Straight Paths ~

"Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed."

~ Heb. 12:13

Teach Us

Believe me, to pray with all your heart and strength, with the reason and the will, to believe vividly that God will listen to your voice through Christ, and, verily, to do the thing He pleaseth thereupon-- this is the last, the greatest achievement of the Christian's warfare upon earth.

Teach us to pray, O Lord.

~ Coleridge

Nothing Else

When God loves me,

He desires nothing else

than to be loved by me.

He loves me in order

that I may love Him

because He knows well

that all who love Him,

find in this very love

their Joy and happiness.

~St. Bernard of Clairvaux

All Around

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Still

Shun Not Holy Fire

VAIN wits and eyes
Leave, and be wise :
Abuse not, shun not holy fire,
But with true tears wash off your mire.
Tears and these flames will soon grow kind,
And mix an eye-salve for the blind.
Tears cleanse and supple without fail,
And fire will purge your callous veil,
Then comes the light ! which when you spy,
And see your nakedness thereby,
Praise Him, Who dealt His gifts so free
In tears to you, in fire to me.

~ Henry Vaughan

His Goodness

Mystery of Faith

Spring is but another birth,
From the grave of earlier springs,
Which to renovated earth
Other resurrection brings.


God hath moulded all that God's
Power could mould, from mortal dust;
Flowers and fruits, from clouds and clods,
Life from ruin and from rust.


'Twas a wondrous hand that laid
In the seed the unborn tree;
Bud and blossom in the blade,
Future ripened fruit to be.


Still more wondrous was the might
That, from night's obscurest shrine,
Brought forth intellectual light,
Souls with thoughts and hopes divine.


Yes! 'twas a transcendent power
Which, from earth's contracted whole,
Gave to heaven a worthy dower,
Gave an ever-living soul.


Less than earth to heaven, and less
Than to ages moments seem,
Is the world we now possess,
To the world of which we dream.


Earthly love is faint and small,
When compared with the embrace
Of a love encircling all,

Through all time and o'er all space.

~ John Bowring

Easter Candle light

Good Friday

In tears of grief, dear Lord, we leave Thee.

Hearts cry to Thee, O Saviour dear.

Lie Thou softly, softly here.

Rest Thy worn and bruised body.

At the grave, O Jesus blest,

May the sinner, worn with weeping

Comfort find in Thy dear keeping,

And the weary soul find rest.

Sleep in peace, sleep Thou in the Father’s breast.

Maundy Thursday