THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE

You are before me,
Drawing me ever closer.
I am lost in loving,
Beseeching and begetting
By Your grace.

You call me,
“The apple of Your eye.”
Look, then, upon my world.
Perfect it,
Through this, my prayer.

Color the ghettos of sin
With hues of charity.
Bring a springtime of purity,
That earth may be as heaven,
Peopled with Children of God.

My loaves and fishes
Can feed the poor and hungry,
Though they be few, You are mighty.
Grace, Grace, O Holy Grace,
Behold me,
As I feast on Thee.

©2014 Joann Nelander

Deliverance Prayer

August Queen of the Heavens, heavenly Sovereign of the Angels, Thou who from the beginning hast received from God the power and the mission to crush the head of Satan, we humbly beseech Thee to send thy holy legions, so that under Thy command and through Thy power, they may pursue the demons and combat them everywhere, suppress their boldness, and drive them back into the abyss. O good and tender Mother, Thou wilt always be our love and hope! O Divine Mother, send Thy Holy Angels to defend us and to drive far away from us the cruel enemy. Holy Angels and Archangels, defend us, guard us. Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us.
Virgin Most Powerful, pray for us.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
All You Holy Angels, pray for us.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Flower and Fruit for Thee

O, Lord of life’s harvest,
Penetrate the depths of my misery
With Thy loveliness,
So that the new life,
Rising from this soil,
Be the embodiment
Of wisdom and grace.

May my flower and fruit be
The fresh form of holiness,
Born of virginal “Fiat”,
And humility’s abandonment
In sacrificial love.

Come forth Lazarus,
Not now from earthly grave,
But born to heavenly morrow,
After this night of sorrow.

Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Hidden Jesus

Hidden Jesus,
You fill my heart with desire.
I feel the agony
Of this earthly foray.

In Your Presence
Faith fills the silence.
Truth like beauty
Says You passed this way.

Your footprints in Time
Dot the heavens.
While I stand in the vestibule of eternity,
As one holding paradise at bay.

Aching emptiness
Of temporal schemes and dreams,
But mask my loneliness
For yet another day.

Step over the threshold
Where angel guards Eden’s gate
To drip Your fingers
Into my life as now I pray.

Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander