Tag Archives: devotion

Devotion

Prayer of St. Augustine

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I beg of You, my God,

let me know You and love You so that I may be happy in You.

And though I cannot do this fully in this life, yet let me improve from day to day till I may do so to the full.

Let me know You more and more in this life, that I may know You perfectly in heaven.

Let me know You more and more here, so that I may love you perfectly there,

so that my joy may be great in itself here, and complete in heaven with You.

O Truthful God, let me receive the happiness of heaven which You promise so that my joy may be full.

In the meantime,

let my mind think of it,

let my tongue talk of it,

let my heart long for it,

let my mouth speak of it,

let my soul hunger after it,

let my flesh thirst after it,

let my whole being desire it,

until such time as I may enter through death into the joy of my Lord,
there to continue forever, world without end.

Amen.

Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours – Breviary – Free Audio – Bible – Prayer

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http://divineoffice.org/

Sanctify (Come Holy Spirit)

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Happy Lent! Come Holy Spirit!

Sent from my iPod

Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary

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Beautifully prayed!

The Brown Scapular

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The Anchoress writes about the World’s Tiniest Hair Shirt, her scapular, which after hanging for years on her bedpost, now hangs about her neck as a “discipline.”  I can relate.

Wearing the cloth scapular has been an on and off battle which I believe my scapular is now winning.  From the stand point of pure convenience, I argued with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel,  that wearing the medal was better and would make this devotion easier for me to undertake.  So I wore the medal, but the cloth scapular glared at me from between socks, peeked through the clutter in my dresser drawer, or from wherever I last left it. Mary wasn’t buying my arguments. The Anchoress is right. It is a “discipline” – before it turns to love.

I finally found one I can wear with a minimum of hassle, though each morning, I still wake up with it intertwined with the chain of my Miraculous Medal. I used to grumble.  Now I just smile.  I think I owe the change in my motus primo primi (firstly first movement) to the efficacy of the scapular. It wraps me in the love of Mary and weaves the movements of her heart with mine.  Does that make any sense?

Grace of Devotion

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From Thomas a’ Kempis’ My Imitation of Christ

A Prayer for the Grace of Devotion

O Lord my God, You are all my good. And who am I that I should dare to speak to You? I am Your poorest and meanest servant, a vile worm, much more poor and contemptible than I know or dare to say. Yet remember me, Lord, because I am nothing, I have nothing, and I can do nothing. You alone are good, just, and holy. You can do all things, You give all things, You fill all things: only the sinner do You leave empty-handed. Remember Your tender mercies and fill my heart with Your grace, You Who will not allow Your works to be in vain. How can I bear this life of misery unless You comfort me with Your mercy and grace? Do not turn Your face from me. Do not delay Your visitation. Do not withdraw Your consolation, lest in Your sight my soul become as desert land. Teach me, Lord, to do Your will. Teach me to live worthily and humbly in Your sight, for You are my wisdom Who know me truly, and Who knew me even before the world was made and before I was born into it.

The Fourth Chapter

We Must Walk Before God in Humility and Truth The Voice of Christ: MY CHILD, walk before Me in truth, and seek Me always in the simplicity of your heart. He who walks before Me in truth shall be defended from the attacks of evil, and the truth shall free him from seducers and from the slanders of wicked men. For if the truth has made you free, then you shall be free indeed, and you shall not care for the vain words of men. The Disciple: O Lord, it is true. I ask that it be with me as You say. Let your truth teach me. Let it guard me, and keep me safe to the end. Let it free me from all evil affection and badly ordered love, and I shall walk with You in great freedom of heart. The Voice of Christ: I shall teach you those things which are right and pleasing to Me. Consider your sins with great displeasure and sorrow, and never think yourself to be someone because of your good works. You are truly a sinner. You are subject to many passions and entangled in them. Of yourself you always tend to nothing. You fall quickly, are quickly overcome, quickly troubled, and quickly undone. You have nothing in which you can glory, but you have many things for which you should think yourself vile, for you are much weaker than you can comprehend. Hence, let none of the things you do seem great to you. Let nothing seem important or precious or desirable except that which is everlasting. Let the eternal truth please you above all things, and let your extreme unworthiness always displease you. Fear nothing, abhor nothing, and fly nothing as you do your own vices and sins; these should be more unpleasant for you than any material losses. Some men walk before Me without sincerity. Led on by a certain curiosity and arrogance, they wish to know My secrets and to understand the high things of God, to the neglect of themselves and their own salvation. Through their own pride and curiosity, and because I am against them, such men often fall into great temptations and sins. Fear the judgments of God! Dread the wrath of the Almighty! Do not discuss the works of the Most High, but examine your sins — in what serious things you have offended and how many good things you have neglected. Some carry their devotion only in books, some in pictures, some in outward signs and figures. Some have Me on their lips when there is little of Me in their hearts. Others, indeed, with enlightened understanding and purified affections, constantly long for everlasting things; they are unwilling to hear of earthly affairs and only with reluctance do they serve the necessities of nature. These sense what the Spirit of truth speaks within them: for He teaches them to despise earthly things and to love those of heaven, to neglect the world, and each day and night to desire heaven.