LECTURE 31
MY FINAL PRAYER OF DEVOTION TO GOD
Oh God,
Thou Creator of the universe and Thou father of all Creation, I call upon you this day to praise and adore thee. O Most Blessed and Gracious One, whom philosophers refer to as the First Cause, I humbly beseech you for that grace and might of the angels and the 24 elders to continue before thy throne in ceaseless praise and adoration. My longing desire, just like Mary, is to remain seated under your throne and to behold thy majesty and thy beauty. Should time and duty ever make me busy like Martha, I pray it be to thy praise and to thy adoration; let it not be in earthly trifles.
O thou Indescribable God, I know that we do greatly err in using these corruptible words of mortals to extol thee. Yes we do err in employing these vain words of Babel to declare thy majesty to the heathens. For how could the God of Heaven be praised with the language of mortals. Forgive us, O Lord I pray, for that is all our defiled tongues can afford for now. May thy mercies continue to bear with us on this until that time when thy glorious transformation shall bestow on us the might of angels to worship and adore thee with the language of Heaven and with transformed tongues. For even there, shall eternity be too short to extol thee whose majesty is infinite.
Father of Love, I pray for grace to continue in thy name and thy perfect will. For the distractions are many that beset me about to disconnect me from thy sweet and eloquent voice within. Empower me dear Lord with great and mighty fortification to withstand all the temptations and inducements in the wilderness here below. For many atimes the noblest powers of my intellect, beguile me with fruits in the garden of academia and does proposes to make me a genius and a greater than Einstein should I devote myself to memorize theorems and analyze conjectures which were left unproven by the Riemann’s and the likes of Dirichlet. Grant me the grace O Lord, to look upon such suggestions with contempt and to flee from them with all the insistence of an Elijah, as though they were a death threat issued by a Jezebel.
O Lord, many glamour surrounds me here, fine and cozy. And many maidens too, fair and black. I pray you take away the desires of my heart by rendering me blind to feminine beauties and worldly felicities. Let not trifles induce admirations upon my lips and let not my tongue praise the substance of men which was fashioned to praise thee alone. For there is none beautiful but thee and nothing is so charming but thy love. These are attributes that belongs to thee alone wherefore do I implore thee for that divine discipline not to impress them upon any human head.
Lord, please deliver me from all the chaos that lies without and grant me the fervency of spirit to engage thee in that sweet and all-engaging discourse that enlightens the inner chamber.
Grant me the grace also to advance in your holy army here below, where the saints are my companions and the cross my weapon. I do not pray for an easy or a smooth way in this divine journey but a tough and a difficult one. One that would make me stumble a thousand times and bring much pain and grief to my feet. More so, I pray that you do not plant my legs in the Broadway of life where there is smoothness of motion and abundance of space to swell up pride and vanity. But rather move me to the narrowest path of this life where the scarceness of space and potent
grounds would force me to squeeze myself through the travellers (the innumerable company of the saints) in my bid to advance towards thee I pray that the sharp thorns and briers that borders this Narrow Way invade my flesh and rapture my veins and cause me to bleed profusely should I at any time lose my focus and stray of this holy path of life.
Moreover, if by reason of the scorching sun and the numerous pains on this journey, I grow wearisome, and then resolve to lean on the trunk of some tree, I pray you induce the scorpions and ants that inhabits the tree to sting me off my folly. Let their sharp sting push me back to the tracks of this narrow path and then connect me back to this holy path of life.
Also should the cry of hungry wolves and the roaring of lions arise from the deep within, to terrify me at night in the midst of pronounced darkness and hopelessness, may the name of thy glorious son Jesus whisper peace to my soul and keep me at rest.
Lord, I pray also for the skillful hands of David; hands to hurl stones at bears who invade the road ahead to deter me from proceeding with my journey ahead. Grant me the grace to continually scare them from my path and to bring down every Goliath.
May no Agabus of any kind, who by the use of symbols and tokens, succeed in discouraging me from the journey ahead by painting the future afar with gloominess and sorrows. Empower me with that empowerment thou bestowed upon Paul so I may set my face as a flint to proceed relentlessly on this journey though death awaits me in Jerusalem ahead.
Lord, even now do I abide as an Elisha not knowing when the Elijah within shall depart. But I pray that should I at any point in time die either by providence or accident, let the music of the name JESUS continue to refresh my soul in death. Amen.
PER PACEM AD LUCEM
By Adelaide Anne Procter
I do not ask, O LORD, that life may be
A pleasant road;
I do not ask that Thou wouldst take from me
Aught of its load:
I do not ask that flowers should always spring
Beneath my feet;
I know too well the poison and the sting
Of things too sweet.
For one thing only, LORD, dear LORD, I plead:
Lead me aright--
Though strength should falter and though heart should bleed,
Through Peace to Light.
I do not ask, O LORD, that Thou shouldst shed
Full radiance here:
Give but a ray of peace, that I may tread
Without a fear.
I do not ask my cross to understand,
My way to see;
Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand,
And follow Thee.