn, able to remember; make me delicate to interpret and ready to speak. Guide my going in and my going forward, and lead home my going forth. You are true God and true man, and live for ever and ever. Amen.'
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Friday, 28 January 2011
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
A Prayer of S. Wulfstan
I happened across a really lovely prayer of S. Wulfstan (whose feast it is today), and I thought I'd share it with you:
O Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.
Stablish my heart in your will.
Grant me true repentance for my sins;
right faith and true charity,
patience in adversity and moderation in prosperity.
Help me and all my friends and kinsmen, all who desire and trust in my prayers.
Show mercy to all who have done me good and shown me the knowledge of good,
and grant everlasting forgiveness to all who have spoken or thought evil against me.
To you, my God, and to all your holy ones,
be praise and glory forever for all the benefits you have given me,
and for all your mercies to me a sinner.
For your name’s sake. Amen.
It's curious that hardly anyone talks about Old English spirituality; I suppose it's because (a) the Norman conquest acts as such a mental barrier that it doesn't feel as connected to later developments in the church (or indeed history in general) as later mediaeval stuff does and (b) unlike Celtic spirituality, there's been no equivalent of George McLeod. It's distant enough to feel foreign, but too close to be exotic, perhaps? And possibly the terms "Anglo-Saxon" and "Old English" don't help...
At any rate, there's some very good stuff out there; it's got a grace and strength to it, and although it doesn't lack emotion, it's much more accessible than much of the later mediaeval stuff, which, wonderful though it is, can seem off-puttingly overwrought, till you're used to it.
O Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.
Stablish my heart in your will.
Grant me true repentance for my sins;
right faith and true charity,
patience in adversity and moderation in prosperity.
Help me and all my friends and kinsmen, all who desire and trust in my prayers.
Show mercy to all who have done me good and shown me the knowledge of good,
and grant everlasting forgiveness to all who have spoken or thought evil against me.
To you, my God, and to all your holy ones,
be praise and glory forever for all the benefits you have given me,
and for all your mercies to me a sinner.
For your name’s sake. Amen.
It's curious that hardly anyone talks about Old English spirituality; I suppose it's because (a) the Norman conquest acts as such a mental barrier that it doesn't feel as connected to later developments in the church (or indeed history in general) as later mediaeval stuff does and (b) unlike Celtic spirituality, there's been no equivalent of George McLeod. It's distant enough to feel foreign, but too close to be exotic, perhaps? And possibly the terms "Anglo-Saxon" and "Old English" don't help...
At any rate, there's some very good stuff out there; it's got a grace and strength to it, and although it doesn't lack emotion, it's much more accessible than much of the later mediaeval stuff, which, wonderful though it is, can seem off-puttingly overwrought, till you're used to it.
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