Supermarket Prayer

The net of a contemplative's prayer is cast wide. Nothing of life falls outside the parameters of prayer: traveling on a vacation, sitting at the computer, keeping the house, working in the yard, raising the young ones, loving a spouse, setting out into a weekend, having people over for a meal.  I stopped in a supermarket the other day and then sat in the car for awhile waiting for a friend to come out from the doctor's office. Here's the prayer I wrote:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit
praise to you for all this diversity,
these apples:
Ambrosia, Fuji, MacIntosh, Gala.
For the workers who picked them,
packed them,
shipped them.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
praise to you for all this diversity,
blackberries,
strawberries,
raspberries,
blueberries.
For the hidden farmer workers
on the bottom rung,
picking fruit to keep us healthy,
while they remain broken,
away from home,
fearful,
insecure,
un-insured.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
a blessing for the young fellow
who while stocking
asparagus,
avocados and
cherry tomatoes
onto shelves,
had the presence of mind
to say "good morning" as I walked by.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
keep an eye on this young mother
scanning the shelves
for baby cough syrup,
or baby ear drops,
or baby teething drops,
or baby congestion drops,
or baby diaper rash cream.
Anxiety
on top of anxiety,
give her the support she needs,
the remedy she's hoping works,
joy and peace of mind.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
a blessing for the cashier lady
who wasn't troubled by my delaying anxiety
at not being able to locate the plastic discount card
among the fifteen others attached to my car keys,
but who joked a little at her own confusions.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
returning to the car
some elderly folks with canes
slow,
slow,
are going into the nearby clinic.
They want to be freed of their complaint,
hoping for wholeness -
some easing up
of troubles.

Let Everyone And Everything Praise God

Snow Crystal Alyssum

God of imagination, I greet you!

Let the greeny-blue orb of our journeying around the sun praise you.
Let the birthing of stars and planets undiscovered praise you.
Let the mountain majesties and the humbler hills praise you.
Let the oceans, wide and deep, praise you.
Let the rainfall, snowfall, leaf-fall praise you.
Let the dwindling forests praise you.

Let the ferns and mosses, the flowering plants and prairie grasses praise you.
Let the animals of feather, fur and fin praise you.
Let the farms and fields, the soil and air praise you.
Let the winds and breezes, the day time and night time praise you.
Let the honeybees and butterflies praise you.
Let the great blue heron and the hummingbird praise you.

Let our thinking, our feeling and our doing praise you.
Let our days, our weeks, our months and years praise you to eternity.
Let the cathedral and the chapel, the temple and the mosque praise you.
Let the merciful and the clean of heart praise you.
Let the peacemakers praise you.
Let the ancestors in their struggles praise you.

Let the brokenhearted in their sea and desert crossings praise you.
Let the children of border incarceration praise you.
Let the families of separation praise you.
Let the people of panic and dismay praise you.
Let the victim girls and boys of greed praise you.
Let the people of no-conscience praise you.

Let Mary - Mother, Friend and First Disciple praise you.
Let Peter, James and John praise you.
Let Abraham and Sarah, Francis and Clare, Benedict and Scholastica praise you.
Let the monks and nuns, the mothers and the fathers praise you.
Let the excluded, the vulnerable, the dead-ended praise you.
Let the elites and the comfortable praise you.

And may I, close to the earth about myself, praise you.

Father Stephen P. Morris

Intercessions ~ Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We join Pope Francis in prayer,/ asking that our families would be schools of true human growth./ May his visit to Africa this September be safe and fruitful./ We pray to the Lord.

Monday is the Feast of St. Martha,/ who with her siblings,/ Mary and Lazarus,/ was a friend of Jesus./ We pray for the people God has given us as friends,/ especially those who are not well,/ or who are suffering and struggling in any way./ We pray to the Lord.

The plural words: us, our and we/ appear eight times in the short prayer Jesus  teaches us to pray/ as we stand before the Father./ May we learn well/ that Christianity is a religion of welcome,/ inclusion and belonging./ We pray to the Lord.

The prayer of Jesus also enjoins us to forgive others as we have been forgiven./ May we learn to pray for the well-being and salvation of all./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the President of the United States to be a healer of wounds and divisions./ For our nation to model for the world a new protective regard for our planet-home./ We pray to the Lord.

May we never be begrudging in our giving,/ but always ready to give happily,/ to the poor,/ the aged,/ the needy,/ and especially the causes which serve children,/ We pray to the Lord.

Prayer A Nation Might Pray

This prayer is usually attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1286). Sometimes it is called, The Prayer for Peace. Whether Francis wrote it or not doesn't really matter; the thought behind each line sounds very much like Francis. Notice how the eyes of the saint are big. They take in a lot of light - God's light. Francis sees. That doens't mean he had visions, but  that he was wide-awake to the truth contained in the Gospel book he holds in his hand: the truth of love for God and each human person.

The nation is painfully divided. Everyday brings some new point of division: nasty social media, name calling, labeling, menacing accusations, threats. "Otherism" is the negative ideology which disapproves of (or hates) anyone who is not like me. "Otherism" believes that those who are not like me should go back to where they came from. It is un-gospel, even anti-gospel. Regretably, it is too often Christians who are the perpetrators. St. Francis' prayer summarizes Christ's Gospel-lifestyle. We might pray it for our country, which likes to think of itself as religious.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

  where there is hatred, let me sow love;

  where there is injury, pardon;

  where there is doubt, faith;

  where there is despair, hope;

  where there is darkness, light;

  where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

  to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand,

  to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

  it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

  and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

The Kovenskaya Mother of God ~ Feast Day, July 23

The story of the Kovenskaya Mother of God icon is rather convoluted and not particularly memorable. The original 14th century icon seems to have disappeared along the way, probably during war time. Today, a copy of the icon is housed and venerated at the New Valaam Monastery in Finland.

The icon is of the Hodgetria style: the Holy Mother pointing to the Divine Child with her right hand. What makes the relationship between Mother and Child unique however, is that the Infant Christ holds a pigeon-nestling on a string. 

The icon is called wonder-working, which usually means inexplicable cures have taken place after prayer in its presence. But what I find most attractive is that the Kovenskaya Mother of God seems to have as her specialty helping people in their obsessions.  

Obsession is an early 16th century French word which comes directly from the Latin obsessio which means attack, blockade, a blocking up, besiege. Perhaps what comes most readily to mind are our cultural obsessions with drugs, drinking, pornography, eating or shopping. I'd suggest there's more than that.

Notice that the little bird is held on a string. Obsessions keep us tied down. Obsessions lay claim to a mind. Obsessions are an onslaught of thought, they own and embattle our minds. They can cause waste, distraction and fatigue. The young Christ would know that the little bird ought to be free to fly. 

My sense is that people want to be loved in some practical way. That's the task put before humankind. Perhaps the Christians ought to be the best at pointing the way, afterall, Jesus said: "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34-35. 

But one needs to possess a degree of inner freedom to know (experience in the heart) the love of Christ and to live well his way of love. Here, the Mother of God understands - she is looking at us, not her Son. We might bring that awareness to our prayer before the icon:

From the needy claims we place upon others,
From the worn out mental tape of ugly resentments,
From listening to people who would take us along a toxic way,
From sweet revenge,
From the allure of negativity,
  deliver me, O Lady.

From endless blaming,
From obsessing over money and things,
From fixating on work,
From a hypochondriac preoccupation with health,
From masks, defensiveness and wounded pride,
  deliver me, O Lady.

May my anguish be calmed,
May the arms of my heart be strengthened,
May saints find me among the clean of heart,
May my soul experience free flight,
May we be freed of our fascination with weapons and war,
  pray your grace, O Lady.

"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays." Soren Kierkegaard

The 700,000th Pageview

This rather westernized 16th century icon (Virgin Mary and Child with Apple), depicts the Mother of God wearing a lovely robe and highly decorated maphorion. It is an image of great intimacy isn't it? Mary's mantle enfolds Christ as she pulls him in so close. 

Jesus is depicted as a little man. He is the Lord holding his scroll of teaching. It is for us to unroll it, read it, ponder it, translate it into new living. Mary looks directly at us. It is a knowing gaze.

But here is the most intriguing bit: the apple she holds and which he touches, is upside down. Of course we think of the fruit of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve turned everything upside down by their wrong choosing. Things devolved after that eating, eventually brother killing brother, right up until today with creation and relationships deteriorating before our eyes.

Christ, born of Mary, can turn things right side up, but only if he is taken into a life personally and freely. That person can become a new creation, a new man, a new woman, a new kind of human person whose new life is born of love. But it is real love asked for - a mind changing love. Not sentiment.

Yesterday marked the 700,000th page view of Pauca Verba (a few words). This blog has been up since March of 2013. Along the way, folks have tuned in now over 700,000 times and from countries all around the world, not just the United States: Italy, Germany, Russia, Canada, Spain, Egypt, United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, France, Argentina, Philippines, Croatia, Singapore, Vietnam.

This blogger-priest is just a pointer. A grateful pointer! Thank you for coming along, for looking in, for contemplating these things with me, for joining the prayer. I send a blessing to your home.

Intercessions ~ Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We pray for and with Pope Francis,/ that we would cast a wide net of compassion for the sick,/ the elderly,/ the asylum seekers,/ the dying,/ those who live where there is war or terrorist threat,/ deep poverty or horror./ We pray to the Lord.

Racism is a deep and long held stain on our country./ We pray to be awakened and healed of this national affliction,/ freed of stereotyping,/ threats,/ divisive rhetoric,/ ignorance and lies./ We pray to the Lord.

One senator says that our politics needs a renaissance./ And so we pray for the President of the United States/ and those in leadership across the nation./ We ask for that re-birth which would advance the health,/ growth and well-being of all./ We pray to the Lord.

That our minds would be harmonized with our hearts./ May we be aware of God in our mouths,/ our eyes,/ our hearing and our touch,/ day and night./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those in the Mid-South who are struggling after a strong hurricane/ and others in California after a recent earthquake./ We pray to the Lord.

For our families and friends,/ our co-workers and neighbors./ For those whose health and family life are suffering for lack of money/ or having to work more than one job./ We pray to the Lord.

"Go back where you came from"

This painting was created by the American artist John Singer Sargent between 1877-79. It is titled The Flight into Egypt. The Gospel account is read during the Christmas season, but the story isn't very Christmas-y and certainly isn't made for young children. After the wise men sized up Herod we're told:

But after they had gone the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up now, take the little child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. For Herod means to seek out the child and kill him." So Joseph got up , and taking the child and is mother with him set off for Egypt that same night where he remained until Herod's death.  Matthew 2: 12-14

I like this painting very much because Sargent has not depicted the scene in a romantic way. There are no angels, no bowing cherry tree, no statues of gods falling to the ground, no beautiful starry night. It is a picture of  utter desperation. Mary is so tired she is slipping off the exhausted donkey. The little circle of bright light above the Holy Child's head serves only to indicate who this is. That St. Matthew bothers to tell us that Jospeh set out "that same night" only adds to the feeling of encroaching danger.

But imagine if along the way Joseph had been told, "Take your family and go back to your own country." How sad we'd feel and how different the story would be. 

The line, "Go back where you came from," or "Go back to your own country," is an old refrain in our country. My Irish paternal grandparents, from Belfast and Galway, had that bully-ing, menacing remark hurled at them. Every group that comes to this country has to suffer the pain of rejection. And so it is today. Still. How disappointing and what shame we bear as a nation. 

Imagine how different the story would have been if Joseph and Mary (with the newborn) had been told in Egypt, "Go back where you came from." 

Arm of Christ

Here is a detail of the arm of Christ from a much larger icon. The colors of Jesus' robe are royal colors, and the artist has decorated the sleeve with a lovely gold pattern. The wrist and blessing hand of Jesus are seen a bit along the edge of the photo.

The picture prompted my prayer below. We should feel free to substitute the names of others in addition to, or in place of, the word me. I'd invite us to pray the prayer slowly and with heart. 

The arm of Christ to greet me.

The arm of Christ to enfold me.

The arm of Christ to direct me.

The arm of Christ to bless me.

The arm of Christ to steady me.

The arm of Christ to uplift me.

The arm of Christ to secure me.

The arm of Christ to befriend me.

The arm of Christ to heal me.

The arm of Christ to redeem me.

The arm of Christ to nourish me.

The arm of Christ to gladden me.

The arm of Christ to calm me.

The arm of Christ to reassure me.

The arm of Christ to shield me.

The arm of Christ to keep me.

Intercessions ~ Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This year there have been terrorist attacks in Afghanistan,/ Nigeria,/ Mali,/ Sri Lanka,/ Sudan and the Republic of Congo,/ leaving hundreds dead and injured./ We pray for healing,/ renewal and conversion./ We pray to the Lord.

For Pope Francis as he prepares for a September visit to Africa./ We ask for his protection and strengthening as he is often alone in advocating on behalf of migrants and refugees around the world./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States,/ our congress,/ and candidates for public office./ For those in leadership to be evolved,/ balanced,/ unifying people who work for the good of all./ We pray to the Lord.

In the summertime we pray for the safety of travelers and vacationers./ For those suffering from earthquakes and aftershocks in California./ We ask blessings for rescuers and helpers where people are in trouble./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask healing gifts for the world's children who are trafficked,/ enslaved,/ impoverished,/ addicted./ For the children of domestic violence,/ war zones and poverty./ For those who protect and secure children in their difficulties./ We pray to the Lord.

For the peace and well being of our families./ We pray for the sick,/ those with chronic health problems,/ anyone who might be out of work/ or who is addicted or depressed./ We pray to the Lord.

Another Summer Morning

While weeding this morning at the start of July,
at the top of its summer range,
a male Hooded Warbler
landed on a branch
three feet away, 
at the edge of the woods.
Olive green top,
yellow below,
black hood and throat, 
white flash in its tail,
its onomatopoeic song
emphatic and clear,
weeta-weeta-wee-tee-o.

The Dutch and Siberian Iris long spent,
the Japanese have now stepped in
to do their bit,
blooming full-flood.
Lavender and yellow-centered,
atop tall, strong, straight stems,
the petals stretch across 
an eight inch diameter,
elegant and dreamy.

Simple beauty:
like Bethlehem,
may it teach us to love
the things
that are deeply human.

Prayer ~ This Early July Morning

In the hellscape of the world's
melting,
burning,
weaponizing,
wars, 
hunger, 
extinctions,
the endless tears,
and top to bottom hate...

Glory to you, O God,
who has given me this paradise place
which is my garden.
I bless you,
stepping over its threshold
and all who tend some large or little place
of growing and flowering,
of life and beauty.

In the breaking up,
tilling,
package-seed-sewing
and carrot thinning -
Bless you, O God!

In the kneeling,
standing,
bending,
reaching -
Bless you, O God!

In the taproot weeding,
daily dead-heading,
stone dig
and fragile transplanting -
Bless you, O God!

In a seed's success,
compost decay,
summer sun
and advancing storm -
Bless you, O God!

In the honey bee's absence,
bat disappearnce,
warbler song
and lily fragrance -
Bless you, O God!

In cloud assembly,
water freshness,
hand strength
and back fatigue -
Bless you, O God!

In soil dryness,
morning mist,
longer day
and comfort-breeze -
Bless you, O God!

In mottled rock,
mottled fawn,
forest edge,
and painted leaf -
Bless you, O God!

In insect buzz,
frog visitor,
chipmunk thief,
and berry ripening -
Bless you, O God!

In petal curve,
water-quench,
hybrid surprise
and shade gift,
Bless you, O God!

In the raspberry's red,
eggplant's purple,
basil's green,
and cornflower's blue,
Bless you, O God!

In aging tools,
linen shirt,
shade hat
and bright idea,
Bless you, O God!

Intercessions ~ Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Suffer the Children ~ Carl Heinrich Bloch

At the start of July we pray for the health and well-being of those who celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries and other days of remembrance./ For the safety of summer travelers./ For those who get no rest or time of renewal./ We pray to the Lord.

Pope Francis met with President Vladimir Putin of Russia this week at the Vatican./ May their conversation advance a more peaceful world,/ and a protective reverence for the earth,/ our common home./ We pray to the Lord.

The nation is stained,/ has gone backwards and lost conscience in its horrific treatment of migrants,/ especially children/ at the southern border./ There are even Christians who believe this is just treatment of the immigrant enemy./ May God forgive us,/ and set us right./ We pray to the Lord.

For the millions who live traumatized lives,/ suffering from mental illness,/ unemployment,/ addiction,/ alcoholism,/ homelessness,/ domestic violence,/ sex abuse and racism./ We pray for their healing and lifting up./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for ourselves to be freed of any silo mentality,/ but reflecting the open heart of Jesus,/ may we be welcoming,/ inclusive and respectful towards all./ We pray to the Lord./

For prisoners,/ and those who have been victimized by crimes./  For judges,/ lawyers and law enforcement personnel./ For rescuers and those who help others who are in danger or crisis./ We pray to the Lord.

Prayer in the Celtic Spirit

©tracychristianson www.tracychristianson.com 

Used with permission. All rights reserved.

The new ancestry investigation tool has indicated my predecessors were as likely to have come from Wales, Scotland and Britain as from Ireland. My interest peaked, I've discovered hundreds of saints who are celebrated in these Celtic countries which experienced a great spiritual flowering in the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries.

Among these many holy ones is young Melangell who is pictured here with the hare she saved. The artist, Tracy Christianson, has kindly shared her soul-awake portrait. Ah, like Melangell, may we take creation to our hearts and embrace it dearly.

For me, prayer is an act of down-to-earth love. The purpose of prayer isn't to get God to change his mind but for us to stand before God in a great stretching, expanding or crying out of the heart. Celtic prayer understands this. Nothing is held back from God in Celtic prayer - the most ordinary and humble aspects of life are holy.

One ancient prayer invites the saints to help with the farm work - even the milking of the cow. We might find our  way to invoke heaven in our own time - not unlike the Celtic Middle ages - a hard time, barbaric, warlike and difficult in its own right.  

So I've selected twenty saints, four each from the five ancient Celtic countries of Cornwall, Ireland, Wales, Breton and Scotland. The first two in each cluster are male saints, the second two are female. I want to savor their intriguing names.

Often times the saint is all but forgotten except the name and perhaps what role he or she played in history. These are royals, monastics, martyrs, bishops, healers, gardeners, hermits, missionaries, Sometimes the saint's story informs the little prayer line which follows. St. Ursicinus for example, is the patron saint of those with stiff-necks. But "stiff necked" causes me to think of a self righteous, condescending human attitude. Tylenol might well be taken to remedy the physical kind.

Come, holy Tallanus - the nation's heart needs intensive care.
Come, holy Piran - keep me from making a mess of things today.
Come, holy Morwenna - get this tongue and temper under control.
Come, holy Ia, water the seeds of gratitude within.

Come, holy Ursicinus - bend the stiff-necked.
Come, holy Fiacre - in the basil, the parsley, the sage and dill.
Come, holy Ita - turn right-side-up the scowling face.
Come, holy Godnait - in the heartache and hopes, the noise and the  quiet.

Come, holy Cadfan - in the outrage and indignation.
Come, holy Teilo - restore in us Christ's gentling, spirit-touch.
Come, holy Melangell - heart-goodness for the presidents, the prelates, the prime     ministers and premiers.
Come, holy Winifred - in the wells and waterways.

Come, holy Gildas - these ungracious days of discourtesy.
Come, holy Briag - may every child be welcomed and loved.
Come, holy Non - in the homework, the housework, the yardwork.
Come, holy Canna - soothe the suffering and the sick ones.

Come, holy Fergus - in the waking up, the washing up, the food and drink.
Come, holy Donnan - in the pain and pleasure, disappointment and dreaming.
Come, holy Triduana - in the hastening, the pausing, the forgiving and the setting     out again.
Come, holy Margaret - in the goal of this day: God alone.