PRAYERS FOR THE JOURNEY

Julian of Norwich

St Columba

St Bede

Bishop W. J. Carey

A Prayer for Night

Thomas Merton Dietrich Bonhoeffer From the Black Rock Prayer Book

Prayers and Images for Reflection Julian of Norwich

God said not: Thou shalt not be tempted,

Thou shalt not be afflicted

BUT

Thou shalt not be overcome.

Our falling hindereth him not to love us.

Love was his meaning.

Thou art enough to me.

May 8, 1353

“It is enough, my Lord, enough indeed,

My strength is in Thy might,

Thy might alone.”

St Columba

Alone with none but Thee, O Lord,

I journey on my way.

What need I fear, if Thou art near,

O King of night and day?

More safe am I within Thine hand

Than if an host did round me stand.

St Bede

Christ is the morning star who, when the night of this world is past, brings to his saints the promise of life and opens everlasting day.

Alleluia.

Durham Cathedral, Bede died in 735 a.d. A Prayer by Bishop W. J. Carey

O Holy Spirit of God, come into my heart and fill me. I open the windows of my soul to let Thee in. I surrender my life to Thee. Come and possess me, fill me with light and truth.

I offer to Thee the one thing I really possess: my capacity for being filled by Thee. Of myself I am an empty vessel. Fill me so that I may live the life of the Spirit: the life of Truth and Goodness; the life of Beauty and Love; the life of Wisdom and Strength.

And guide me today in all things. Guide me to the people I should meet or help, to the circumstances in which I can best serve Thee, whether by my actions or my sufferings.

But above all, make Christ to be formed in me that I may dethrone self in my heart and make Him King so that He is in me, and I in Him, today and forever, Amen.

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does, in fact, please you.

And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Thomas Merton Dietrich Bonhoeffer written in Tegel Prison, Christmas Morning 1943

O God, early in the morning I cry to you. Help me to pray and to concentrate my thoughts on you: I cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness, but with you there is light;

I am lonely, but you do not leave me.

I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;

I am restless, but with you there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;

I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me . . .

Lord, whatever this day may bring, your name be praised.

From the Black Rock Prayer Book

The world is too dangerous and too beautiful for anything but love.

May your eyes be so blessed you see God in everyone.

Your ears, so you hear the cry of the poor. May your hands be so blessed That everything you touch is a sacrament. Your lips, so you speak nothing but the truth with love. May your feet be so blessed You run to those who need you. And may your heart be so opened, So set on fire, That your love, YOUR love, Changes everything.