A LENTEN STRUGGLE
Shame on my thoughts,how they stray from me!
I fear great danger from this on the day of Eternal Judgement.
During the psalms they wander on a path that is not right;
they run, they distract, they misbehave before the eyes of the great God...
One moment they follow ways of loveliness, and the next ways of riotous shame--no lie!...
O beloved truly chaste Christ, to whom every eye is clear, may the grace of the sevenfold
Spirit come to keep them, to hold them in check!
Rule this heart of mine, O swift God of the elements,
that you may be my love, and that I may do your will!
Traditional Gaelic Prayer
One of the things that makes Celtic prayers so great is their lack of sentimental piety. Sometimes our modern day purveyors of religious prayers and practices sound so out of touch and irrelevant that virtues such as chastity and temperance seem sappy and effete. Trust the Celtic monks to say it ain't so! The above prayer is robust, practical and curiously modern. Its no nonsense approach is refreshing. It also is a masculine prayer in tone, and in a time when men often feel alienated from religion because of excessive pietism, prayers like this open the way back home. A blessed Lent to everyone!
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